Fanfiction Earth's Protectors II

So far, the match between Machop and 'Gallador' had been surprisingly intense with neither fighter holding back. After all, the Gallador in the ring was an imposter with a reason to go all-out while Machop had mentally prepared herself not to hesitate no matter who she was facing.

As such, she proceeded to race toward 'Gallador', but just as she ready to strike, he leapt to the right and aimed a roundhouse toward the side of her head. And just like the last time he used that, this managed to catch Machop off-guard as she took in the blow, her eyes and mouth wide with shock.

And before she could collect her thoughts, 'Gallador' proceeded to send rapid punches into her face, the crowd truly amazed as Nori said, “While it was established in his match with Venipede that he will sometimes resort to his mother's boxing techniques, we have rarely seen Gallador use actual punches up to this point.”

“I think I know why,” Beedrill replied, “As was shown earlier, Machop knows enough about her cousin to see through his signature moves. My guess is that he's mixing things up and taking a different approach in order to catch her off guard.”

'No shit, Captain Obvious,' the imposter thought as he continued his onslaught, 'I swear to God, they treat announcing like it's the greatest job ever, but all they ever do is state what anyone with eyes already knows.'

However, his train of thought was suddenly cut off when Machop lifted up her arms, blocking the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth punches. She then smirked and said, “I'll admit, that was unexpected, but I can handle this.”

As such, she lifted up her foot and sent it hard into 'Gallador's' gut thus causing him to back up a bit. She then took full advantage of this and sent two karate chops into his shoulders, racing behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist. The crowd then cheered as she lifted him up for a suplex.

'Guess she wasn't as prepared for this as she first thought,' the imposter thought with a smirk, 'I've seen enough from him to know that I can just as easily use my spike to cushion the blow.'

But just as he was about to do that, it seemed Machop had something else in mind as she leaned sideways, sending the side of his head into the canvas. The crowd cheered even louder as Yuki stated, “And Machop fakes him out by changing the direction of her suplex. It seems Gallador's not the only one taking the less predictable approach.”

Machop released her hold and allowed the white boy to collapse as Eiko squealed, “That was so cool!” Isamu nodding and saying, “Just the kind of miracle I would expect from her.”

Noboru nodded and grinned, replying, “I'll say. That Machop can turn any bad situation in her favour.”

And of course, Lairon could not have been more proud of his pupil right now. He had a feeling she would not be foolish enough to try a regular suplex on 'Gallador', especially knowing how he normally fought, but the dinosaur was still impressed all the same.

'Gallador' quickly sprang back to his feet, breathing lightly while thinking, 'Dammit, she's just as annoying as her father. What's something else I can do to catch her off guard?'

He realized he could not contemplate this further as Machop leapt toward him with her arm out, shouting, “MOON HOOK!” the imposter panicking as he leaned backward just in time to avoid taking in the hit.

He then saw an opportunity as he lifted up his arms just in time to take hold of Machop's waist, bending back further and planting her face into the canvas. Some audience members cheered as Rinko blinked and said, “Kinda surprised no one else has tried that yet, come to think of it.”

However, Machop ignored the pain and latched her ankles onto 'Gallador's' neck, lifting him up over her head and slamming his back into the mat. The crowd went wild as Yuki exclaimed, “And just as quickly as Gallador gets the advantage, Machop takes it back with a frankensteiner!”

'No!' 'Gallador' thought as he ignored the pain, taking hold of the girl's ankles before she could remove them. He then pulled back hard enough to force Machop to fall forward, folding her legs before standing up. He then finished the setup for his move by sitting on her back, bending her knees as the crowd cheered.

“And just like that, Gallador turns Machop's frankensteiner against her and sets her up up for a cloverleaf!” Yuki exclaimed, “It's been going back and forth for a while, but it looks like he might just have the advantage for good!”

Machop cried out in pain as 'Gallador' smirked and asked, “You alright?” the girl grunting, “Of course!” while struggling to free herself.

Meloetta pursed her lips and whimpered, “I hope he's not being too rough,” as Vigoroth patted her on the shoulder and replied, “I doubt Gallador would go that far.”

Machop felt the same way, but she refused to submit so easily and insult her cousin. As such, she realized the one thing she could do to free herself as she gritted her teeth, focusing as hard as she could as her leg muscles started to expand. Unfortunately, 'Gallador' noticed this immediately and smirked, thinking, 'As if I'd let you use that cheap tactic.'

With that in mind, he immediately released his hold on her legs and leapt into the air, flipping vertically so his face was facing her back. He then folded his arms with the blades pointed outward and shouted, “CROSS PSYCHO CUT!”

The crowd gasped as the blades were planted hard into Machop's back. The girl cried out in pain as blood flew out, a big grin on 'Gallador's' face as Eiko squeaked, “Oh my god, he's scaring me!”

“Relax, he hasn't broken any rules,” Hana coaxed as Isamu shook his head and remarked, “She's right, Mom. Look.”

And sure enough, the group noticed the look on the white boy's face. It was one thing to smile after pulling off an impressive feat, but the grin he had right now was psychotic. It was as if he was hoping this attack had killed Machop.

'Wow, how did the real Gallador never think of something like this?' the imposter thought while resisting the urge to break out into maniacal laughter, 'It's so simple yet so effective. Well, I can take pride knowing I was the one who invented this move, not him.'

And it did not end there as he noticed Machop struggling to rise back to her feet. As such, he thought, 'Well, I can't reveal my secret without killing her first, and right now, she's far too weak to resist.'

With that in mind, the imposter leapt high into the air before pointing his knees toward Machop's back. He then descended as he made contact with that very spot, the crowd gasping as more blood flew out, the girl crying out once more.

“I know they're trying not to hold back, but that was kinda messed up,” Venipede uttered as Rinko nodded and replied, “Yeah, it's like he's trying to send her to the hospital. I mean, was he anywhere near that rough on you?”

“Well, no,” the centipede said with a look of suspicion, “He wasn't even that hard on Gyarados. With each of us, he only did what he needed to do to win. He never went too far with it, and yet right now, he's treating Machop like she's a villain who needs to be stopped as soon as possible.”

“No, it's worse than that,” Lairon retorted, “If anything, she's acting like Lucario did during the twenty-second Olympics every time he was on the verge of defeat. Remember what that was like, honey?” as Garchomp nodded and growled, “That's right. According to his sister, an aura that only those close to him could see would always appear and give him this great burst of strength. The major downside, though, was that it also caused him to lose control of his emotions and enjoy the pain of others.”

Kelani trembled as 'Gallador' lifted up his arms and cupped his hands together, ramming his elbows hard into Machop's back. This caused her even more pain as her eyes rolled to the back of her head, said part tilted sideways as her cheek hit the canvas.

The rest of the crowd was soon just as frightened as Machop's friends when 'Gallador' used his left hand to hold her head up, positioning his right arm blade right below her neck. Seeing this, Beedrill frowned and snapped, “Now, I don't think I need to remind Gallador that if he kills his opponent, he'll be disqualified from the tournament thus making the winner of the next match our champion!”

“Oh, don't worry, I'm not really going to kill her,” the imposter retorted with a grin as Isamu gulped nervously, uttering, “That's right. He wouldn't do that to his cousin, would he?” the others nodding in agreement as Kelani whimpered, Eiko stroking him and giving him reassuring words. But even so, she, too, was scared of the position Machop was in right now.

“Well,” Beedrill said, “as long as you don't plan on killing her, I'll let the match continue, but-”

“STOP!” came a familiar voice as the crowd gasped and turned toward the entrance to the area, the real Gallador standing there and breathing heavily with a look of terror in his eyes, Yo joining him and saying, “Um, yeah, this guy has something he needs to tell you all.”

“Oh no, don't tell me-” Lairon uttered as Meloetta squeaked, “I didn't know Gallador had a twin brother!”

The others gave her an awkward stare as Vigoroth sighed, “Don't you get it? That's not Gallador in the ring,” as Isamu groaned, “Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.”

The imposter stared wide-eyed in response to all of this. A part of him wanted so badly to cleave Machop's head off right now, especially since he had already planned on revealing himself at this moment, but seeing the real Gallador still alive was too shocking and thus he found himself unable to move, let alone speak.

“What's going on here?” Yuki uttered as Nori and Beedrill turned to one-another, groaning, “Oh god, not again!”

“That fighter you see about to defeat Machop is a fake!” Gallador spat as the crowd gasped, Vigoroth saying, “Called it,” as Meloetta and Kelani were more frightened than before.

“I don't know who that guy is, but he knocked me unconscious the day round two ended,” the white boy explained as Yo nodded and said, “I can only assume that he stuffed this boy into a bag, because, well...”

He then proceeded to tell the crowd about how he was fishing that day when his hook snagged onto a big bag. He reeled it in, figuring there must have been something of value in it, and needless to say, he was shocked to see an actual person unconscious when he opened it.

And to make matters worse, Gallador remained in that state for the entire time leading up to the match. Needless to say, if he had been out any longer, things would have gotten much worse.

The imposter's eyes twitched as he forced a grin, the real Gallador smirking and saying, “The next time you try a stunt like that, you should make sure the victim is actually dead. You had the means to do it.”

At that moment, 'Gallador' grumbled curses as he had to admit that the white boy had a point. But even so, Beedrill had heard enough as he snapped, “Tell us who you really are!”

Realizing there were no other options, the imposter shrugged and released Machop, her face falling forward into the canvas as he cleared his throat, taking on a more feminine tone and saying, “Well, first of all, I'm not actually a he,” before glaring at what seemed to be nothing.

The crowd gasped as Beedrill blinked and uttered, “I've heard that voice somewhere before, only slightly higher in pitch,” as 'Gallador' nodded and replied, “Well, you should recognize me. After all, your tag team partner was the first hero I ever defeated.”

Now the crowd truly was astounded as Garchomp groaned, “Oh no, I saw that on TV,” Lairon nodding as Isamu asked, “Who is that!?”

It was then that the imposter's form changed from that of Gallador to a purple woman with soft flesh and dots for eyes. Beedrill's eyes widened as he pointed and spat, “Oh my god, I remember you! You and your brother knocked Butterfree and I out just so you could kill Machoke in the second round of the Ultimate World Team Tournament!”

All went silent among the crowd until Venipede trembled and spat, “Wait a minute, is that the infamous Ditto!?” as the woman shook her head and remarked, “Well, it is a touch difficult telling us apart, so I'll let that mistake slide, but no, I am his sister, Ditta.”

“Wait, Ditto and Ditta?” Vigoroth asked with an odd look as Eiko blinked and uttered, “That sounds like something out of a children's book.”

“That hardly matters right now!” Isamu retorted as he breathed heavily, “Don't you see!? Machop's been in real danger since the match began!”

During this conversation, Slurpuff had felt tense. Something about Ditta's presence really got under his skin as his fangirls noticed, one gasping, “Oh my god, are you okay!?”

The cake dog suddenly remembered them and trembled while whimpering, “The mean lady scares me.”

“Well, Ditta, I'm sure you know exactly what this means, right?” Beedrill growled as the woman let out a sigh and grunted, “I know, I know. Being a villain in a tournament for heroes is illegal. But honestly, I don't even give a shit about that.”

“Wait, what?” Gallador retorted, his eyes wide with horror as the humanoid mold took on his form again, climbing back onto Machop's back and placing her in the same position as before, “I just about made the same mistake I did with you, Gallador. I don't care if you drag me to prison or even kill me for that matter. All that matters to me is that Machop pays for what her father did to my brother!”

Isamu was terrified now as he spat, “SOMEONE GO IN THERE AND HELP!” as Beedrill started flapping his wings, growling, “My pleasure! I've been wanting to get revenge on her for ruining my chance at a rematch with Machoke anyway!”

But just as Ditta smirked wickedly, preparing to cleave Machop's head off, the girl's eyes rolled back to their original position as she gritted her teeth, lifting up her hands and taking hold of the right arm. A tiny bit of blood dripped from the middle of her fingers as those spots were touching the blade. But as much as it hurt, it was nothing compared to the thought of being beheaded.

Ditta's eyes widened as Machop rose to her feet, breathing heavily with anger in her eyes. And as she glared at the humanoid mold, she grunted, “Gallador and I have been training really hard for this day! We were looking forward to facing each other, and then you had to come along and ruin everything! If you wanted to challenge me so badly, why not just do it like any other villain!?”

At that moment, many were starting to wonder this as well as Ditta explained, “If you must know, I figured that a tournament would be the perfect way to get revenge seeing as my brother and I were defeated in one prior to this. But also, I chose the Olympics because those are televised worldwide, therefor the whole world would have seen you die by my hands!”

Everyone stared in stunned silence as Vigoroth uttered, “Seriously, all this because her dad beat her up?” as Ditta overheard this and grunted, “I'll have you know that's not the only reason. No, losing to Machoke even when his ally was unconscious was one thing, but you have no clue what that man did to my brother! He blames himself for that failure! He went crazy! He became an alcoholic, never trying to go out and better himself! Unless a member of the Mach family is killed, he will never be happy!”

Machop took a deep breath and sighed, “Look, I'm sorry for what Daddy did, but you kind of deserved it. What was he supposed to do? Let you kill him?”

“SHUT UP!” Ditta retorted as Beedrill sighed, “Look, it doesn't matter anyway! If you don't leave this ring right now, you'll be placed under arrest, possibly for life!”

“Wait, what!?” Gallador spat as Machop nodded and asked, “Seriously, you're giving her the option to leave?”

“I know it's weird, but that's always been a policy when it comes to tournaments,” Beedrill sighed, “It's mainly to avoid casualties. After all, if we let her stay, there's a chance she could kill someone.”

Ditta gritted her teeth only for Machop to say, “Well, with all due respect, I'd much rather continue this match,” as the crowd stared in admiration.

“Just like your father,” Beedrill said with an implied smile as Nori nodded and added, “And as the rules state, if the opponent is okay with the rule violation, the match will be allowed to continue.”

“Wait, seriously?” Vigoroth asked as Lairon nodded and replied, “That's always been the case with hero wrestling. Human wrestling is another matter all together, but we can handle this sort of thing.”

“Well, that was the one thing I do admire about your father,” Ditta said with a smirk, “The fact that he was confident enough to keep the match going and allow villains a chance to kill him. Though unlike before, I'm going to make sure this opportunity counts.”

Gallador nodded with a grin and said, “I'm proud of you, Machop. I just know you can win this,” as Beedrill sighed, thinking, 'Me too. In fact, I was hoping you'd say that. I've never quite liked the idea of letting villains go after exposing them.'

With that in mind, Ditta started to change form again, but rather than reverting back to Gallador, she decided to take on a state much more intimidating. The crowd stared in horror at what happened next as the woman had taken the form of a buff sky-blue man with fish lips and four arms.

Fear filled up Machop as Ditta smirked and said, “Admittedly, I didn't know enough about Machamp's abilities back when I fought Machoke, hence why I took on the form of Lucario instead. But now that I've studied his past matches and learned his techniques, I feel like I can truly take advantage of this form now. Just imagine the delicious irony of losing to your own grandpa.”

Upon seeing her take this form, Machop's confidence slowly started to drop. She may have known plenty about her father, but all she knew about her grandfather was how powerful he was back in his prime. One could only imagine just how much more difficult this would be than fighting Ditta in the form of Gallador.

 

Machop was starting to regret agreeing to continue the match when she had a perfect chance at a default victory. As if facing Ditta in the form of Gallador was not difficult enough, the girl now had to fight her as her grandfather, Machamp. And since he had the most arms of anyone else in the Mach family, one could only imagine how much more difficult this would make things.

“What's wrong?” Ditta asked in a slightly raspy male voice before switching back to her own and adding, “Scared!?”

Machop bit her lower lip, trying her hardest not to show her fear until Isamu spat, “Hey, Machop, it's okay! She may look like your grandfather, but she is not your grandfather! Remember, she's a villain! Treat her like one!”

The girl took a deep breath and nodded, grunting, “You're right! You probably can't even use all of Grandpa's techniques!” Beedrill not sure whether or not to tell her that when Ditta transformed into Lucario, she was able to use all of his moves easily.

“That's right!” Rinko exclaimed, “Don't forget, this bitch robbed you of a fair match with Gallador!” Venipede adding, “Not to mention she almost killed him! Are you gonna let her get away with that!?”

The others joined in as Meloetta nodded and gave her a supportive smile. Lairon also gave her a thumb up while Garchomp shot a grin. And all the while, Eiko, Noboru, Hana and Kelani could not resist letting out the super loud cheer they had planned before, Isamu groaning and slapping his forehead.

Needless to say, all of this support put Machop's mind at ease as she breathed a sigh of relief. She had to win this match, not just to advance in the tournament but to put another villain away. After all, if she allowed someone with the power of every hero on the planet to escape, one could only imagine the kind of terror she could spread.

With that in mind, the girl held a defensive stance as Ditta smirked and said, “Well, if you won't make the next move, guess I may as well,” before racing toward her.

But just as she was about to grab Machop, the girl knelt down only for Ditta to cup her lower hands together and send them downward into the back of her head. The crowd gasped as Machop grunted, rubbing that exact spot. And with her distracted long enough, Ditta proceeded to wrap her arms around her, squeezing tight with a wicked smirk.

Machop's eyes widened as she pursed her lips, Ditta saying, “I have to admit, of all the wrestling moves out there, I've never really been a fan of the bear hug. But those rare instances where your grandfather would use it, well, his extra arms always made it so effective.”

“Can't argue with that,” Nori stated, “Though I'm kinda surprised she knows that considering Machamp only used that move twice in his entire career,” Beedrill blinking and uttering, “You know, I've never actually seen a hero use that move before.”

After a while, people could hear Machop's back cracking slightly as Ditta smirked and said, “Well, I got the result I wanted. Don't worry, though, because I have no intention of winning with this move.”

She then proceeded to flip the girl upside-down and leap into the air, placing her head between her knees and sending it hard into the canvas. The crowd was even more terrified now as Nori exclaimed, “And Machop takes in a tombstone piledriver! It already seems that taking on the form of Machamp was the best idea Ditta could have ever come up with!”

The older woman's eyes then widened as she and Beedrill turned to one-another and shook their heads. Deep down, they knew there were probably better options for opponents, but either way, the last thing either wanted to do was give the humanoid mold ideas.

Ditta, meanwhile, had the biggest grin on her face as she exclaimed, “This is awesome! His moves may not be anything special, but the added arms make them extremely easy to pull off!”

She then knelt down on top of Machop before sending a volley of punches into her face and adding, “And forget Gallador's boxing abilities! This is much more effective!”

Isamu's eyes widened as he spat, “Come on, Machop! Pull off another miracle!” the girl gritting her teeth and growling, “Right! I can't let you win!”

With that in mind, she held her hands up and managed to block two incoming punches. However, she knew that Ditta would continue her assault as she sent her lower fists toward her. And with that in mind, the girl opened her mouth and waited for said parts to get close enough before biting into the humanoid mold's wrists.

The crowd gasped as Nori exclaimed, “And after taking in an onslaught of punches, Machop retaliates with a tactic never before seen by a member of the Mach family!”

Ditta gritted her teeth, light tears rolling down her cheeks as Machop proceeded to lift her legs up, sending them hard into the humanoid mold's gut. This sent her flying backward as the girl wasted no time propelling herself off the mat and wrapping her arms around her waist, sending the back of her head into the canvas while the crowd cheered wildly.

“And with that surprise defensive tactic, Machop has managed to counter Ditta's onslaught and follow it up with an incomplete but still effective backdrop,” Beedrill stated with an implied smile, “Just what we expect from the Mach family.”

However, this hardly seemed to make a difference as Ditta smirked and asked, “Was that the best you could do?” ignoring the pain to her head and wrapping her lower arms around Machop.

The girl's eyes widened with terror as Ditta used her upper arms to push herself into the air, and since Machop was already upside-down, she saw no need to shift their positions. As such, all she did was lower the girl enough for her head to make contact with the canvas after they descended.

Machop coughed up blood as the crowd stared in horror, Eiko squeaking, “NO!” Kelani gritting his teeth and growling, “Come on, Machop! You can beat him up easily!”

“Remember, she's fighting a woman,” Hana uttered as Noboru sighed, “Be honest, she may as well be fighting her grandfather right now.”

The others stared at him as he added, “Think about it. Ditta's not only fighting in the form of Machamp, she's fighting as Machamp in his prime. She now possesses all of his original strength, and it's been said many times that partly because of his extra arms, he's gone on record as the most physically strong member of the Mach family, even more so than Machoke, whose track record was a lot more impressive. Machop's really gonna need some serious strategy and brains to win this.”

Lairon blinked and said, “Colour me impressed. I'm surprised you actually knew that,” as Hana smiled and replied, “Well, Noboru here has become a bit of a Mach family enthusiast ever since we saw Machop fight live. He dedicates at least an hour a day to looking up info about them.”

Ditta released her hold and allowed Machop to collapse as Yuki gulped and started the ten count only for the humanoid mold to lift her up. She then wrapped her lower arms around the girl's neck while resting the upper arms against the top of her head.

“Is that the legendary four-armed sleeper?” Rinko uttered as Machop started to gag, Garchomp nodding and growling, “Dammit! I remember seeing this used on Machoke back in Hero School! I'm just trying to remember how he escaped from this hold!”

Gallador, meanwhile, watched all of this in horror, unsure of what to say. On one hand, him exposing the truth when he did certainly saved Machop's life, but on the other hand, who was to say she would not have eventually escaped anyway? Not only that, but Ditta had been a lot easier to fight when she took his form, and now that everyone knew she was a villain, she had no reason to use his powers anymore.

However, he suddenly remembered something Machop could try as he exclaimed, “Hey, Machop, Uncle Machoke told us about his final exam on Hero Planet, remember!?”

The girl blinked and temporarily ignored the pain to her neck as the white boy added, “Remember, he fought Machamp and one of the moves he fell victim to was this very technique! Do you remember how he escaped from it!?”

The girl's eyes widened as she smirked and wheezed, “It's a long shot, but it's worth a try,” before slowly lifting up her arms with her fingers pointed upward, Ditta grunting, “Do you honestly think that's gonna work?”

However, her eyes widened, the crowd staring silently as once Machop's fingers were close enough, she started rubbing them lightly against Ditta's lower armpits. While a part of her was uncertain if this would really work, the only other option she saw was expanding her muscles, and she did not wish to use this unless it was really necessary.

Strangely enough, it seemed to work as Ditta pursed her lower lip, thinking, 'What is wrong with me? I'm not ticklish! Why do I feel this sudden urge to-'

Her thought process was ultimately cut off when the pressure got the better of her. As such, she released her hold on Machop and laughed hysterically, the crowd not even sure whether or not to cheer. On one hand, the girl had escaped, but on the other hand, her method was really hard to take seriously.

Even so, there was no way Machop would let this chance go as she raced toward Ditta, the mold blinking and snickering, “No, please don't!” only for the girl to leap at her and send a two-legged kick into her face.

She then wrapped her legs around Ditta's neck and used all her might to propel herself high above the ring, the mold still too distracted by her laughter to retaliate. Machop then used this opportunity to grab hold of her ankles, spreading out her legs and shouting, “METEOR WARHEAD!” planting her head hard against the canvas as she coughed up blood.

The crowd went wild as Gallador stared wide-eyed and uttered, “Wow, that was awesome,” as Isamu let out a sigh of relief and said, “Leave it to Machop to pull off a miracle when it really counts.”

As Machop released her hold on Ditta and allowed her to collapse, Yuki wasted no time starting the ten count. And once she reached four, the rest of the crowd joined in, chanting, “FIVE! SIX!”

But just as they were about to count to seven, Ditta grunted and rubbed her head, slowly rising to her feet as panic spread throughout the area. Deep down, many of them had a feeling that one move would not be enough to end the match for good, but they were all hoping for that result.

Ditta gritted her teeth and growled, “How the hell did you make that work!? Tickling has never worked on me before!”

Machop blinked and said, “Actually, I'm a tad surprised that worked too. Do you, by chance, copy more than just the form and the abilities?” as Ditta blinked and replied, “Well, I do tend to pick up other physical traits and even weaknesses,” her eyes and mouth wide open for ten whole seconds until she gasped, “Are you telling me Machamp, the former champion who defeated Groudon is ticklish!?”

The girl nodded and grinned, replying, “Yep. In fact, that side of him was what allowed Daddy to get the drop on him when they fought on Hero Planet, and now that I know you've got that weakness too, I have no choice but to exploit the shit out of it!”

The crowd was dumbfounded at first before realizing this was a good thing and cheering heavily, Machop racing toward Ditta who tried grabbing her. However, the girl easily raced around her and reached her arms over to her armpits, once again rubbing them as the humanoid mold broke out into hysterics.

“YEAH, GO MACHOP!” Eiko squealed as Kelani clapped his paws, laughing. However, he was surprised when he turned and saw Slurpuff bouncing up and down in his seat, squeaking, “Yay, Machop's gonna win!”

With Ditta once again distracted, Machop took hold of her and lifted her up so her head was resting against her shoulder. The girl then allowed herself to fall backward, driving Ditta's skull into the mat with a brainbuster.

Nori announced all of this while the crowd continued to cheer, Rinko shouting, “THAT'S RIGHT! SHOW THAT POSER WHO'S BOSS!” Gallador all the while breathing a sigh of relief and thinking, 'Thank god. I guess maybe this will all turn out of the best in the end. As much as it pains me that I never got my match with you, seeing one of us advance to the finals is satisfying enough.'

It seemed that thought came too soon as Ditta slowly rose to her feet, rubbing her head as she thought, 'Alright, that's it! As much as changing my form would probably be the best idea, I have to defeat her with this one! It'll be the ultimate humiliation, and I already know how I'm going to avoid letting her near these armpits again!'

With that in mind, she raced toward Machop with her arms folded. Machop smirked and said, “I get it. By folding your arms, you make it more difficult for me to tickle you. Well, that hardly matters because with your arms folded like that, I don't need to resort to that.”

But when the girl aimed a kick toward Ditta's shin, she was shocked when it seemed the mold saw this coming. With that, she proceeded to leap into the air, saying, “Gotcha,” before spreading her arms out and using all four to bind both of Machop's in place. And since she was grabbing the girl's wrists as well as her arms, she could not even come close to the pits.

“Why didn't I see that coming?” Lairon groaned as Ditta smirked and said, “Honestly, I'm not too impressed. The fact that you needed a convenient weakness to get the advantage is just pitiful. I'd love to see you hit me again when you can't exploit it.”

With that, she leapt high into the air before flipping Machop one-hundred-and-eighty degrees. She continued to hold her wrists with her lower arms while using the upper arms to take hold of her legs. And to top it off, she when wrapped her legs around the area just below Machop's shoulders as she exclaimed, “This move may have been effective when your dad used it, but Machamp's version is and always will be superior as his is the only one that's complete!”

Machop's eyes and mouth were wide open as the back of her head soon made contact with the canvas, the girl coughing up blood as Ditta exclaimed, “MUSCLE TOMBSTONE!”

The area went silent as the mold released her hold and allowed the girl to collapse. All of her friends stared as she lay there, her body twitching while Beedrill tensed up, praying that she could pull off another miracle and rise back to her feet. There was no way this could be it.

Nori would have at least started the ten count, but she knew Ditta would not approve as she planned to end this match with Machop's death. As such, the mold smirked and said, “Alright, since there's no way in Hell you're getting up, I guess I may as well end it right here. Though it's kind of a shame. I was actually starting to have fun.”

With that in mind, she proceeded to lift up Machop and add, “Though honestly, that sleeper hold was kind of lame, so I have something much better in mind.”

At that moment, Isamu stood up and spat, “COME ON, MACHOP! I KNOW THIS ISN'T THE END! YOU CAN DO IT!” Lairon nodding and barking, “YEAH! I'VE SEEN YOU GET UP FROM A NUMBER OF POWERFUL MOVES! SURELY THAT WASN'T ENOUGH TO FINISH YOU OFF!” as Garchomp and Eiko joined in.

“There's no way this is the same Machop who defeated Sneasel and Tentacruel!” Vigoroth barked as Meloetta added, “Don't forget Marshal and Kingdra! All of them came close to winning, but you were able to pull through in the end!”

“That's right!” Rinko spat, “I refuse to believe you of all heroes would lose to a lousy cheater!” as Venipede added, “Yeah, you're awesome!”

Even Clawitzer finally decided to say something as she exclaimed, “Come on, Machop! Chesnaught was far worse than this and you still defeated him!”

Meanwhile, in the hospital, Torchic was watching this and growling, “Please, Machop, show us the power that made you into the winner you are today. I know you can do this.”

Unfortunately, their words did not seem to get through to Machop as she did not even so much as budge, Ditta smirking and saying, “Nice try, morons, but unfortunately for you, Machop is far too weak to recover. I'll admit, her father had some great resilience, but you can tell by looking at her that she's nowhere near as strong as he was.”

With that, the mold leapt higher above the ring than ever before and said, “I suppose a second use of this move should end you for good,” as she once again flipped the girl over and spread her arms out with her lower hands. She then used the upper hands to clutch onto her ankles before wrapping her legs around the area just below the shoulders.

At that moment, Noboru rose up and shouted, “Machop! Machop!” as Hana nodded and barked, “Machop! Machop!”

Eiko beamed and rose from her seat, chanting, “Machop! Machop!” as Isamu and Kelani followed suit. And it was not long until the entire arena was filled with cheers for Machop, Slurpuff not chanting her name but instead bouncing up and down with a goofy smile on his face.

Even the announcers, despite it being their job to stay neutral, could not help but join in as Ditta laughed and started to descend, shouting, “You're all wasting your breath! There's no way in Hell she can recover!”

However, just as all seemed lost, Machop's eyes widened as she gasped, gritting her teeth and growling, “Alright, I am not letting you hit me with this a second time!”

Ditta was rather shocked to see her actually wake up, but even so, she saw this as nothing to worry about as she smirked and asked, “And how, pray tell, are you going to get out of this?” as Machop gritted her teeth and retorted, “I'll have you know that many years ago, the mighty Bouffalant discovered a way to counter this technique, and when my dad fought Lucario during the twenty-second Olympics, he reminded the world of this very countermeasure! The only downside is how much muscle it takes to pull off, but it's still doable!”

With that in mind, Machop let out a loud battle cry as her muscles started to expand. And once she felt they had gotten big enough, she used all her might to shift her body back, soon flipping herself upright thus putting Ditta on the receiving end.

“No,” the mold uttered with terror in her expression, “NO!” as Machop held onto her ankles and wrapped her legs around all four of her arms, locking them in place. And since Ditta did not have enough time to take advantage of how much the muscle expansion had sapped the girl's energy, she was unable to respond to this as Machop shouted, “MUSCLE TOMBSTONE MACH TWO!”

Ditta's head collided with the mat as she coughed up a considerable amount of blood, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as Machop let her go. The crowd cheered wildly as the humanoid mold collapsed, lying there with tiny breaths escaping her mouth.

Seeing this, Yuki immediately beamed and shouted, “One!” as Eiko got up and exclaimed, “Two!”

Machop breathed heavily, praying this was it as Slurpuff squeaked, “Three!” before giggling like a schoolgirl, his fangirls chanting, “Four!” with their arms in the air.

“Five!” Lairon and Garchomp added as Noboru and Hana yelled, “Six!”

Eiko and Kelani both rose their arms in the air, shouting, “Seven!” as Vigoroth, Meloetta, Rinko and Venipede all barked, “Eight!”

Isamu nodded with a grin as he and Gallador yelled, “Nine!” before Beedrill, Yuki and Nori all pointed at Ditta's unconscious body and shouted, “TEN!”

With all said and done, Beedrill excitedly rang the bell and stated, “And after a very long and close match, Machop has overcome all odds and saved us all from Ditta, therefor she will advance to the finals!” the entire arena erupting with loud cheers.

Slurpuff looked relieved as he thought, 'Good, now after I beat up Clawitzer, I'll have Machop all to myself,' a wicked look briefly forming in his eyes. But once one of his fangirls turned to face him, he went back to his usual smile and bounced happily in his seat.

Isamu breathed a sigh of relief and slumped down in his seat, groaning, “I love Machop, but goddammit, she needs to cut it out with all the close calls,” Eiko patting him on the shoulder.

And needless to say, Machop was beyond happy as she rose her arm in the air, a big grin on her face while Lairon gave her a thumb up. As if making it to the finals was not enough, defeating yet another powerful villain was a whole other thing.

Gallador gave her a warm smile and thumb up, feeling beyond proud to be her cousin. As much as he and Machop would have loved to have faced each other, things had still ultimately turned out for the best. At the very least, it was nice to know one of them had made it this far.

At that moment, authorities came in with handcuffs as Ditta reverted to her normal form. And sure enough, her wrists were bound as she was dragged out of the ring, the crowd continuing to cheer. While it was true that Machoke had always had to deal with at least one case like this in every tournament he partook in, it had been ages since this last happened, so it was truly amazing to witness such a thing.

“Well, folks, that wraps up the first match of the semi-finals!” Beedrill exclaimed, “And what an incredible match that was! But don't forget, we still have one left! As such, we will take an hour-long break to ready ourselves for the big event, so get up, stretch your legs but watch the time because you won't wanna miss this!”

With that in mind, the audience got up to exit the area for the time being as Gallador climbed into the ring and held out his fist. Machop grinned and pounded hers against it, saying, “Maybe someday, we can have our dream match, eh?”

“Yeah,” the white boy replied with a warm smile, “I look forward to it, though after that performance, I think I know who'll win that match.”

Machop's eyes sparkled until he jokingly added, “Me, of course,” as the girl retorted, “No way!” lightly punching his shoulder, “I would totally kick your ass!” but just as the two were about to rough-house, Isamu rolled his eyes and approached the ring, saying, “Come on, Machop, you're in hardly any condition to fight right now.”

“Dammit, he's right,” the girl grumbled as Gallador laughed and patted her on the shoulder, saying, “But seriously, I just know you'll win the championship for sure.”

With all said and done, Machop hobbled out of the ring to join her friends, knowing right now that she would at least need to sit. After all, that was the closest she had ever come to failure, so she was lucky to have enough energy to stand right now. But even so, the important thing was that she had a chance to win the championship belt, just like her grandfather had done twice in a row back in his prime.

 

With an hour to go before Clawitzer's match with Slurpuff, everyone decided to use this chance to not only rest up but celebrate Machop's victory. After all, while she had not won the entire tournament, she had defeated a villain who had used her grandfather's abilities. And to the best of their knowledge, this would be the only time they would have to deal with this.

As such, Machop was seated with her friends for a late lunch with food Lairon had bought from the concession stand. All of them held up the bottles containing their drinks as Isamu stated, “I propose a toast to Machop, the queen of miracles!”

Everyone cheered and joined in, hitting their bottles up against one-another before laughing. Machop, meanwhile, blushed and chuckled, saying, “Queen of miracles. You're so sweet,” before leaning over and giving the boy a peck on the cheek.

“You know, it's funny,” Noboru said with his arms folded, “Long ago, I never would have approved of my son dating someone with such a dangerous profession, but honestly, I can't think of anything wrong with this,” Hana nodding and adding, “When you decide to get married, we'll be more than happy to pay for it.”

“Mom!” Isamu retorted with his cheeks flushed pink, “Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?” as Eiko giggled and squeaked, “Oh my god, I never thought I'd see you of all people blush! You used to be such a stick in the mud!”

Isamu was about to retort when Machop chuckled lightly in response to this. She would have broken out into hysterics, but after all the damage she took in, it likely would have hurt too much to do that.

Gallador chuckled and said, “It's good to see you've made some great friends here,” as Vigoroth nodded and replied, “Thanks for the compliment. You're pretty cool yourself.”

“You know, I still can't believe you're a princess,” the white boy uttered while stroking his chin, “You don't look or act anything like one,” Vigoroth shrugging and replying, “Yep. That's why I've agreed not to associate myself with my kingdom. Well, that and Dad doesn't want anyone violent representing the sloth kingdom.”

“I still think that's unfair,” Meloetta said as she folded her arms, “All you did was get your crops back from bandits. He had no right to scold you for that,” as the sloth sighed, “Yeah, yeah, it's water under the bridge. I don't hate him anymore.”

Kelani smiled wide as he took a bite out of a hamburger, Eiko asking, “How is it?” the doberman smiling and nodding his head to let her know he liked it.

The group continued to talk some more when Clawitzer entered the area and approached them, saying, “Hey there. That was an incredible match, Machop.”

“Thanks,” the girl replied with a grin, “I really hope I get you as my final opponent. I don't know what it is, but that Slurpuff scares the shit out of me.”

Eiko gasped only for Kelani to reply, “It's fine, Mommy. I already know that's a bad word,” the pink-haired girl breathing a sigh of relief as Isamu snickered.

“Don't you worry about a thing,” Clawitzer replied with a smile, “I've seen enough of his abilities. I know I can beat him. Once our match ends, those cute looks of his will go on vacation.”

All went silent as the group stared awkwardly at her, Venipede nudging Rinko and asking, “Was that supposed to sound intimidating?” the shrimp lowering her head and sighing, “You're right. I could have come up with better.”

After a few more seconds, the group invited her to take a seat as she did so, Kelani offering her a fry. And it was not long until the group talked about something other than the match. After all, it helped to relieve stress.

“So, be honest,” Machop asked with a smirk, “What do you think of Jackalu?” Clawitzer shrugging and replying, “Well, he's a good friend and an awesome ally. I think I made that very clear during our match.”

“Well, yeah, we know that much,” Garchomp replied with a grin, “What Machop is asking is, well, do you see him as more than a friend?” Lairon not sure whether they should have asked that. After all, such an awkward question could distract the shrimp during her match.

Clawitzer's cheeks turned beet red like the shell of a fully cooked lobster and uttered, “What? No. That's just silly,” the others staring blankly at her as she laughed nervously and let out a sigh.

“Look, I like Jackalu, but I'm not really sure if I see him that way,” the shrimp explained as the others nodded, Vigoroth saying, “Alright, that sounded legit. Interrogation is over,” Meloetta giggling in response to this, though even she was not sure why she found that funny.

Clawitzer then noticed the time and got up, saying, “Well, thanks for letting me sit with you for a while. It's nice to have a pleasant conversation with someone again, but, well, I need to head off.”

“Well, of course,” Noboru replied with a grin, “Don't let us stop you,” Eiko nodding and squeaking, “Good luck! Oh, I mean break a leg!”

“That's for stage performers,” Isamu replied as the pink-haired girl laughed nervously.

With all said and done, Clawitzer spent the next little while training while the others headed back to the bleachers. While Machop's match had blown everyone's expectations out of the water, there was no doubt the shrimp's match with Slurpuff was still the more highly anticipated one. After all, the fact that she defeated the son of Lucario was not something one could just ignore.

While practising her claws on a sandbag, Clawitzer let out a sigh and thought, 'I really hope you're watching this, Jackalu. I didn't mean to deal that much damage to you! But I want you to see me fight and win without you there to cheer me on!'

She then suddenly thought about Machop's question as her cheeks turned deep red again, the shrimp groaning, “Okay, I definitely need to stop thinking about that.”

As such, she patted her cheeks and nodded, saying, “Alright, I'm gonna win this. I don't care whether I get first place or not. I just can't let Slurpuff win. He seriously rubs me the wrong way.”

After ten more minutes, it was finally time as Beedrill exclaimed, “Alright, ladies and gentlemen, you've all waited long enough! It's now time for the match to decide who will face Machop in the finals!”

The crowd went wild as he added, “We've had such an amazing tournament so far, but in my opinion, no match has outdone that last one. But for all we know, this next match may very well be the highlight of the Olympics. But you're all sick of hearing me talk about it. Let's introduce the fighters! Ladies?”

Nori nodded and exclaimed, “In the red corner, that Swiss pistol shrimp with her mighty claws has impressed us all by defeating her ally, Jackalu! And for all we know, she may just upstage her even more surprising opponent today! With great ferocity and spirit, Clawitzer!”

The Swiss fans started to cheer, but this very quickly came a halt when the shrimp entered the area wearing a ballerina outfit and spiked shoulder guards. All the while, a punk rock remix of The Nutcracker Suite played in the background as she held her claws over her head, tip-toeing her way toward the ring while occasionally kicking and swinging her claws at the air to show that she still meant business.

Once she was close enough, she threw off the top before leaping gracefully into the ring. And once she landed, she bowed to the audience as none of them knew how to react, the shrimp thinking, 'How did I do, Jackalu?'

Luckily for her, the dog was awake to see this in his hospital bed as he grinned and said, “Not bad for your first time, though I can help you come up with more creative entrances in the future.”

The others, all the while, stared at this as Meloetta clapped and squeaked, “That was cool!” as Vigoroth shrugged and added, “Well, to be fair, that was more graceful than a typical Machop entrance.”

Machop scowled at her as she snickered, Lairon growling, “I'll have you know those were influenced by me, young lady!” before folding his arms.

“And in the blue corner,” Yuki stated, “coming to us from Turkey is a possible mutated pastry who has proven himself much stronger than he looks. He's blasted his way through Torchic like it was nothing and while Delphox put up a much better fight, she ultimately fell to him as well. Everyone, give a round of applause for the mighty, unpredictable Slurpuff!”

The Turkish and Japanese fans went wild as the cake dog rode toward the ring on a unicycle. Machop stared as an overly-cute J-pop song played in the background. However, the cake dog was not even halfway toward the ring when his mode of transportation fell on its side along with him. And as if this was all part of the plan, he gave the crowd a sweet smile and waved his arm, squealing, “Ta-da!”

Hearts formed in the audience's eyes as they all clapped and shouted a collective, “Aw!” Machop groaning, “Seriously, Clawitzer's entrance gets nothing and he gets a million cheers for screwing up. I swear to god, if this guy makes it to the finals, I might just hurl.”

Slurpuff happily skipped toward the ring while the music still played and leapt up into the air. But much like in the first round, he tripped over the top rope and fell on his face, squeaking, “I fell down again!”

The crowd cheered even louder as one teenaged girl shouted, “HAVE MY CHILDREN!” Isamu staring in stunned silence and uttering, “I was wondering when someone would say that, to be honest.”

Clawitzer narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'Yeah, just keep acting all cutesy-wootsy. Unlike these people, we can all see through it. You've had a good run, but it's finally time you meet your match.'

“Just think,” Gallador groaned, “I could have wound up facing that guy in the finals,” as Machop sighed, “Assuming Clawitzer loses, but I just know she can win this.”

“Well, the combatants are set,” Yuki stated, “So, without further ado, let us begin.”

And once the bell was rung, Clawitzer held up a defensive stance and said, “You know what, Slurpuff? You've been such a good sport up until now that I think I'll give you the first hit,” the cake dog's eyes sparkling as he bounced up and down, squealing, “You mean it!? You're so nice!”

“Finally, a polite opponent,” one of his fans said as another added, “I know. Torchic and Delphox were just so rude,” Machop and her friends not even sure if they should bring up the hypocrisy of their statements or not.

However, a few of them were more distracted by what Clawitzer had said. They could tell she did not mean a word of it, but would Slurpuff truly be dumb enough for fall for it?

It seemed so as he stretched one side of his hair in front of his face with the end in the shape of a sphere. He then formed what looked like a hammer with the other side of his hair, shifting it behind his head. He then sent it forward into the ball and shouted, “FROSTING KENDAMA!”

Clawitzer smirked upon seeing this and easily dodge to the side, the crowd gasping as the shrimp then threw her open claw into the hair. Everyone was confused until she said, “You know, your hair is a just a little too long. I think it needs a trim.”

With that in mind, she clamped down on the hair, all going silent as she managed to cut it open. As such, the frosting sphere fell onto the mat and melted, forming a sticky pile.

“I can't believe it,” Yuki uttered, “It's actually possible to cut Slurpuff's hair, and Clawitzer has taken full advantage of this,” Machop blinking and uttering, “Honestly, I wasn't really expecting her to do that.”

“Yeah, that was quite a risky move,” Lairon said with his arms folded, “I thought for sure that if she tried to do that, her claw would stick to it.”

However, it seemed not all was well as when the hair returned to Slurpuff's side, he released light tears and cried, his fans all gasping as one spat, “YOU MONSTER!”

Another nodded and barked, “You're a horrible person, Clawitzer! Shame on you!” even the Swiss fans joining in as the shrimp gulped and tried her best to ignore this. After all, she knew this would happen, though she had not expected Slurpuff to break out into tears.

As such, she held her arm out and said, “Um, look, I'm sorry, kid, but it's okay. I'm sure it'll grow back.”

“CLAWITZER, LOOK OUT!” Isamu spat as the shrimp's eyes widened, the crowd just as shocked when the hair rose up, Slurpuff drying his tears winking, squealing, “Just kidding!”

The shrimp was unable to respond as the frosting flew into her, trapping her in place as Slurpuff stretched his hair out, reattaching it to the material. He then pulled back hard enough to pull the hair off of her while also causing her to spin into the turnbuckle, shouting, “FROSTING PINWHEEL!”

The crowd cheered as Nori uttered, “Oh my god, it's just like Ninetales only I probably should have seen it coming,” as Beedrill nodded and replied, “Honestly, I'm kinda surprised I didn't suspect he'd have such an ability.”

And with Clawitzer distracted, Slurpuff pointed his skull toward her and shouted, “CHERRY BOMB!” launching his cherry into her back. After all that talk, after all that preparation, she was still the first one to take in any damage in this match.

'Dammit!' she thought, 'My plan was to get rid of his hair so he couldn't use most of his attacks anymore. It seemed even with the right tool, it's impossible, but what can I do?'

She then remembered Jackalu in the hospital and how much he had wanted this match. She had promised not to let his loss be in vain and if she was to do that, she would need to do what Delphox tried to do.

As such, she took a deep breath and climbed onto a turnbuckle, everyone staring as Machop uttered, “That's kinda risky, isn't it?”

“Normally, yes,” Lairon replied, “It's often best to save moves like this for when an opponent is down. But I have a funny feeling Clawitzer might have something else in mind.”

And it seemed the dinosaur was correct as Clawitzer leapt off of the pole with her claws next to each other over her head. She then started to spin before shifting her body so the claws were facing Slurpuff as she flew toward him while shouting, “CRAB CLAW DRILL!”

Slurpuff looked fully confident as Delphox had tried this same move on him in round two. As such, he figured using the same method he had used on her would be the best idea and thus shot his hair toward her, wrapping it around her and using all his might to force her back. However, the crowd was shocked when not only did the shrimp manage to overpower his push but also wound up breaking the frosting open with her momentum.

“YES!” Eiko squealed as Kelani clapped happily, Slurpuff unable to respond as Clawitzer's claws ran into his forehead, putting a small hole on it and drawing his jam-like blood. All went silent among the crowd as the cake dog fell on his back, his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth as a small child stared in horror as if this was the first time he took in damage like this.

'No, I won't let that get to me!' Clawitzer thought as she rose her claw, 'I knew this was going to happen!'

With that in mind, the shrimp sent her claw hard into Slurpuff's face while shouting, “CRABHAMMER!” her friends cheering as Rinko exclaimed, “Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!”

But just as it looked like Clawitzer would send in another one, it seemed she had forgotten one detail as the crowd watched in anticipation. After breaking free from Slurpuff's hair, she had broken the segments that bound her into small fragments. As such, they had all formed into little piles of frosting as they rose up into the air, Machop barking, “Hey, Clawitzer, behind you!”

But just like before, the shrimp had heard the warning too late as two of the lumps flew into her wrists. Another one bound itself to her midsection while two others latched onto her legs. And to make matters worse, Slurpuff had managed to ignore the pain dealt to him earlier and opened his eyes with his usual cute smile.

Clawitzer tried desperately to break free, but since she was no longer moving quickly, she had just as much trouble as Torchic and Delphox before her. And to make matters worse, Slurpuff spread out the rest of his hair into five thick ropes, latching each one onto a different fragment.

“Gosh, you sure are strong,” he squealed with a light giggle, “But you sure are forgetful,” as the shrimp groaned, wishing he would not sound so casual when saying something like that.

Slurpuff then proceeded to lift Clawitzer high above his head, spinning her around while shouting, “FROSTING PIZZA!” releasing his hold on the parts that were bound and letting her fly into the air while spinning. And as she descended, he formed a spike on the end of each section as the shrimp's back, arms and legs made contact thus causing her to cough up blue blood.

The crowd went wild as Slurpuff's assault did not end. Rather than allowing Clawitzer to fall, he combined all five spikes into a big one and shifted them around in a circular motion, spinning the shrimp around as blood started to drip from her back.

“This is fun!” the cake dog squealed as Machop gritted her teeth and snapped, “COME ON, CLAWITZER, FIGHT BACK! YOU'RE SO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS! COMPARED TO JACKALU, THIS GUY IS NOTHING!”

The others nodded and gave their own words of encouragement as the shrimp's eyes widened. Sure, the crowd was glaring at them for saying such things, but right now, none of that mattered to them. As long as their friend could turn things around, that was good enough.

Hearing these words, Clawitzer nodded and ignored the pain while lowering her right arm. She then opened up her pincers and used them to cut open the material, Slurpuff blinking as this was more than enough to cause him to drop her.

The shrimp took full advantage of this as she spun her body with her claw sticking outward. And before Slurpuff could even respond, he wound up taking a hard blow to his skull as the shrimp shouted, “CRABHAMMER!” causing him to once again fall on his back.

However, unlike before, she remembered the fragment of frosting that she had cut. As such, before it hit the mat, she held out her left arm and allowed her small claw to grab it, tossing it back to where it came from. After all, as long as it was still attached to Slurpuff's head, there was no way it could surprise her with a sneak attack.

Just like before, only Machop and the others were cheering while everyone else was praying for Slurpuff to recover. But after seeing him get out of spots like this so many times before, Clawitzer refused to let that happen as she sent one last strike to his face. As much as she wanted to go beyond that, she knew better than to stay close to the cake dog while he was down and thus she leapt away from him, waiting for him to rise to his feet.

'I've seen enough of your tricks,' Clawitzer thought, 'That hair reattachment was surprising, but now that I've seen that in action, I'm more than ready to end this match.'

“Things were looking rough, but Clawitzer has managed to escape from a very deadly move,” Yuki stated, “And things get better for her as she lands her devastating Crabhammer.”

However, it seemed Slurpuff was not in the least bit intimidated as he got back up, beamed and said, “You sure are smart, but you're not the only one who can break my hair.”

The crowd was confused by these words until the cake dog formed two big fists with the sides of his hair, reeled it back and shouted, “FROSTING BOXING GLOVES!” before shooting the hair forward.

What shocked the crowd and Clawitzer was that after two seconds, the fists separated from the rest of the hair. However, the shrimp refused to let these hit her as she leaned backward, allowing them to fly over her and latch onto the ropes.

“I'll admit, that did catch me off guard, but that's hardly enough-” Clawitzer said only to be cut off when the frosting bounced off of the ropes, the fists forming again and hitting the backs of her shoulders. As such, she fell forward and landed on her chin, Machop and the others groaning in response to this.

“Just when we think we've figured him out, he finds a new way to surprise us,” Garchomp growled as Meloetta whimpered, “Clawitzer can still win, right?”

It seemed this might not be the case as Slurpuff leapt onto the shrimp's back after the sides of his hair reconnected with the rest of it. He then placed those very spots against Clawitzer's chin and pulled upward, bending her back as he beamed bright and squealed, “This is fun!”

Needless to say, Clawitzer would need to find a way out of this otherwise she would surely meet the same fate as Torchic and Delphox. But could she possibly defeat an opponent this unpredictable?

 

Just as it seemed like Clawitzer had finally figured out Slurpuff's tactics, she was caught off guard by another surprising tactic. As if that was not enough, now she was on the receiving end of a camel clutch. What could she possibly do?

“This is just painful,” Machop groaned as Isamu patted her on the shoulder and sighed, “Don't lose faith yet. Don't forget, we've seen her deal with worse. I'm sure she can get out of this.”

Jackalu, meanwhile, watched this from the hospital with his teeth gritted, growling, “Come on, Clawitzer. Are you really going to let something as simple as this defeat you? Slurpuff may be good, but he's nothing more than a plump pastry.”

And after a few seconds, Clawitzer seemed to realize this as she grunted, “You may be full of surprises, but you're not the only one!” as she lifting up her right arm and snipped that side of the hair in half. Before Slurpuff could even react, the shrimp rolled over to the side and sent her claw into his cheek, causing him to cough up a bit of blood and fall on his side.

This caused a member of the Swiss crowd to regain his senses as he grinned and exclaimed, “Way to go, Clawitzer!” another joining in and barking, “Keep it up!”

“Yeah, don't let him get the drop on you again!” Machop shouted as the shrimp nodded and smiled.

With that in mind, she picked up the clod of frosting left behind and reattached it to Slurpuff's hair so it would not rise up and attack her. And after that, she lifted the cake dog up and planted her left claw into his back, using her big claw to latch onto his stubby arm.

The cake dog whimpered in response to this as the Swiss fans were resisting the temptation to support him again. All the while, the rest of the crowd booed her as a teenaged girl spat, “Come on, Slurpuff! Get out of that!”

“As if I'd let him!” Clawitzer retorted as she leapt into the air and leaned backward, planting the back of Slurpuff's head into the canvas and shouting, “VICE LANCE SUPLEX!”

This caused him to cough up more blood as Machop and her friends cheered wildly, Nori exclaiming, “And once again, not only does Clawitzer manage to escape from Slurpuff's grip, but she also manages to land the very move that ended Jackalu's winning streak! If only he could witness this!”

Meanwhile, in the hospital, Jackalu had a big smile on his face as he thought, 'Great job, Clawitzer. You got this one in the bag. I just know it.'

And it seemed like she really could win this as before Slurpuff could even recover, she used this opportunity to deliver a strike with her big claw to his gut, causing him to cough up more blood. As such, the Swiss fans went wild as Rinko exclaimed, “YEAH, KEEP IT UP! YOU'RE AWESOME!”

'Before, it would have been dangerous to try this, but I can just feel that you're too weak to retaliate,' Clawitzer thought before landing another hit as Nori stated, “And it seems that suplex has taken a lot out of Slurpuff as all he can do is lie there and take in a series of Crabhammers.”

“You know, this has to be the first time Slurpuff has taken in a slam move throughout the Olympics,” Yuki added as Nori blinked and replied, “You're right, it is.”

The rest of the crowd was mortified as even Delphox had not come close to dealing this much damage. But even so, it truly looked like the cake dog would finally lose and Clawitzer and Machop would face off in the finals.

After delivering six hits, Clawitzer lifted up her arm once more and barked, “Watch this, everyone, as this last hit will put Slurpuff out of commission for good!” but just as she sent it downward, her eyes widened when the cake dog's hair moved in front of his face, binding onto her claw and preventing it from going further.

Nervous sweat poured down the shrimp's face as Slurpuff briefly formed a wicked look in his eyes, saying, “I'll admit, I'm actually impressed,” before reverting to his usual look and adding, “It's my turn now!”

'What the hell was that?' Clawitzer thought with terror in her expression, 'I've never seen that look from him before! No, there's just no way!'

Before she could contemplate this further, Slurpuff lifted her up and rose to his feet as the majority of the crowd cheered wildly, his fangirls waving pom-poms while chanting, “Slurpuff, Slurpuff, he's our guy! He'll kick some ass, we'll tell you why! Slurpuff, Slurpuff, he's so cool! This tournament's what he will rule! Go Slurpuff!”

Before Clawitzer could even think of a way out of this, Slurpuff squealed, “FROSTING WHACK-A-MOLE!” ramming her face into the canvas before flinging her high above the ring. He then proceeded to leap high above her level before wrapping his hair around himself, forming a perfect sphere.

“And after getting the upper hand back, Slurpuff sets up the move that defeated Torchic,” Nori stated as Kelani whimpered in terror, Meloetta really hoping this would turn out well.

Unfortunately, Clawitzer could not think of a way out of this as the cake dog exclaimed, “CAKE POP CRUSHER!” planting himself into her back and sending her belly hard into the canvas. The shrimp coughed up blood as the Swiss fans panicked, the rest of the crowd cheering wildly once more.

“COME ON!” Machop cried out with irritation in her eyes, “She was so close!” Isamu patting her on the shoulder and sighing, “I really hope she can get another advantage like that.”

“Well, look on the bright side,” Noboru replied with a grin, “At least Slurpuff's not a villain like Ditta,” Hana nodding and saying, “He's right.”

Even so, the group really hoped Clawitzer could recover as Slurpuff formed a hammer-like shape with his hair. He then proceeded to send it into her back as she coughed up more blood, squealing, “Well, you got to beat me up while I was down! I figure I may as well have a turn!”

He then proceeded to strike her a second time, the shrimp unable to respond as Machop gritted her teeth, getting up and barking, “Come on, Clawitzer! You're so much better than this!” the others nodding as Rinko added, “I know you can do it! You've found a way around almost every one of his tactics! Surely you can bypass this one as well!”

The shrimp's eyes widened as she took in a third hit to her back, Slurpuff clapping his arms against his sides while singing, “I'm hammering the nail in, hammering the nail in! Hammer, hammer, hammering! Hammering the nail!” hitting her again.

Unfortunately for him, Clawitzer had started to ignore the pain now as she narrowed her eyelids, growling, “Don't count me out just yet!” as she rolled over onto her back and held out her arms, grabbing the hair the next time it can for her.

However, all this did was result in her claws getting stuck in the frosting. But just as it seemed like the shrimp had doomed herself, it seemed she fully intended on this as she let out a loud battle cry, throwing her arms backward and pulling Slurpuff over herself. The crowd gasped as his back made contact with the canvas, Clawitzer propelling herself into the air and flipping one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, her belly hitting the cake dog's as he squeaked in pain.

The Swiss fans cheered as the shrimp leapt off of Slurpuff, keeping her distance. After all, at this point, she could not afford to make another mistake.

Slurpuff's fangirls all stared in horror until he pushed himself up and breathed lightly with his tongue sticking out, and no one could blame him for his exhaustion. While this match had not lasted as long as his match with Delphox quite yet, Clawitzer was proving herself to be a much bigger challenge, especially with her vastly superior physical strength. If anything, the fact that the cake dog was still able to stand felt like a miracle.

And yet despite this being the first time he found himself panting during a match, he still had a big smile on his face. Was this an act or was he actually happy with how things had played out so far? It was as if this whole event was one big game to him.

Even so, Clawitzer would not allow him to get the drop on her again as she held up a defensive stance, Venipede sighing, “I just want this match to end already. It's great that Clawitzer's doing such a good job, but Slurpuff just continues to act like all the pain he's taking in means nothing. It's unsettling.”

“I know what you mean,” Rinko replied with a nod of her head, “I know he's not a villain, yet he gives off these really bad vibes. What if it's the exact same case as Ditta?”

Noboru blinked and stroked his chin, Machop whimpering, “You know, that is a possibility. Daddy had to deal with this constantly back in the day. Every tournament he joined had at least one villain sneak in and pose as a hero. Who's to say the same thing isn't happening again?”

Clawitzer, however, refused to let Slurpuff's smile intimidate her. As such, she reading herself for whatever he had planned, the cake dog saying, “I have to admit, this has been a lot of fun.”

The shrimp saw this as nothing more than the sort of thing he usually said until he added, “I mean, I don't think I've ever met anyone who could hurt me this badly. I'm actually looking forward to seeing if you can deal even more pain to me. But mark my words. You can whale on me all you like, but you'll never beat me.”

Some members of his fanclub stared at him in confusion. After all, these were not the same cutesy words he normally spoke. But even so, hearing all of this accompanied by a cheery, high-pitched voice helped them ignore this fact as they all started to cheer him on again.

Clawitzer narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'Alright, my attacks are clearly taking a toll on him. I can't stop now,' and thus she sprinted toward him as he sent his hair toward her. Luckily, the shrimp saw this coming as she leapt over it with her claw stretched out, shouting, “CRABHAMMER HANDLE!”

But just as the attack was about to make contact with the cake dog's face, the shrimp found herself unable to fly further as unlike when Delphox tried this, Slurpuff moved his hair inward. As a result, while the ends had still missed Clawitzer, she was now trapped in the middle of each side like a sandwich's filling.

It seemed Slurpuff was thinking of that very analogy as he extended his hair to resemble to rectangular slices of bread. He then turned his hair sideways, placing the right side against the mat while Clawitzer tried desperately to free herself.

“COME ON!” Machop cried as Eiko squeaked, “Fight it! I know you can get out of that!”

Unfortunately, it was too late as Slurpuff lifted the left side of his hair up, shouting, “ICE CREAM SANDWICH SLAP!” sending it hard into Clawitzer's gut.

Despite the fact that she had just been hit by frosting, this managed to deal considerable pain as she coughed up blood. And it only got worse from there as Slurpuff had the rectangles fold inward, trapping her in place as if she had just been stuffed into a spring roll.

He then proceeded to lift her up, shouting, “FROSTING BASEBALL BAT!” swinging the middle of his hair into the turnbuckle. Since the material was so soft, Clawitzer wound up taking in pain as she grunted in pain, Slurpuff continuing his assault as he swung her into another one.

The Swiss fans stared in horror as the Turkish and Japanese crowd cheered wildly. Yuki, all the while, blinked and said, “It seems Slurpuff is just full of surprises. After blocking the move that defeated Dragalge, he has once again trapped Clawitzer in place, leaving her unable to fight back.

Jackalu bolted upright in his bed and spat, “CLAWITZER!” only for his back to crack as he groaned, “Oh, right! I shouldn't move right now!”

However, after a few seconds, he took many deep breaths and slowly pushed himself up, grunting, “No! I can't just lie here and watch her get her ass kicked! I'm gonna go and cheer her on!”

But no sooner after leaving his bed did his back give way, the dog crying out in agony as a nurse ran toward the area, gasping, “You need to stay in bed!”

Jackalu let down many tears as she held him up by his shoulders, the dog whimpering, “Please, you gotta take me to the Saitama Super Arena right now! She needs me!”

The nurse bit her lower lip before sighing, “Look, I can't let you do that. You still need your rest,” the dog nodding before asking, “Well, can you at least head there and give her this message? Or if you can't go, find someone who can.”

The woman could see just how serious he was about this as she nodded with a sweet smile, replying, “Okay. I can at least do that much,” Jackalu replying, “Thank you so much.”

While he told the woman the message he wanted her to send, Clawitzer took in a hard blow to her back as she was once again swung into the turnbuckle. All the while, Slurpuff was laughing with delight and squealing, “This is so much fun!”

Machop gritted her teeth and growled, “Okay, now I really wish I was the one fighting him right now!” as Isamu let out a sigh and groaned, “No kidding. Clawitzer can't do a thing.”

Suddenly, Vigoroth rose up and spat, “I'm not gonna stand for this! Are you!?” Meloetta shaking her head as she squeaked, “Come on, Clawitzer! I know you can get out of that!”

She then pumped her fist up and down while chanting, “Clawitzer! Clawitzer!” as Vigoroth nodded and started shouting her name as well.

Soon enough, the others joined in as did the Swiss fans. Hearing these words brought light tears to the shrimp's eyes as she thought, 'As much as I knew I would have to ignore my lack of support, it's so nice to at least have my country cheer for me. There's no way I can let them or anyone else down.'

With that in mind, she sported a more serious look as she let out a loud battle cry, Slurpuff actually looking scared for the time time as she used her arms to push hard against his frosting. And after a while, she managed to push it open just enough to slip out of it, taking many deep breaths as her fans and friends cheered wildly.

“Just as all seemed lost again, Clawitzer has managed to escape from her bindings!” Yuki exclaimed.

And the shrimp fully intended to take advantage of this as she leapt toward the spellbound Slurpuff, shouting, “CRABHAMMER HANDLE!” ramming her claw hard into his face and knocking him on his back as he coughed up blood.

“CLAWITZER'S SO COOL!” Machop shouted with a grin as Kelani nodded and cheered, “Yay, Clawitzer!”

But just as it seemed like the shrimp had the upper hand back, her eyes widened when she looked at the sides of Slurpuff's hair. A big chunk was missing from each and she would soon find out why as one big clump of frosting and two smaller ones fell from the sky, one hitting her legs and the other two covering her claws.

Things would only get worse from here as Slurpuff ignored the pain to his face and beamed. He then reattached the rest of his hair to the clumps and rose back to his feet, lifting the shrimp up and flipping her upside-down. He then proceeded to pull on the parts he had bound as her back started to bend.

Clawitzer cried out in pain as Machop growled, “Dammit! Every single time!” as Lairon sighed, “I know. Slurpuff just keeps pulling out one new ability after the next.”

As if the pain dealt to Clawitzer's back was not bad enough, her claws had been covered and bound in place. As such, she could no longer rely on them to free herself. But even with that in mind, she tried her best to pry her arms out, pulling hard with a look of concentration on her face.

But just as it looked like all was long, a car pulled up outside of the arena. As it so happened, this belonged to the nurse as she exited and ran toward the entrance, hoping it was not too late to relay Jackalu's message.

Slurpuff applied more pressure to Clawitzer's back as she cried out in pain once more. She continued to try and pry her claws out of the frosting but to no avail as Machop and her friends cheered her on along with the Swiss fans.

Unfortunately, the shrimp was running low on energy after everything she had done as he breathed heavily, sweat pouring down her body. She then turned to the crowd and sighed, “Thanks for all the support, but I don't think I can get out of this. Machop, remember what you've seen from Slurpuff and use that to your advantage because it's pretty clear who the winner of this match is.”

“HOLD IT!” came a feminine voice as everyone turned toward the entrance to see the nurse standing right there and breathing heavily before barking, “I have a message for you from Jackalu!”

“He's awake!?” Clawitzer retorted as Slurpuff stared at the nurse, thinking, 'Oh, hell no! You are not going to ruin everything for me!'

However, he could not attack her without being penalized as she stated, “Jackalu's been watching this match since it began! He wanted me to tell you that you should never stop trying! As long as there's even an ounce of fight left in you, you can do anything!”

Clawitzer let down light tears as even the crowd was invested in this, Machop smiling sweetly as the nurse added, “He also wanted me to tell you that, um,” pulling out a sheet of paper and barking, “You're saucesome!”

She then blinked with confusion and uttered, “Saucesome? What does that mean?” as Clawitzer chuckled and said, “Thanks, Jackalu. You're saucesome too, and I'll make sure you see me win.”

'No!' Slurpuff thought, trying his best to maintain a happy look as the shrimp let out a loud battle cry, pulling extra hard. The Swiss fans went wild when they noticed her claws start to slip free from the frosting, the cake dog tightening his grip.

“Yeah, get out of that!” Isamu barked as Meloetta added, “Show him what you're made of!”

“Let him know who the real winner is!” Vigoroth spat, Eiko and Kelani chanting Clawitzer's name.

And soon enough, the area erupted with cheers and chants, even the Turkish and Japanese crowd unsure of how to feel. As much as Slurpuff's cuteness entranced them, the fact that Jackalu had done his absolute best to get this message to the shrimp was touching, even if the last part of it was childish.

But despite all of the support from the crowd along with Clawitzer's efforts, it seemed all of this had expelled her energy as her eyes widened, a light gasp escaping her mouth. And with that, she closed her eyes as her pulling came to a halt, everyone staring in horror as Slurpuff beamed and squealed, “YIPPEE! NOW I CAN SHOW YOU MY SUPER DUPER FINISHER!”

At that moment, all of the cake dog's fans smiled with big hearts in their eyes, exclaiming, “YES, PLEASE! BLOW US AWAY!”

Slurpuff nodded and proceeded to wrap his hair all around Clawitzer. All the while, Yuki stated, “And with Clawitzer unable to fight back, Slurpuff is ready to end this for good.”

Her eyes then widened as she asked, “Wait, is that legal? His opponent is clearly unconscious!” as Beedrill blinked and uttered, “Now that you mention it-”

But just as he was about to ring and bell stop Slurpuff from adding to the pain, he noticed one of Clawitzer's eyes open as he shrugged and replied, “I stand corrected. She still has some fight left.”

Unfortunately, this was not enough as Slurpuff leapt high above the ring, aiming the shrimp's skull toward the canvas while embracing his hair. Machop and her friends watched in horror as the cake dog squealed, “BURRITO DRIVER!”

He then descended toward the mat as Clawitzer's head soon made contact. And with that, her energy had left her for good as her eyes closed up once more, Slurpuff unwrapping her and allowing her to collapse. And while it seemed unnecessary, Yuki had no choice but to start the ten count.

The Swiss fans along with Clawitzer's friends stared in stunned silence. They knew there was nothing she could do at this point yet they still wished she could get up.

And sure enough, Yuki reached ten as she rang the bell and exclaimed, “And after a very brutal match, Slurpuff is our winner and will fight Machop in the finals!” the majority of the crowd going wild as Machop tensed up, Isamu rubbing her shoulder with a light smile.

However, even he could not feel completely calm right now as Slurpuff bounced up and down, squealing, “YAY! I'M NUMBER ONE! I'M NUMBER ONE!” most teenaged girls in the crowd sighing, “We love you, Slurpuff!”

Jackalu's eyes and mouth were wide with horror as he watched this from his hospital bed. Light tears rolled down his cheeks as he soon replaced it with a smile, thinking, 'Don't feel too bad about this, Clawitzer. You did an amazing job.'

The nurse, however, did not seem to think so as she let out a disappointed sigh. It seemed her efforts were in vain as no one else could believe what they had seen either. It made sense, but they still had trouble accepting it.

Medics rushed into the ring to load Clawitzer up on a stretcher as Slurpuff waved happily at Machop, squealing, “I'm super excited for our match!” as the girl shuddered and groaned, “Now I'm dreading the finals even more.”

“It's alright,” Isamu replied with a warm smile, “I know you can do it.”

Once Clawitzer and Slurpuff were out of the ring, Beedrill took a deep breath and stated, “Well, folks, that concludes the semi-finals. The final match will take place in the Tokyo Dome a week from now, meaning our finalists will have plenty of time to prepare themselves. We hope to see you there.”

With all said and done, everyone was ready to head off as Machop took a deep breath and sported a more serious expression. She then turned to Lairon and said, “I'm gonna need as much help as I can get,” the dinosaur nodding and replying, “But of course. Garchomp and I will make sure you're more than prepared for this.”

Machop gave them each a sweet smile as Isamu gave her a peck on the cheek and a thumb up. With that, the girl started to feel more confident, but even so, she knew defeating someone like Slurpuff would not be easy.

 

With one week to go before the Olympic finals, things were intense. As much as Machop would have loved to spend some time with her friends, she figured using this time for training was a much better idea.

Currently, she was sparring with Garchomp while Isamu, Eiko, Kelani and Meloetta sat on the sidelines to watch. Lairon would have been there, but since the wait from now to the finals was long enough, he had to work. But despite that, Machop was doing a good job as she managed to dodge every one of the dragon's techniques.

Garchomp took a few deep breaths as the others gave her a round of applause, Machop grinning cutely until the dragon said, “You know, I think you're already good enough not to need basic training.”

“What do you mean?” Machop asked as Garchomp sighed, “Well, you've seen Slurpuff in action plenty of times. He has a wide variety of techniques, all but one involving that hair of his. The worst part is that, well, most of these I'm not even sure if we can properly emulate.”

“Don't forget, once that hair grabs you, it'll be a nightmare trying to get out of it,” Isamu added as the girl cast him a glance. The boy tensed up as Eiko laughed nervously, saying, “He has a point there.”

Machop then let out a sigh as she said, “You're right. Of all the opponents I've faced, this is probably the only one neither you nor Lairon can emulate. In fact, I'm not even really sure if all the training in the world could prepare me for that hair.”

Garchomp shook her head and replied, “Well, I wouldn't completely say that. You've seen a huge number of abilities from him. I'm not sure how much he can possibly surprise us at this point. If anything, I think all you really need to do is remember what you've seen and base a strategy around that. Take some time to think of ways around his techniques. From what we've seen, I think it's safe to say the best tactic against Slurpuff is not to let him catch you.”

Kelani blinked and said, “I thought the best way to beat him would be to eat his hair,” everyone staring as Eiko laughed nervously and uttered, “As ideal as that sounds, I don't think eating that much frosting would be good for your health.”

“Not to mention it's probably poisonous or something along those lines,” Isamu replied with a shrug, “Besides, he's not a villain, so if Machop were to destroy his hair permanently, he wouldn't be able to fight evil in the future. We're trying to avoid that kind of outcome.”

Kelani nodded and looked down with a sad look in his eyes. Eiko giggled in response and ruffled the fur atop his head with a sweet smile, this seeming to cheer him up right away.

Machop took a quick breath before smiling and saying, “Yeah, I'm sure I can win this. I just need to do the best I can.”

Garchomp grinned before asking, “By the way, Machop, you know the crowd is likely going to boo you, and not just the Turkish fans for doing a good job, right?” the girl nodding and replying, “Yeah, I know. And don't worry about a thing. I'm mentally prepared to deal with that. Delphox and Clawitzer had no problem ignoring that, so I will too.”

“Perfect,” the dragon replied with a sigh of relief, “That's one less problem to worry about. You'll need all the focus you can get. Lord knows how Slurpuff is preparing for this match.”

During this time, the cake dog in question was currently at a fast food restaurant with a legion of fangirls by his side. All of them had hearts in their eyes while a news reporter was currently giving him an interview.

“How does it feel having made it to the finals?” he asked as Slurpuff beamed and squealed, “It's so cool! I beat up all those other guys and now I might actually win the championship!”

“About that,” the man enquired, “How will you go about your match with Machop? I'm sure you're already aware of this, but she has a stellar reputation. It's true that she lost her first match on Earth, but she has defeated every other opponent she's faced since then. Her family has a reputation for taking in all kinds of damage and still being able to get up. In fact, I'm sure you've seen that at work throughout this tournament so far, yes?”

Slurpuff nodded and replied, “Yeah, she's really, really strong, but I'm pretty sure I'll win anyway. But even if I lose, it's okay, because something my mommy always taught me is that it's not whether you win or lose. It's how you play the game.”

He then winked at the camera as his fangirls all sighed, “That's so true, isn't it!?” the reporter wanting to gag, and yet something about Slurpuff's face made him think that maybe he should be just as enchanted as the others.

And before he knew it, he was having lunch along with them, feeling happy to know that the teenaged girls were paying for all of it with their allowance money. After all, Slurpuff would have much rather not spent his own, but why? It was common knowledge that heroes were given a fairly big weekly allowance by Hero Planet's government in exchange for their services, so it was not as if he could not afford this.

Whatever the case, no one would dare question the mentality of someone so adorable and seemingly innocent. Right now, all that mattered to them was that he defeat Machop and win the championship.

All the while, Torchic had left the hospital not too long ago and was walking with Vigoroth, sighing, “It's a shame I had to come out now of all times. I would have loved to have spent some time with Machop,” as the sloth shrugged and replied, “I know, but remember, she has to focus on this tournament above all else. Once it's all over, we can get back to just hanging out and waiting for the next villain to show up.”

“I really hope she mops the floor with that Slurpuff,” the chicken growled, “I wanted to at least make it past the first round! Seriously, if he hadn't used his charms to turn the crowd against me and distract me, I probably would have won!”

“Easy does it,” Vigoroth uttered with a nervous laugh while patting her on the shoulder, “Don't feel too bad. Both Delphox and Clawitzer ignored the jeers of the crowd and they still lost. Besides, better to have your first major loss be to a hero than a villain, right?”

Torchic let out a sigh and nodded, replying, “Guess you're right. As long as Machop cleans his clock, I'll be fine.”

Meanwhile, Jackalu still had not made a full recovery, but Clawitzer had been moved to the same room as him. The dog looked at the curtain between them and sighed. If anything, he wished she could be awake right now so he could talk to her, but unfortunately, her beating from Slurpuff was far worse than what Torchic and Delphox endured.

He also really hoped Machop would be okay. He had seen her pull off some amazing things so far and yet he was still unsure about Slurpuff. Despite being a fellow hero, he seemed not only more powerful but also more dangerous than any villain the girl had faced. It was not just his abilities but also how sweet he always acted. Something about it was unnerving.

Either way, the dog had full confidence in her. After all, she had the Mach family spirit, something that had rarely ever been broken. And so far, it had already proven itself a force to be reckoned with.

During this time, Sneasel, Gigalith and Gyarados were on a walk as the serpent smirked and said, “So Machop showed you the light as well, eh?”

“Yeah, she's pretty amazing, isn't she?” the cat replied with a grin before sighing, “Still, that Slurpuff's kinda scary. Do any of you know him?”

Gigalith shook his head as Gyarados sighed, “If you're asking if I ever met him during my time as a villain, then no.”

She then blinked and added, “You know, we haven't spent any time with Machop since we got here. I'm sure she can spare a few minutes,” Gigalith perking up as Sneasel shrugged and replied, “If anything, we can probably help her train. After the way he ruined my chance, I wanna see him pay.”

“To his defence, you did attack first,” Gyarados uttered, Gigalith folding his arms and nodding as the cat laughed nervously, though the serpent still wanted to see the cake dog go down. Much like some of the others, she could just tell that there was something off about him.

“Say,” Sneasel suddenly suggested, “what say we pay Machop a visit right now? With all her training, she probably hasn't left the house yet.”

“Yeah, but I don't know the address,” Gyarados groaned, “All she's told me is that she's living with Lairon and Garchomp,” as Sneasel sighed, “Dammit. We really should have asked her about that. I don't even know her cell number.”

Gigalith blinked and lifted up his right hand as if he was holding up a book, using his left hand to make a page turning motion. Sneasel nodded and said, “Hey, you're right, they might be in the White Pages,” as Gyarados blinked and uttered, “That's what he was trying to get across?”

After another hour, Machop was taking a break as Meloetta had helped Garchomp make a light lunch. Machop had a big smile on her face as she said, “Excellent as always,” Eri all the while playing with Kelani, who had eaten his quickly.

“It's still weird seeing that,” Isamu uttered as he watched the doberman rub the collie's tummy, Eiko shrugging and replying, “Yeah, whenever I see them together, I have to remind myself which of them is more fully evolved.”

At that moment, the doorbell rang as Garchomp blinked and said, “I wonder who it could be,” as she got up from her seat and headed toward the door. And upon opening it, she grinned when she saw Gyarados, Sneasel and Gigalith there.

It was not long until all three were seated on the couch and visiting with the others. It had been a bit of a hassle for Gigalith to get in, but he ultimately found a way to fit through the door.

“Seriously,” Gyarados said with a grin, “I'm not the least bit surprised to see you in the finals. If I can see anyone winning the championship, it's you,” Machop smiling lightly and replying, “Well, it was very close, but thanks.”

“By the way, sorry we couldn't exactly be there to see those matches,” Sneasel said, “Every time we tried to come, Gigalith would stop to help random people in the streets. By the time we'd show up, they were already jam packed, so we watched them in our hotel suite.”

“Oh, okay,” Machop replied with a shrug, “I'm just glad you managed to see them,” as Gyarados nodded and said, “Well, at least I got to see your match with Garbodor up close. Your ability to turn disadvantages in your favour astounds me. Whenever people tell me you lost your first match here, I have so much trouble believing it.”

“Same here,” Eiko replied as Isamu nodded and added, “Yeah, Machop's just too amazing for that.”

Machop laughed nervously and replied, “If you knew the kind of fighter I was back then, you'd understand,” before smiling at Garchomp and adding, “Thanks to you and Lairon, I'm in the finals.”

The dragon laughed as the group continued their conversation for another half-hour. As much as Machop would have loved to talk more, she also wanted to get back to training soon, thus the trio decided to help out. After all, they were youthful and thus would have made for much more challenging sparring partners, especially Gigalith with his big stone body.

Machop started off with Sneasel. After having faced her before, it was a lot easier for her to dodge her attacks. As a result, she ended up dominating as the cat eventually gave up, giving her a right claw up.

Gyarados, meanwhile, proved to be a bit more of a challenge due to her newly-acquired abilities, but Machop ultimately managed to defeat her. And while Gigalith proved much more of a challenge, the girl still managed to overcome him, though he came close to defeating her.

The others applauded her as Isamu gave her a thumb up, saying, “Oh yeah, you're more than ready for this,” the girl blushing lightly and replying, “I really hope so. It's just not as easy when we can't replicate his signature moves. I'd love to be able to at least practise ways to counter them, but, yeah, unlike my past opponents, it's kinda hard to find a way to emulate him, especially when his hair is made of a sticky substance.”

Either way, Machop was glad the trio had come over to help. At the very least, she felt more confident. But at the same time, she knew it would be tough.

After two more hours, Isamu, Eiko and Kelani needed to head home and thus gave her a friendly goodbye. Of course, the boy stopped to share a brief kiss with Machop, wishing her the best and promising to visit her every chance he got. After all, he wanted to give her all the support he could, even if he was not strong enough to spar with her like Rinko was.

When Lairon finally arrived home from work roughly one hour later, he and Machop had a few rounds of their own. Somewhere in the middle of it, Garchomp opened the door to the yard and said, “Hey, we've got another guest.”

“Another guest?” the dinosaur asked as Machop nodded, Gallador entering the area and saying, “Hey, Machop. How's training going?”

Machop grinned and squealed, “It's going well! Did you stop on by to help me prepare myself?”

“Well, that's part of why I came here,” the white boy replied, “Since we're not going to have an official match, I was thinking maybe we could have a match right here and now. Not only will we finally find out which of us truly is better, but I think it would really help you prepare yourself for the big match, wouldn't you say?”

Machop blinked and turned to Lairon. The dinosaur folded his arms and grinned, saying, “I think it's a good idea. After all, he was supposed to be your semi-finals opponent and you've still got six days after this one to prepare yourself.”

Gallador and Machop were both really happy to hear this as the white boy gave her a smirk and held up his arms, asking, “So, you feel up to it right now?”

“Well, actually, I just got done sparring,” Machop uttered only for the white boy to charge at her, exclaiming, “Well then, if you can defeat me in your current state, you'll definitely be ready for Slurpuff!”

Machop's eyes widened as she took in a flying kick to her face, Lairon stepping to the side and exclaiming, “It would seem that Gallador has started this match early!” before knocking on the wall twice as if he was ringing a bell.

Garchomp gasped at the sight of this and grinned, sitting cross-legged and saying, “This is exciting,” as Meloetta and Eri entered the area, the green-haired girl asking, “What's going on?”

Machop gritted her teeth as the white boy sent another kick toward her. However, now that she knew what was going on, she would not allow him to land another hit, thus she allowed the foot to hit her before latching her arm to it.

Gallador's eyes widened as the girl swung him around, flinging him toward the tree. Unfortunately for her, the white boy was ready for this as he leaned his head backward, thus allowing his spike to hit it as opposed to the back of his head. However, he very quickly regretted it when he tried to pry himself out only to discover he had been lodged too far into it.

Machop saw a perfect opportunity as she raced toward him, taking hold of his ankles and folding them, Lairon exclaiming, “And it would seem Gallador's defensive manoeuvre has backfired as Machop takes full advantage of his current situation!”

Meloetta beamed as Machop applied just enough force to pry his head out without doing extra damage to the tree. She then leaned backward and planted the white boy's chin into the ground. But it seemed he was prepared for this as he wriggled her feet free from her grasp and wrapped his legs around her shoulders.

Machop's eyes widened as she found herself lifted up, her skull making contact with the ground as Gallador released his hold on her shoulders. But it did not end there as he took full advantage of this, flipping himself over and wrapping his legs around her neck for a figure-four headlock.

“Truly astounding!” Lairon stated, “Gallador hasn't even used his blades yet and still seems to have the upper hand,” the white boy laughing and asking, “What is this? Is this really the same cousin who pulled off all those impressive counters against someone using Machamp's abilities?”

“Unfortunately for you, I can escape from this easily,” Machop retorted with a smirk as she spun her body around. This caused Gallador to loosen his hold as she sprang to her feet, taking a deep breath with a smirk.

“I have to admit, that actually surprised me,” she said, “I don't think I've ever seen you fight quite like that before,” as Gallador nodded and remarked, “Well, I figured you'd already prepared yourself to deal with my regular moves.”

Machop grinned as she leapt toward him with her arm out, but just as it looked like she was going to land her Moon Hook, she gasped when Gallador held up his own arms with the blades facing forward. With that, not only did he block the incoming strike, but he also put two cuts her arm.

The girl cried out in pain as Gallador latched onto that very spot and said, “I thought for sure you'd have seen that coming,” before flipping her onto her back.

He then proceeded to leap into the air before flipping himself one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, his arm blades crossed and facing Machop's gut. But just as he was about to connect the move, Machop gasped and rolled out of the way just in time for his blades to put an X in the ground.

“What the hell?” Machop uttered, “I thought Ditta invented that move!” as Gallador nodded and replied, “I watched what happened before I arrived online, and I have to admit, this move is actually pretty cool.”

“Well, I would get on your case for borrowing a move from a villain, but then again, Uncle Gallade did the same thing with Bisharp's Swords Dance,” Machop replied with a shrug as Gallador nodded and added, “Any move can be good if in the right hands.”

Meloetta nodded and smiled lightly, saying, “I never really thought about that,” as Garchomp said, “He's right, too. Some would argue that it's shameful to rely on something a villain used, but if it helps protect the innocent, it's worth it.”

Gallador was not finished, though, as he stood on the tips of his feet and spun toward Machop with his blades pointed outward, shouting, “SWORDS DANCE!”

But just as he was about to strike the girl, she ducked down and sent a sweep kick into his ankles. As such, the white boy ended his assault, his eyes and mouth wide open as he just about fell on his back.

However, less than a second before that could happen, Machop latched onto his ankles and threw her arms downward, adding to the damage. She then proceeded to walk behind Gallador, lifting him up by the spike atop his head before latching onto his wrists and pulling back.

Garchomp clapped as Lairon exclaimed, “And it would seem Gallador has been set up for Machoke's last signature move!” and it appeared so as Machop leapt high into the air, latching onto the white boy's ankles and bending his back.

She then spun around like a twister, flipping herself one-hundred-and-eighty degrees. She then applied extra force, preventing Gallador from moving his head forward while shouting, “MUSCLE TORNADO!”

And sure enough, the white boy was unable to retaliate as his face made contact with the ground. Machop released her hold and allowed him to collapse, breathing heavily as Garchomp, Meloetta and Lairon all started a ten count.

Gallador's body twitched briefly, but ultimately stopped as the move had taken just enough out of him. And thus ten seconds were reached as Lairon pounded his fist against the wall and exclaimed, “And with that, Machop is our winner!” Meloetta and Garchomp giving her a round of applause.

Machop rose her arms in the air as Gallador regained just enough strength to slowly rise to his feet. He then rubbed his face and grinned, saying, “Wow, that was incredible.”

“I didn't apply too much pressure, did I?” the girl asked as he shook his head and replied, “Nope. That was just enough. And honestly, I'm just really glad we could have this match, especially since I'll be taking off tomorrow.”

“Wait, what!?” Machop squeaked as Gallador sighed, “Yeah, see, my partner wasn't so sure about me taking off for the Olympics, and I'm sure the more she goes without me to help her, the more worried she'll get. I figure as long as I'm not competing anymore, I may as well head on back to Bhopal.”

“Wait, you're living in India?” Machop uttered as the white boy nodded and chuckled, replying, “Now that you mention it, I probably should have told you a while ago.”

Either way, as much as Machop would have loved for her cousin to be there to cheer her on, she understood perfectly why he had to leave. Thus she shook his hand and gave him a nice goodbye, the white boy exiting the back yard and heading for the front door.

And once he was off, Machop suddenly thought of something as Lairon patted her on the shoulder and said, “You'd probably better rest after that fight. You can pick up on training tomorrow, but I'd hate for you to strain yourself.”

“Of course,” the girl replied as she headed up to her room, Meloetta smiling and saying, “Gallador's so nice. I wish I had a cousin like him.”

As Machop entered her room, she slumped down on her bed and pulled out her cell phone. She then took a deep breath and thought, 'I know it's gonna cost me, but this has to be done,' before dialling a few numbers.

After a while, she got a response as she grinned and squeaked, “Hi, Daddy! Is Mama there!?”

The girl listened to the reply before saying, “Right,” turning on the speaker as Gardevoir's voice came from the other end, saying, “Hi, Machop. I wasn't expecting to hear from you tonight.”

“No kidding,” Machoke added, “So, what's up? You know, we've been watching your matches on TV and we couldn't be more proud. The way you handled Ditta was amazing.”

“Yeah, about the tournament,” Machop said, “I was just wondering if you two were gonna be there to watch the match.”

“Well, of course,” the man replied, “A tradition with the Olympic finals is that six former Olympic participants must attend and your mother and I have been chosen along with Scyther. I believe Garchomp has to attend as well seeing as she fought Lucario in the semi-finals, though we're yet to get word of that.”

“Cool,” Machop said with a sweet smile, “I can't wait to see you. I have to admit, I've done a lot of preparing already, but I'm still nervous. My final opponent is really intimidating.”

“Oh yes, we've seen his matches,” Machoke sighed, “Seriously, I'm getting really bad vibes from him,” as Gardevoir added, “But don't you fret, Machop. Do your absolute best, and if you lose, remember, at least he's not a villain.”

The family talked a bit more before saying their goodbyes, Machop hanging up and taking a deep breath. She then folded her arms behind her head and thought, 'Yeah, I can do this. I just know it.'

 

The week had passed by quickly as Machop got in as much training as she could get. Every now and then, she would enjoy some downtime with her friends, but these moments were low in number as right now, all she could think about was how she would end Slurpuff's winning streak. And since the cake dog had done nothing to prepare himself for the match, her chances looked higher.

The day before the match could begin, many were gathered around the airport where a plane had just landed. And sure enough, the passengers were the previous Olympic contestants that Machoke spoke of.

All the while, Nori and Yuki were there as the older woman stated, “We are here live at Narita International Airport where eight of the legendary heroes who partook in the twenty-second Hero Olympics have arrived to grace us with their presence! But as exciting as this is, it has nothing on the event happening before the big match tomorrow!”

“That's right,” Yuki added, “As it just so happens, four of these heroes are going to compete in an exhibition tornado tag match, and as an added bonus, two will partake in a singles match afterwards! Having not seen them in action myself, I'm beyond excited!”

“Why didn't you watch the footage I sent you?” Nori uttered as Yuki laughed nervously and replied, “I wanted to be surprised by their skills tomorrow. I'll watch those matches once the Olympics are over.”

“You know we're still rolling, right?” the cameraman asked as both stared wide-eyed at the lens.

Luckily, the people in the area were too focused on the plane to care as the door opened up, the ramp lowering. And the first two to emerge were the bluish-grey reptilian man, Machoke and his beautiful wife, the white and green woman with a lower body like a gown, Gardevoir. The man was dressed in a fancy suit and tie while Gardevoir wore the red jersey and spiked collar he had given her ages ago.

While the people cheered, Gardevoir waved lightly with her arm linked to Machoke's. The man smiled wide and waved excitedly, shouting, “Thank you so much! It's been a long time since I got cheers like this!” blowing a few kisses to the crowd.

Nori beamed and squealed, “I can't help it! It's so awesome to see those two again!” as Yuki sighed, “Oh, right, I forgot they're your favourite heroes of all time.”

Following Machoke and Gardevoir was another legend, the Olympic champion of his time, Lucario. The dog gave the audience a light wave and smiled while a beautiful young woman with silver hair joined him.

“Hey, Mom, who's that?” Yuki asked as Nori replied, “Why, that's Lucario's wife, Veronica. Would you believe her folks were initially against their relationship? It's also worth note that human mates usually aren't allowed to ride the plane with the heroes, but Lucario convinced Beedrill to make an exception.”

Next up was Scyther who held her arm up with pride, a grin on her face as a humanoid rose named Roserade exited behind her. Upon doing so, she immediately posed and winked for the various cameras in the area. Though strangely enough, she, too, was dressed in a jersey, only this one was thinner and violet.

Gardevoir turned to her and waved, squealing, “I told you they'd love it!” the rose woman waving back and replying, “Yeah! Thank you so much for the suggestion!”

“It's hard to believe how much you two used to hate each other,” Machoke uttered as the woman nodded, replying, “Well, I didn't think she'd actually take my words to heart.”

She looked back to the time she and Roserade fought in the first round in the twenty-second Hero Olympics. Back then, the rose woman was a shallow brat who believed every pretty girl on the planet needed to follow her example of what she believed was attractive. Right from the get-go, she had come across as extremely arrogant to the point where she was the first being Gardevoir truly hated. And even after their match, they still despised each other. Needless to say, seeing them get along this well now was truly amazing.

Next to step out of the plane was a blue duck by the name of Golduck. She shot the crowd a grin while wearing a T-shirt she had made herself. On it was a picture of Machoke's face as she had become a big fan of his after he defeated her in round two.

The next to emerge was a light-brown rabbit named Lopunny. She was currently dressed in a fancy white dress with a golden rim across the top. She was the only one more excited to receive all these cheers as she bounced up and down, waving to the crowd.

And the last to emerge was Barbaracle as he waved his shoulder hands to the crowd. Some people were intimidated by the single eye on each one, but all-in-all, it was certainly amazing to see all of these older fighters.

As it so happened, both Garchomp and Lairon had arrived as they wished to see this, Nori saying, “By the way, Garchomp was originally supposed to be one of our special guests, but we figured since she already lives in Tokyo, it would be pointless to send her to Hero Planet and get ready for this. And as it so happens, she and her husband, Lairon, are here right now.”

The crowd cheered for them as the two grinned and waved, Lucario smiling and saying, “So it's true. They really did get married,” Machoke resting a hand on his shoulder and replying, “Yeah. They're training my daughter, you know.”

“Is that right?” the dog replied with a grin, “Well, I say she's in good hands,” Gardevoir smiling sweetly as the dragon and dinosaur walked over to say a quick hello.

“It's so good to see you, Lucario,” Garchomp said with a grin, “You're looking well,” as Veronica smiled and asked, “Do you want to introduce me, darling?”

The dog nodded and did just that, the group starting up a conversation. And after a minute, Barbaracle and Golduck walked over to join the conversation.

“Quick heads-up,” Machoke stated after a bit more talking, “Aipom's supposed to arrive today on the bullet train. It'll be nice to see the old girl again.”

The dragon had a big open-mouth smile upon hearing this as she exclaimed, “Oh, I can't wait to see her! I almost forgot, we were planning to meet up during holidays! This is my chance!”

Meanwhile, Meloetta was watching all of this on TV as she looked at Eri and asked, “You think I should go there and meet them?” only for the dog to give her a blank stare, the green-haired girl sighing, “You're right. This is their time.”

She then looked in the back yard and noticed Machop training herself as she beamed and stepped out, asking, “Hey, Machop, can I spar with you for a while?”

“Wait, what?” the girl remarked with her eyes wide open, “You actually want to spar,” as Meloetta nodded and replied, “I know I'm usually opposed to fighting unless it's against a villain, but you have no one else to do this with. I figure it's only right to help you out in Lairon and Garchomp's absence.”

Machop gave her a light smile and said, “You're a real pal,” before holding her fists up and adding, “But don't expect me to go lightly,” the green-haired girl giggling in response before standing up on one foot.

During this time, Garchomp, Machoke and Gardevoir waited in the subway for the bullet train to come by. And soon enough, it did as the doors opened, all of them hoping Aipom would emerge. And sure enough, it seemed this was the one as a purple monkey with a hand on the end of her tail emerged with a big grin on her face. As she was four years younger, she had less wrinkles but not by a whole lot.

Upon seeing the trio of older heroes, she grinned and sprinted over, leaping onto Machoke's face and knocking him on his back, squealing, “It's so good to see you!” the man groaning, “Even after all these years, you still insist on doing this?”

Gardevoir broke out into hysterics as Aipom laughed nervously, rising to her feet and helping him up. She then bowed her head to the woman, saying, “You look lovely as ever.”

“Um, hi,” Garchomp uttered with a light wave as the monkey turned to face her, a big smile forming as she said, “Guess we can finally have our get-together, eh?”

It was not long until all four were at a local cafe. They had chatted for quite a while when Machoke asked, “So, how's Yoshinori?” the monkey replying, “He's doing well. Thanks to yours truly, he gets nothing but A's on his report cards.”

“Figures,” Machoke replied with a light smile, “After all, he does have the smartest mother in the world,” as Gardevoir nodded and asked, “Is he still planning to become a doctor?”

“After he found out the hours, not so much anymore,” Aipom replied with a sigh, “Though on the upside, he has taken a big interest in banking.”

“Baking?” Machoke uttered as the monkey sighed, “I said BANKING.”

She then turned to Garchomp and asked, “So, you and your husband are training Machop, eh?” the dragon nodding and replying, “I'm not so sure she really needs us that much anymore. She's come such a long way.”

“So I've heard,” Machoke replied with a grin, “I can't wait to see her in action tomorrow. That is, after our exhibition match,” grinning at Gardevoir who squeaked, “That was supposed to be a surprise!”

“Eh, I already figured you two would be one of the teams fighting tomorrow,” Garchomp replied with a shrug, “You're the only famous tag team here. I'm more curious as to who you're going to fight.”

“Oh, I believe we're going up against-” Machoke uttered until Gardevoir held her hand over his mouth and squeaked, “Don't spoil the surprise!”

Garchomp broke out into hysterics and exclaimed, “Oh my god, you two are still adorable!” as both retorted, “Are not!” before sticking out their tongues and laughing playfully.

The dragon then let out a sigh and said, “Anyway, it's really nice to see you, Aipom. I still feel like I haven't properly thanked you for saving my life all those years back,” the monkey nodding and replying, “It's all good. I'm just really happy to see you, too.”

She then turned to Machoke and added, “I really wish I could stay for Machop's match, but, well, we on the Osaka work force aren't as lucky as you guys. We still have to work.”

“So does that mean you won't even be able to catch it on TV?” the man uttered as she sighed, “I'm afraid so. But I really hope she wins. I mean, when was the last time a member of the Mach family became champion?”

Machoke let out a sigh and said, “Yeah, it has been ages, but I just know it'll happen,” before tapping his chin and adding, “You know, I still haven't rubbed the fact that Lucario's son lost the quarter-finals in his face yet.”

“Honey, that's mean!” Gardevoir retorted with a pout as the man sighed, “I'm joking.”

After another five minutes, the group headed off as Aipom mostly wanted to look around Tokyo one last time before heading back. After all, she had no intention of staying for most of the day, let alone all of it.

Meanwhile, Machop and Meloetta's sparring match had gone for a while as the green-haired girl twirled toward Machop and sent a variety of kicks into her midsection. But just as it looked like Machop was unable to fight back, she smirked and held out her hand, grabbing Meloetta's leg while applying the other hand to that same spot. She then lifted her up and swung her around, sending her flying into the tree.

The green-haired girl squeaked from the pain and slid down, rubbing the back of her head and grunting, “Okay, I give! You're too good for me!” a sweet smile on her face.

“Wow, you put up a much better fight than I thought you would,” Machop said with a grin as Meloetta blushed lightly and replied, “Well, I didn't want to disappoint you.”

“I'm beyond grateful for that,” the girl replied with a sigh before saying, “Anyway, I'd probably better rest up. After all, if I try too hard, I might just strain myself.”

Meloetta nodded and squealed, “I just know you'll beat Slurpuff tomorrow! He won't know what hit him!”

At that moment, both heard the front door open as Machop blinked and said, “Huh, I didn't think they'd be back yet,” before heading off and seeing that while Lairon had not returned home, Garchomp had along with Machoke and Gardevoir.

The girl's eyes sparkled as a big open-mouth smile formed on her face. She then ran over and gave them a big hug, squealing with excitement while both held her in a tight embrace.

“It's so awesome to see you!” she squeaked as Meloetta tensed up, Garchomp nodding and saying, “I had a feeling it would be nice to bring them over for a visit.”

Machoke grinned and held his daughter's shoulders, saying, “You have made us so proud. We've seen your matches and let me tell you, you are definitely worthy of the family name.”

Gardevoir nodded and added, “By the way, we heard you have a boyfriend,” a devious look forming in her eyes as she asked, “So, is he big, strong and handsome like your father?”

“Well, he's not exactly the easiest on the eyes, but he's wonderful,” Machop replied as her cheeks turned light pink.

The two adults then noticed Meloetta as she felt more tense, uttering, “Um, hi. I'm Meloetta.”

A sweet smile formed on her face as Machoke grinned and replied, “Well, it's very nice to meet you. I heard there was someone else living here,” before holding out his hand.

The green-haired girl gladly shook it along with Gardevoir's and asked, “So you're Machop's parents. I've heard you two won a tag team tournament. Is that true?”

“You'd better believe it,” Machoke replied with a grin when Eri suddenly bounded into the area, wagging her tail and panting happily.

“Oh, who's this little cutie?” Gardevoir squeaked as she leaned down and started stroking her, Garchomp saying, “That's our little Eri. She loves pretty much everyone.”

And with Machop having decided that she was done training, everyone chose to spend the rest of the day visiting and having a good time. Machoke even agreed to treat everyone to a fancy dinner later in celebration of his daughter making it to the finals. After all, this would be his last time visiting Tokyo for a while, so he and Gardevoir wanted to spend as much time with her as possible while also putting her mind at ease.

As much as Machop would have loved to invite the others, she could tell Machoke and Gardevoir wanted this to be a family bonding time. As such, she chose to only invite Isamu as the parents did at least wish to meet him.

And sure enough, he was currently getting ready while trying to pick out something nice to wear, Eiko all the while sitting on his bed and squealing, “Oh my god, you are so lucky! Please, please, please, take a photo with them! Maybe even get their autograph! Just something!”

“For god's sake,” Isamu sighed, picking out a suit his folks had bought him for when he graduated high school, “You're best friends with heroes, you've been in the same house as two legends multiple times and yet you still can't control yourself.”

“How can I!?” the pink-haired girl retorted with a look of desperation in her eyes, “We're talking about Machoke and Gardevoir! These aren't just your typical run-of-the-mill past generation heroes! They're the tag team tournament champions! They have the highest number of victories of every hero from their time!”

“Look, sis, you don't need to beg me,” Isamu replied as he put the suit one, pulling a tie out of a drawer and adding, “I was already planning to do that anyway. After all, this is a date. I gotta take at least one photo.”

Eiko's eyes sparkled as she squealed happily, Isamu sighing, “Why aren't you looking after Kelani?”

“I would be, but he's playing by himself in our room,” she replied, “I didn't wanna disturb him.”

During this time, Kelani was currently playing with the pink-haired girl's action figures, specifically the Machoke and Lucario ones. He was making them fight with each other when suddenly, the hexagons on his chest started to glow once more. Unlike before, though, he actually noticed this time as he blinked and uttered, “Pretty.”

But just as quickly as the glowing started, it stopped as he patted his chest a couple of times. However, it seemed nothing happened this time as he continued to stare with a confused look on his face.

Either way, it seemed as if the glow had done nothing as he shrugged and went back to playing. Though as he had not seen the glow before, he did not notice that it lasted longer than every other time. Was this something to worry about or was this just normal for him?

That would have to wait as when the evening rolled around, Machop, Machoke and Gardevoir were all at a fancy diner with Isamu seated next to Machop. And despite his behaviour toward this earlier, he was feeling just as nervous as Eiko would have if she had come with him. It was not so much being in the presence of two champions but rather having dinner with his girlfriend's parents for the first time.

“So, Machop tells me you work part time at a clothing store,” Machoke said with a grin as the boy nodded and replied, “Uh, yeah. Both my sister and I are trying to save up money so we can get into college sooner than later, you know.”

“That's wonderful,” Gardevoir squealed with a grin before turning to her husband and whispering, “He's so responsible.”

Isamu tensed up, wondering exactly what she had just whispered. However, Machop could always tell what Gardevoir was thinking as she whispered, “They like you. Tell them more.”

The boy felt a tad more confidence upon hearing that as he revealed more information about himself, such as his devotion to keeping his sister safe while not being as clingy about it as he used to be. He also mentioned how much of a fan Eiko was and how much it would mean to her to have a photo of the two and each one's autograph.

Machoke and Gardevoir happily posed for a photo with Isamu, Machop using the boy's phone to take it. And afterwards, each one signed a sheet of paper the boy had brought.

Afterwards, Machoke grinned and said, “I hope we get to meet your sister. She sounds awesome,” as Gardevoir replied, “Don't forget, she might be at the Tokyo Dome tomorrow.”

The woman then gasped and added, “Before I forget, Isamu, Machoke and I are going to be in an exhibition match at ten. You'll wanna come bright and early for that,” as the man rolled his eyes and sighed, “Are you spoiling the surprise for him?”

The woman gasped and held her hand over her mouth, the man laughing and shouting, “You are so precious!” ruffling her hair while a few people stared.

However, what astounded Isamu was not so much the news of the event but the fact that almost instantly after Gardevoir's hair had been ruffled, it changed back to being perfectly straight. It was if Machoke had never even touched it.

Machop nodded and explained, “Oh yeah, Mama's hair is naturally straight. No matter what you do, you can't make it stay messy. Oh, and you can't cut it either. It instantly grows back.”

“And I assume it never gets longer either,” the boy replied as the girl nodded, Gardevoir giggling and blushing lightly.

And soon enough, dinner was over as both couples were ready to head home. Machoke grinned and said, “It was great seeing you, but we already have a hotel booked for us and paid for by the government. I hope to see you kick some major ass tomorrow, hon,” as Machop nodded and gave them a light wave.

And with all said and done, they went their separate ways as Isamu grinned and said, “You know, your dad is a lot less intimidating than I thought the team tournament champion would be,” as Machop nodded and replied, “You'd never believe it, but he used to be a coward.”

“You're kidding,” the boy replied with his eyes wide open, Machop shaking her head and remarking, “Nope. According to Mama, he tried to bail on his match with Lucario. Hard to believe considering his track record, but then again, Venipede used to be afraid of combat and look at him now.”

Isamu nodded and rested an arm on Machop's shoulder, saying, “Well, if someone like him could make it big, I have no doubt you'll win your finals match for sure. Slurpuff may be a scary opponent, but he's never faced a member of the Mach family, right?”

“Exactly,” the girl replied with a big grin as the two shared a hug.

Once the two came to Lairon's house, Machop gave Isamu a big kiss goodbye before entering. She had already felt confident before, but now there was little doubt in her mind. Slurpuff would lose the finals no matter how unpredictable he was.

 

After what felt like a really long week for many, it was finally time for the big event, the Hero Olympic finals. However, Machop and Slurpuff's match was not scheduled to start until noon, but despite this, everyone arrived around nine as the exhibition matches that were promised were set to begin at ten.

As was expected, most work places were closed for this day as just about everyone was assembled at the Tokyo Dome. As such, not only were Noboru and Hana able to attend but so was Lairon. It also helped that Sneasel, Gigalith and Gyarados had managed to gain entrance this time, what with the Tokyo Dome having significantly more seats than every other location.

Currently, Isamu and the others were headed to the area with the bleachers as Torchic sighed, “It's a shame Jackalu and Clawitzer couldn't join us. It's amazing how much damage they took in. Even I didn't suffer that much when I fought Slurpuff.”

“Well, Jackalu's apparently fine,” Vigoroth replied, “He just refuses to leave Clawitzer's side, at least until she recovers,” Meloetta smiling and squealing, “That's so sweet of him!”

Eiko, meanwhile, grinned with excitement as Kelani looked at her and said, “You're really looking forward to this, aren't you, Mommy?”

The pink-haired girl nodded and squeaked, “You bet! I'm finally gonna see the great Machoke and Gardevoir fight in person! This is the best day ever!” Isamu sighing, “Hey, don't forget Machop.”

“What about Machop?” Eiko uttered as Kelani nudged her, the girl's eyes widening as she squeaked, “Oh, right!” her cheeks turning pink while the others laughed.

Noboru then chuckled and said, “But seriously, I'm looking just as forward to these exhibition matches. It's been ages since your mother and I saw these two fight way back when,” Hana nodding and replying, “Oh, yes, that epic showdown when Machoke and Gardevoir fought Hoopa and Diancie was truly amazing, specially when Diancie turned against Hoopa and helped them out.”

“Oh yeah, even to this day, that was the greatest match I've ever seen,” Noboru added as Isamu blinked and uttered, “Wow, sometimes I forget they were fighting evil during your teen years,” as Hana nodded and said, “Oh yes, I still remember Machoke's first match on Earth when he faced Rotom. Did you know he almost became an hors d'oeurve during that match?”

“Wait, what?” Isamu retorted as Eiko replied, “I thought you watched that match,” only for the boy to sigh, “I've only watched his tournament matches.”

“Well, it was a very close call from what Mother told me,” Torchic stated, “Apparently, Rotom transformed into an oven and stuffed Machoke into him,” Venipede tensing up and groaning, “Thank god we've never had to face anyone like that!”

“Ja,” Rinko replied with a grimace, “Even I'd hate to fight a sentient oven.”

“Oh, he almost became an hors d'oeurve,” Isamu uttered with a nod of his head, “Now I get it. How'd he get out of that situation?” no one wanting to talk about it as Noboru chuckled nervously and replied, “Best you see it for yourself.”

Meanwhile, Machop was getting ready in a waiting room along with Lairon, asking, “So, what's today's entrance?”

“Well, whenever your father would compete in the finals of any tournament, he'd give a more dignified entrance,” Lairon replied, “As such, I'm thinking that should be your approach as well.”

“Wait, so you mean no stupid floats?” Machop asked with her eyes sparkling, “No trapeze acts or unicycles or anything ridiculous like that?”

“Exactly,” the dinosaur stated with a grin, “You just walk toward the ring with confidence. No acrobatics or anything like that, just a simple march toward the ring. It'll really throw the crowd off guard, what with them now being used to ridiculous entrances.”

“So there was more of a reason behind them than I first thought,” Machop uttered as she grinned and said, “Well, it'll be nice to look dignified for a change, though I have to admit, I have rather warmed up to those over-the-top performances.”

“I thought you would,” Lairon replied with a grin, “Anyway, let's work on strategies. Don't forget, we got a little over two hours to do this,” the girl nodding and squealing, “Right!”

Once ten o'clock rolled around, everyone was ready for the first event as Beedrill exclaimed, “Ladies and gentlemen, you are all about to witness something just as exciting as the main event! Yes, we are going to be treated to an exhibition match between two teams and another one between two other legendary heroes immediately after!”

“I say we get this match underway right now, don't you?” Nori asked with a grin as the wasp nodded and added, “Take it away, Yuki!”

The younger woman pulled out a sheet of paper and stated, “In the red corner, a lovely yet very intimidating couple! Both have saved Tokyo and even the world from evil many times back in the day! One placed second in the Hero Olympics and the other made it to round two with her surprising amount of strength! Presenting the Glamourous Fighting Machines!”

Machoke and Gardevoir rode toward the ring on a float as music played in the background, Gardevoir holding a microphone in her hand as everyone stared in stunned silence. It had been known ever since the first round of the Ultimate World Team Tournament that the woman had a singing voice like an angel, so to hear her perform in front of all these people was a real treat.

“In a flash, she appears, the green warrior stands tall!” she belted as the crowd cheered, “Once down on herself all the time, now she will never ever fall! With a great family power hidden deep inside her soul, to protect the lives of the innocent is her goal!”

Eiko's eyes sparkled as Isamu uttered, “Wait, is she singing her own theme song?” the pink-haired girl nodding and squealing, “Yeah, she performed the original recording for it.”

“Wow, she's pretty,” Kelani said with a big open-mouth smile as Garchomp nodded and sighed, “Still, it's amazing to think of how good she got. When I fought her, she lacked the physical strength to stand up to me. I think if I fought her after the Olympics, she'd have probably won.”

The song went for a while until Gardevoir ended it by singing, “When that violet glow appears, you know it's gonna end!” before taking a bow while the crowd gave her a standing ovation.

Her cheeks were beet red as Machoke grinned and said, “Beautiful as always,” the two stepping off of the float and into the ring while Garchomp blinked and uttered, “Wow, that was actually dignified.”

“Oh yeah, weren't his entrances usually like the ones Machop does?” Rinko asked as the dragon nodded and replied, “Yeah, though his were usually less graceful.”

“And in the blue corner,” Yuki stated, “though these two never fought on a team back in the day, their allies fought alongside each one individually. But as these two are still great friends, there is no doubt they'll make for a great team anyway. One is, well, one of Rinko's mothers and taught her the Arm Schwert. The other is a mighty rabbit from Egypt with a spirit unmatched by many! Introducing the High-Flying Blades!”

The crowd went wild once more as Scyther flew toward the ring with Lopunny standing perfectly on her back with her arms and ears spread out. She then leapt off and spun like a propeller while descending toward the ring. And right before she landed, her insect ally performed a figure-eight in the air before landing perfectly one her feet with her arms raised, a big open-mouth smile on her face.

Venipede blinked and uttered, “Wow, so that's the great Scyther,” as Rinko nodded and waved, shouting, “THAT WAS AWESOME, MOTHER!”

Eiko was breathing heavily now as Kelani asked, “You okay, Mommy?” as Noboru rubbed her shoulders, saying, “Easy does it, darling. You don't wanna be unconscious during the match, do you?”

Scyther smirked and walked over to Machoke, holding out her hand and saying, “Well, well, well, we finally get to face each-other in the ring,” as the man nodded and shook it, replying, “Yeah. You're the only member of your team I haven't faced yet.”

Lopunny and Gardevoir, however, were resisting the urge to give one-another a hug. However, that would have been too affectionate before a match, so they simply smiled sweetly and bowed their heads.

With all said and done, each team stood on a different side of the ring as Nori exclaimed, “Let us begin!” ringing the bell as Machoke charged toward Scyther and Gardevoir aimed for Lopunny.

The rabbit wasted no time sending her ears out as if she was trying to punch the woman, both parts stretching out as if they were made of rubber. However, Gardevoir saw this coming and leapt over them, landing on top of one and sprinting across it. And once she was close enough, she leapt off and planted her feet hard into the rabbit's skull, knocking her on her back while the crowd cheered.

Machoke, however, was having a bit more trouble as after delivering a karate chop to Scyther, she retaliated with a roundhouse to his side. She then wrapped her arms around him and lifted him up, planting his skull into the mat with a perfect German suplex.

Seeing this, Gardevoir gasped and raced toward him only for Lopunny to latch onto her legs, saying, “Sorry, but I can't let you do that.”

She then rose to her feet and leapt high into the air, causing Gardevoir to fall on her chin before being pulled up with her. The rabbit them flipped herself upside-down, her opponent's head facing the mat as she spun while descending.

“BUNNY TORNADO!” Lopunny exclaimed as Machoke panicked, rushing in to help only for Scyther to fly over to him and wrap her arms around him, lifting him up onto her shoulder with a smirk, saying, “You should know more than anyone never to let your guard down.”

And sure enough, Gardevoir's head was soon rammed into the canvas as Machoke was lifted high into the air, Scyther shouting, “FLYING HAMMER!” before leaning backward and planting the back of his neck into that very material.

Venipede blinked and uttered, “Pretty cool, but your version's better, Rinko,” as the brunette smiled and replied, “Thanks, but you don't have to pretend Mother's isn't more effective than mine. I mean, she can actually defy gravity.”

But while Machoke was struggling a bit to rise to his feet, Gardevoir easily recovered from the hit dealt to her as a violet glow appeared around her hands. A grin then formed as she said, “I hate to disappoint you, Lopunny, but while you may have beaten me the first time we fought, you won't be so fortunate this time.”

She then leapt toward the rabbit with her arm out and shouted, “MOON HOOK!” only for the rabbit to try blocking it with her ears. However, unlike the first time Gardevoir tried this, it seemed to work as Lopunny's ears bent backwards, allowing her to take some pain to her neck before falling on her back.

Scyther saw this and flew toward the woman, wrapping her arms around her neck. However, Gardevoir ignored the pain as swung her arm back, striking the insect's cheek.

With Scyther distracted now, Machoke finally made a full recovery and raced toward her, leaping into the air and sending his feet into her back. He then wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up, planting the back of her head into the canvas as the crowd went wild.

“Things were looking really good for the High-Flying Blades,” Nori stated, “but the Glamourous Fighting Machines have gotten the advantage back thanks to the Beaulieu family power, which only the females in the family have.”

“Wait, why doesn't Machop have it, then?” Yuki asked as the older woman sported a look of confusion.

“I can fill you in on that,” Beedrill explained, “Something Gardevoir did long ago was merge with her power. For a while, she wasn't able to activate it to its full extent, but it made her regular strength a lot stronger. Machoke told me once that Machop had managed to do the same thing. In fact, he sent every one of us an email bragging about it.”

Yuki blinked as Nori said, “As for why Gardevoir can activate the power now, that's another story.”

It seemed that while the announcers were talking about this, Gardevoir and Machoke had greatly weakened Scyther and Lopunny as the man lifted the insect up by her arms, the woman holding the rabbit by her ears. And with that, both sent their opponents into the air and ran toward separate ropes.

“You think you can pull this off after all these years, honey?” Machoke asked as he launched himself off of the ropes he had approached while Gardevoir squealed, “You'd better believe it!” following suit.

The man then rolled up into a ball and spun vertically into Scyther's back, Gardevoir bending herself in the shape of a half-moon and flying into Lopunny. They then reached their arms and legs back, Machoke latching onto the insect's chin and ankles while the woman did the same with the rabbit's shoulders and legs.

The two then proceeded to spin toward the mat while shouting, “NIGHT AND DAY MUSCLE PRESS!” planting both opponents' heads hard into the canvas while the crowd went wild, Yuki's jaw dropped as Nori exclaimed, “And despite their age weakening them, Machoke and Gardevoir are still able to pull off that awesome team move that defeated Hoopa!”

Eiko squealed excitedly as Kelani stared in wonder, Isamu nodding and saying, “That was awesome.”

Though it certainly seemed to take a lot out of the couple as they breathed heavily, smiling lightly at one-another while Yuki counted to ten. And with that, she rang the bell thus confirming their victory in this exhibition match, the crowd even more ecstatic.

Noboru smiled wide and said, “Wow, I wasn't expecting to see that in action again,” as Hana nodded and replied, “I know. I am so glad we came early for this.”

“Okay, I am definitely looking up Machoke's other matches,” Isamu uttered as Eiko nodded with a big smile, Rinko uttering, “I hope Mother's okay.”

It seemed so as she and Lopunny slowly rose to their feet, Scyther grinning and saying, “Still applying just enough pressure to finish the job but no more. Good old Machoke,” the man nodding with a grin.

During this time, Machop had finished many training exercises as Lairon nodded and said, “I think that's enough for the day. Rest up. Remember, you don't have much time before your match begins.”

The girl nodded with a warm smile and replied, “I know I've said this a lot, but thank you so much for all of this. I wouldn't be where I am today if it hadn't been for you.”

Lairon chuckled and said, “I'm headed to the bleachers now. I hope I didn't miss the entirety of the exhibition match,” only to feel a touch disappointed when he exited and noticed Machoke and Gardevoir walking down the hall, their bruises making it clear that they had just finished a fight.

Upon seeing the dinosaur, Machoke grinned and said, “Hey, just finishing some drills with my daughter?” Lairon nodding and replying, “There's no doubt in my mind that she can win this.”

He then put on a more serious look and asked, “By the way, did you bring, you know, it?” Gardevoir nodding and saying, “Of course he did. He wouldn't forget something so important.”

“Good,” Lairon replied with a grin before heading off toward the exit, Machoke walking over to the door and setting down a handbag. He then knocked on the door with a childish smile as he and Gardevoir raced off from the area, laughing all the while.

Machop opened the door and looked around, saying, “Hello?” before looking down and spotting the bag.

“Oh, wow, what could this be?” she asked with a big grin as she opened it up, her eyes sparkling as she squealed, “Oh, Daddy! You didn't have to do this!”

Inside were the clothes Machoke wore when he fought in the Olympic and Tag Team Tournament finals, the same ones Machop wore for the opening ceremony. The girl had originally planned on bringing them but could not find them, so she was beyond grateful to have these.

Meanwhile, Scyther and Lopunny were headed down the other hall, the rabbit rubbing her head and saying, “Even after all this time, they still pack a punch.”

“Ja,” Scyther replied with a sigh, “I'm surprised you used to be able to stand up to Gardevoir's power. That hurt like a bitch.”

As the two passed by the room Slurpuff was in, Scyther felt something ominous as her eyes widened. The rabbit turned to her and asked, “You okay?” as she nodded and replied, “Ja. I must have taken in more pain than I thought.”

All the while, the second exhibition match going on was between Barbaracle and Golduck. Currently, the barnacle seemed to be at a disadvantage as Golduck sent a roundhouse into his midsection, causing him to back up.

She then leapt toward him with her bill pointed outward, shouting, “DUCK JET!” ramming the beak hard into his gut as he backed up again, the crowd cheering as Nori stated, “This is truly something. It seems that after all these years, Golduck has finally found a way to use at least some of her water-based techniques without her ability to control water. Normally, the move she just used would be known as Aqua Jet and would involve her covering her body in the stuff.”

“Wow, I would love to see that in action,” Yuki stated as Eiko squealed with delight, Isamu turning to Noboru and asking, “So, you say she and Machoke fought on a team once, right?”

The man nodded and replied, “Oh yeah, though if you ask me, it wasn't exactly a match made in heaven. Golduck didn't do a whole lot and ultimately, Machoke had to finish both of their opponents by himself.”

With Barbaracle distracted, Golduck leapt up and latched onto his head with her legs. She then leaned backward and took hold of his ankles, propelling both herself and the barnacle high into the air. She then flipped herself one-hundred-and-eighty degrees so his head was facing the mat.

“ICE ROCK DRIVER!” the duck exclaimed as the two descended, but just as it looked like Barbaracle would lose for sure, he tilted his head upward, opening it up as his face made contact. And since his head was a giant hand, this reduced the amount of pain he took in significantly as Golduck's eyes and bill widened.

“Silly Golduck,” Barbaracle said with an implied smirk, “You should know better than to try this on me.”

He then pushed himself and the duck high above the ring as Golduck winced, losing a bit of strength and releasing her hold. Seeing a perfect opportunity, Barbaracle flipped himself upright before turning around and grabbing onto the duck, turning her upside-down. He then wrapped his lower arms and legs around her torso while using his top hands to force her legs together.

“HARPOON DRIVER!” Barbaracle spat as he descended toward the mat, ramming Golduck's skull into it as she coughed up blood. Thus he released his hold on her and allowed her to collapse as Yuki started the ten count.

The crowd cheered as Eiko said, “This isn't as exciting as the last one, but that was still pretty awesome,” as soon enough, ten seconds passed and the bell was rung thus making Barbaracle's victory official.

“Yes!” Barbaracle exclaimed as he rose all four hands in the air before turning to Golduck and asking, “I didn't hurt you too badly, did I?”

The duck smirked and replied, “As if,” the barnacle rolling his eyes and helping her up.

“And that's that for the exhibition matches, folks,” Beedrill stated, “But don't forget, we still have our main event in a little over an hour, so if any of you would like to stretch, go to the bathroom, maybe even have an early lunch, now's your chance.”

The time flew by as it was soon time for the event everyone had come for, the Olympic finals match. Both the French and Turkish fans were separated and ready for action while the rest of the crowd could not wait, though currently, they were having trouble deciding who to support. On one hand, Machop had saved them so many times and was a big fan favourite in Tokyo, but on the other hand, Slurpuff had this hypnotic effect on everyone whenever he entered the ring.

“I really hope Machop is prepared to receive a lack of support,” Torchic sighed, “I just know everyone's gonna play favourites here,” as Meloetta nodded and grunted, “After all her hard work, she'll need all the focus she can get.”

However, their conversation came to a close when they noticed Golduck, Barbaracle, Roserade and Lucario walk into the fight area. Each one was carrying a chair, and once they reached separate corners of the ring, they set them down and took a seat, folding their arms.

Isamu blinked as Eiko nodded and said, “This is common with the final round. What they do is they bring in a total of four past-generation heroes to monitor the match, you know, make sure no one's breaking any rules. If they see so much as one violation, they will point it out right away.”

Beedrill explained this to the crowd almost immediately after she said it as Isamu shrugged and replied, “Well, at least I heard it before everyone else.”

“As you've all seen, this has been a really exciting tournament,” the wasp stated, “It's been my pleasure hosting this event once again, and I can only hope to do this more in the future. But enough stalling. You all wanna see the fighters.”

Machoke grinned and exclaimed, “We're gonna see Machop's entrance,” Gardevoir nodding and pulling out her phone to record it.

“In the blue corner, representing France is the hero of Tokyo who has thwarted the most villains!” Nori stated, “She has displayed that classic Mach family talent for enduring a great deal of damage, taking down Garbodor, Chesnaught and the middle-aged villain, Ditta, who was using Machamp's abilities!”

“So proud,” Machoke sniffed with a light tear as the woman added, “So, without further ado, I'd like you all to give a round of applause for Machop!”

The crowd was ready for another dumb entrance but was shocked when Machop marched toward the ring with the Mach family bands on. She had a serious look on her face as the crowd went wild, Yuki shouting, “Wow! And Machop treats us to a very dignified entrance! Nothing over-the-top, just a serious entrance that shows us she means business!”

As the girl climbed into the ring, the crowd cheered even louder as she held her arms up in the air, forming two peace signs. Even her friends were beyond ecstatic as Isamu exclaimed, “YOU LOOK AWESOME!” Eiko nodding and explaining, “Machoke and Machamp wore those clothes for their biggest fights, you know.”

“Wow!” Kelani squealed as Rinko nodded and said, “Well, I have to admit, I'm a tad jealous.”

“Me too,” Venipede uttered, “Imagine me wearing that headband,” as Vigoroth chuckled and added, “I wouldn't mind those wristbands.”

Meloetta nodded and said, “I'm gonna ask where I can buy clothes like that.”

Once the crowd calmed down, Yuki stated, “And in the blue corner, representing Turkey is currently Tokyo's sweetheart,” the younger woman shuddering after saying that before adding, “Despite his adorable outward appearance, he has proven himself a real force to be reckoned with, having defeated Torchic, Delphox and Clawitzer. Give it up for Slurpuff!”

The majority of the crowd went wild as the cake dog entered the area wearing sunglasses, sporting a baseball cap and playing with a yo-yo. His fangirls all squealed and shouted, “OH MY GOD, THAT'S JUST ADORABLE!”

“Really?” Machoke uttered as he noticed xylophone music playing in the background, “What does everyone see in this guy? His entrances are dumber than mine,” as Gardevoir giggled and said, “Well, he does look pretty cute with those shades on.”

Once Slurpuff was in the ring, he took off the cap and shades and tossed them toward the crowd. A teenaged girl caught them and squealed, “THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!” only for a few girls around her to dog pile her in an attempt to claim the articles of clothing for themselves.

“Seriously?” Roserade groaned, “My fans may be creepy at times, but they're not this crazy,” as Lucario sighed, “Stay focused. This is a rare opportunity for someone like you,” the rose woman glaring at him.

Either way, she knew the dog was right as she folded her arms and turned back to the ring. And with that, Slurpuff and Machop stood on separate sides as the girl thought, 'There's no way I'm losing this match. I've worked hard while you haven't done a thing. By the time this match is over, I'll have restored the Mach family's championship title.'

 

This was it. All that was left was for Yuki to ring the bell and the final match of the Olympics would begin. Machop had trained long and hard for this and there was no way Slurpuff would win.

Before the match could begin, though, the cake dog beamed and said, “I'm really excited for this. I've wanted to fight you since the tournament began,” Machop tensing up at the sound of this. Whenever an opponent specifically wanted to face a member of the Mach family and no one else, it was usually not a good sign.

However, she then remembered all of her training and took a deep breath, striking a fighting pose as Yuki nodded and said, “Well, folks, the combatants are set. Let the match begin,” before ringing the bell.

Machop wasted no time racing toward Slurpuff as she knew what could potentially happen if she stood still and waited for him to make the first move. The cake dog saw this coming and sent his hair forward only for the girl to dodge to the side, smirking and continuing forward. And before Slurpuff could even respond, Machop wound up just close enough to deliver a roundhouse to his side.

The cake dog's eyes widened as he faltered to the side briefly, the girl wrapping her arms around him and lifting him up. She then leaned backward and slammed his skull hard into the canvas as, just as was expected at this point, the majority of the crowd booed her.

“Hey, what the hell!?” Machoke retorted, glaring at the French crowd, “You all know she has to do this to win the Olympics! You act like she broke a rule or something!” only to receive a can to the side of his head, gritting his teeth and getting up, shouting, “ALRIGHT, WHO THREW THAT!?”

Gardevoir rested her hands against his arm and smiled sweetly at him, thus calming him down as he slumped down in his chair and grumbled, “Assholes.”

Unlike her father, though, Machop was not the least bit intimidated or surprised by this. She had already witnessed it in three matches so far, and she at least knew there was a way to get the French fans on her side. That was good enough for her as she was ready to strike Slurpuff again.

However, it seemed the cake dog knew a way around this as he used his hair to push himself up, sending his feet into her chin. The crowd cheered as he then righted himself up, a big smile on his face as he squealed, “That was a good start! You're really, really strong!”

“Is anyone else getting sick of hearing that?” Isamu groaned as the others nodded, Vigoroth sighing, “I swear, every single time he does that, he's kissing up to his opponents. I don't know why he'd need to.”

The cake dog's comeback, however, did not end there as before Machop could respond, she found her arms bound in place courtesy of his hair. He then lifted her up and leaned backward, planting her skull into the canvas as more cheers came from the crowd, Yuki saying, “Machop had a surprisingly good start, but ultimately, even she could not avoid falling victim to Slurpuff's unpredictable fighting style.”

The girl groaned and tried her best to recover only for Slurpuff to move his hair up to her neck, placing a firm grip on it. Her eyes and mouth widened as he giggled, Torchic groaning, “Dammit. He's even worse than when he fought me.”

“Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet,” Rinko groaned as Slurpuff proceeded to lift the girl up, shouting, “FROSTING WHACK-A-MOLE!” slamming her back hard against the mat while still applying pressure to her neck.

Meloetta bit her lower lip and whimpered, Lairon growling, “Come on, Machop. You can get out of this. You've gotten out of holds like this countless times.”

And it seemed that the girl realized this as she started to spin her body. However, all this did was caused Slurpuff's hair to roll up like knot bread. But while this did not look like a good way to escape, Machop very quickly realized a way to take advantage of this as she continued to spin.

Slurpuff giggled and squeaked, “That looks like fun!” as the crowd was unsure whether to cheer or not. Even Machop's friends had no idea what she was doing as Garchomp groaned, “Oh no, not even two minutes into the match and she's already desperate!”

“No, I think there's more to this,” Torchic uttered as Rinko nodded and smirked, saying, “If this has the result I think it will, the added pain will be worth it.”

And it seemed so as soon enough, almost all of the hair was rolled up. This left the parts next to Slurpuff's head, and with said part blocking the way, Machop was unable to effect it the same way. Thus the cake dog's eyes widened as he wound up spinning along with the girl and falling on his side, releasing his hold on her as she quickly sprang to her feet, breathing heavily while holding her hands up to her neck.

Seeing this, Lairon nodded and said, “Wow, that was brilliant,” as Eiko squealed, “WAY TO GO, MACHOP!” Isamu folding his arms with a warm smile.

Slurpuff pushed himself up with the side of his hair and clapped his arms against his body, squealing, “That was so cool!” the crowd all letting out a collective, “Aw!” with hearts in their eyes, Nori saying, “Well, even after such a miraculous escape from Machop, Slurpuff is still a really good sport.”

However, unlike all of the other times, Machop noticed a sense of insincerity in his voice, as if he did not mean what he just said. If anything, he sounded annoyed, as if he was really hoping that would finish the job.

Whatever the case, such a mentality was to be expected during a match. As such, the girl chose to ignore this as she held up a fighting stance. She would have rushed or leapt toward Slurpuff, but she had a feeling he could easily counter with his hair.

Lairon nodded and folded his arms, saying, “At least she's taking the smart approach. Against an opponent like Slurpuff, she can't afford to make any rash moves.”

The cake dog once again sent his hair toward the girl only for her to leap over it. She then wasted no time sending a flying kick into his forehead, knocking him on his back as the crowd booed and hissed, Roserade looking around and uttering, “What is wrong with these people? First they're all supportive and cheering her and now not even the French fans want her to win.”

Lucario was about to scold her for breaking form again, but deep down, he had been resisting the urge to bring this up himself. As a good friend of the Mach family, he could not help but find it annoying how little support Machop had right now.

Even so, the girl refused to let this get to her as she flipped Slurpuff onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, applying a firm grip to it. But while most of her friends cheered, Isamu, Noboru and Lairon immediately saw a problem with this tactic as they groaned, “Oh no! Why would she do that!?” before turning to one-another and blinking.

And it seemed their concern was certainly warranted as Slurpuff rose his hair up, forming fists on the ends and shouting, “FROSTING CYMBALS!” sending them inward thus punching the girl's ribs hard.

Machop groaned and released her hold on the cake dog, the fists becoming more like clamps and pressing up against her, trapping her in place. She then found herself lifted high above the ring as Slurpuff exclaimed, “CHERRY BOMB!” launching his cherry into her gut as she coughed up a bit of blood.

The crowd cheered for Slurpuff as Yuki stated, “And just as quickly as Machop gained the advantage, she loses it thanks to Slurpuff's unpredictable and sticky hair!” the cake dog leaping up to her level and stretching the top of his hair up, wrapping it around her neck.

He then leaned backwards and shouted, “FROSTING MALLET!” descending toward the canvas and slamming the girl's skull into it. Machop gritted her teeth, her eyes narrowed as the cake dog released his hold, allowing her to roll around while holding her head.

Jackalu watched this from the hospital and frowned, growling, “Come on, Machop. You're so much better than this. I know this is nothing for someone as amazing and talented as you.”

Just as Machop was about to recover, it seemed Slurpuff had much more planned as he stretched his hair out once more, taking hold of her arms. The girl's friends gave her words of encouragement, but these hardly seemed to make a difference as the cake dog proceeded to form what looked like a frying pan with the back of his hair, flipping Machop over his head and onto it.

“Oh my god, how many signature moves does this guy have!?” Isamu groaned as Eiko whimpered, “He has to be running out of moves by now. We've seen at least twenty from him now, right?”

This hardly seemed to matter as Slurpuff lifted up the back of his hair and sent it over his head, slapping Machop hard against the mat and squealing, “FROSTING PANCAKE SMACK!”

As if that was not enough, he then leapt high above Machop and wrapped his hair all around him, forming a perfect sphere with his cherry on top. His fans all went wild as Yuki uttered, “And despite Machop's best efforts, she has now been set up for that devastating technique that defeated Torchic. This could very well be the shortest final match is Hero Olympic history, folks.”

Machop groaned as Slurpuff exclaimed, “CAKE POP CRUSHER!” but not long after he started his descent, the girl's eyes widened as she had an idea. She could have just as easily rolled out of the way, but if anything, she wanted to give the cake dog a reason never to use this move again.

With that in mind, she propelled herself high into the air as Lairon and Garchomp snapped, “WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING!?” Kelani smiling and squealing, “I think I know!”

No one knew how the doberman knew of Machop's plan, but whatever the case, he was right as she leaned her body back in an arch formation. She then threw her arms and legs up, pressing them both against the frosting sphere.

Everyone stared in shock as Machop used all her might to flip one-hundred-and-eighty degrees thus Slurpuff's cherry was now facing the mat. And before the cake dog could do a thing about it, he soon made contact with the material as he reverted back to his normal state, his eyes swirling as his tongue hung out the side of his mouth.

The audience gasped, some looking mortified as not only had Machop found a way to counter his Cake Pop Crusher, but she had even managed to deal damage to him. Considering his body had been covered, they figured there was no way that could possibly work, so this naturally came as a shock.

But as was expected, the crowd booed and jeered her as Slurpuff righted himself up, hobbling back and forth while his tongue swished from side to side. Machoke gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to yell at the top of his lungs only for Gardevoir to gently pat him on the shoulder with a sweet smile.

Though it seemed even the judges were having trouble focusing on the ring with all this unfair treatment Machop was receiving. The audience knew this would happen. They were fully aware that this was how the match would play out and yet they acted as if this was completely unexpected.

Scyther folded her arms and grunted, “Disgraceful. Glad we didn't have to deal with a crowd this fickle,” as Lopunny sighed, “To be fair, Machoke always had to deal with this. Never understood how he could handle so many people laughing at him constantly.”

But much like before, Machop refused to allow the crowd's reactions to get under her skin. All that mattered to her was that her friends were cheering her on. As long as she had some support, that was enough motivation for her to keep trying.

As if that was not enough, Slurpuff was now distracted. As such, Machop leapt toward him with her arm out and shouted, “MOON HOOK!” hitting him hard in the neck as he coughed up his jam-like blood. And it did not end there as the girl kept her arm linked to him and swung herself around so she was behind him.

“What is Machop doing!?” Yuki barked as the girl then used her free arm to place a firm grip on the cake dog's chest, smirking and saying, “I just thought of this recently. Figured this old family move could use a little addition.”

Gardevoir beamed bright, feeling beyond proud as Machop leapt into the air and leaned backward, ramming the back of Slurpuff's head into the turnbuckle. This caused him to cough up more blood as a few French fans gasped, looks of confusion on their faces.

“Sacre bleu! Why have I been cheering for Slurpuff!?” a middle-aged man gasped as a girl added, “I am so ashamed. I was prepared to support Machop but cheered for the opponent instead.”

Machoke turned to the French crowd and blinked, uttering, “Anyone know what just happened?” as even the judges were resisting the urge to bring this up.

Whatever the case, Machop knew this was far from over as she took even more advantage of Slurpuff's state, sending her elbow repeatedly into his gut. This caused him even more pain as the French crowd along with her fans cheered wildly, Isamu sighing, “There's that miracle I expect from her.”

Eiko nodded and squealed, “Machop's so cool! She always gets out of situations like these!” as Kelani clapped with a big open-mouth smile.

Meanwhile, in the back row, Sneasel breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Not gonna lie. I was kinda worried back there. That Slurpuff is scary as hell,” as Gigalith nodded, Gyarados adding, “I wasn't too worried. After all, Machop took in far worse from me and wound up okay.”

But just as it seemed that the girl finally had the advantage, Slurpuff ignored the pain her elbow was dealing and closed his hair inward, latching it to her arm. Her eyes widened as the cake dog formed a circle over his head, shouting, “FROSTING FLY SWATTER!” sending it into the girl's face ten times.

This ultimately caused her to end her attack as Slurpuff leapt up onto the turnbuckle and jumped backwards with his hair still latched to her arms. And once he deemed himself high enough, he allowed himself to descend toward her, shouting, “SLINGFROST!” ramming hard into her gut as she coughed up blood.

Most of the crowd cheered for him as Nori exclaimed, “Just as things finally start to look up for Machop, Slurpuff counters with more moves we've never seen from him before!” the cake dog leaping away from Machop, a big adorable smile on his face as he beamed, “That was really cool! I didn't think anyone could beat my Cake Pop Crusher!”

His fangirls all cheered with hearts in their eyes, sighing, “He's such a good sport!” though once again, Machop detected less sincerity from Slurpuff than usual.

Vigoroth let out a sigh and groaned, “Every single time someone gets the drop on him, he has to find a way around it,” as Meloetta uttered, “Still, at least Machop found a way around one of his special moves, right?”

Lairon nodded with a grin and replied, “Yeah. I have to admit, I never would had thought of that, though it should have been obvious. After all, that's very similar to how Lucario defeated the Sunset Slam back in the day.”

Torchic smirked and said, “Whatever the case, that gives me hope,” before shouting, “Come on, Machop! Don't let this get to you! You're doing great!” Machop turning to her with a light smile.

“Your friends are really nice,” Slurpuff said with the biggest smile he could muster, Machop turning back to him and nodding before remarking, “Yeah, and they also give me the motivation I need to do my absolute best.”

Machop could swear she saw a look of envy on Slurpuff's face after she said that, but it went by so quickly that she wondered if she had just imagined it. After all, she had never seen such a look from him before, not to mention he had a bigger fanbase than she did. What reason would he have to be jealous?

Even so, it seemed Slurpuff was still fully confident in himself as he raced toward Machop, something no one had expected him to do. However, all became clear when he started swinging his hair around, forming fists on the end as Machop barely managed to leap to the right in time to avoid it. While the move itself was nothing too special, it was yet another attack no one had ever seen from the cake dog until now, so it only stood to reason that it caught her off-guard.

But while the move had still missed, it seemed Slurpuff had something else planned as he leapt toward the ropes, once again covering himself in his hair to form a big sphere. And once he made contact with the material, he bounced off and shouted, “CAKE POP PINBALL!”

Machop's eyes widened as he flew toward her at an incredible speed, ramming into her as she coughed up blood and fell on her back. But as soon as she rose back to her feet, Slurpuff had already flown to the opposite side and bounced off those ropes, ramming into her back.

“Oh no!” Vigoroth groaned, “Why did it never occur to me that he'd have an ability like that!?” Meloetta asking, “Wait, all I see is a ball. Where's the pin?” everyone giving her an awkward stare. Even Kelani, who had only been alive for almost three months, knew what Pinball was.

Machop groaned as the next strike hit her on the side, causing her to spin briefly as Lairon growled, “Dammit! He's so unpredictable! Every other opponent Machop has faced has at least had an ability to exploit, but this guy...”

“It's hard to come up with advice for this match, isn't it?” Garchomp asked as Venipede sighed, “Come on, Machop. If anyone can find a way around this, it's you.”

Machop took the seventh hit to her face and coughed up more blood as Yuki stated, “After getting out of quite a few close calls, it seems Machop can't find a way around the Frosting Pinball. Slurpuff is simply moving too quickly for her to counter or dodge or anything like that.”

Machoke watched this in horror and groaned, “If only she had could use the Mach Cover!” as Gardevoir nodded and sighed, “I know. It would certainly help.”

It seemed Machop was thinking the same thing as she took in the thirteenth hit, thinking, 'Alright, how did Daddy tell me this worked? I've gotta try,' as she gave herself a tight embrace, focusing hard. Unfortunately, this did not prevent her from taking in pain from the next move as she once again took a blow to her face, her head reeling back as Slurpuff continued his flight.

However, seeing no other options, the girl attempted the technique a second time. Unfortunately, it met the same results as Yuki asked, “What's Machop doing?”

“It looks like she's attempting a very famous defensive tactic, the Mach Cover,” Beedrill replied, “It was invented by Mapunch and they say he used it to protect himself from a whole army for three days and three nights. Unfortunately, it's not used as much ever since Lucario exposed its weaknesses, but it's still very effective.”

“So why can't Machop use it?” Nori uttered as Lairon took a deep breath and sighed, “It's because her muscles aren't big enough.”

The others stared at him as Isamu uttered, “You can't be serious,” only for the dinosaur to shake his head and remark, “As painful as it is, Machop does not have the same muscle mass as her ancestors, let alone Machamp and Machoke. Therefor, I don't think she's able to pull it off.”

However, after the tactic failed for the tenth time, Machop noticed something. Not only was this hit weaker than the others but Slurpuff seemed to be slowing down. It was as if the tactic had worked to a certain degree, but not in the way she would have liked it to.

With this in mind, Machop's eyes sparkled briefly as she quickly sported a more serious look and folded her arms again. And when Slurpuff rammed into her once more, she threw her arms out, thus forcing him back.

The crowd gasped as Slurpuff reverted back to a normal state, the girl sending a roundhouse into his gut. She then took hold of his stubby arms and leaned backward, slamming his back into the canvas while the French crowd and her friends cheered wildly.

“Did you see that!?” Eiko squealed, “She finally did it!” as Garchomp breathed a sigh of relief and said, “I have admit, I really wasn't sure if she could find a way to effectively counter that.”

“I can't believe it!” Yuki exclaimed, “Just as it seemed like Machop would lose for sure, she has finally managed to work her way around Slurpuff's mighty Pinball technique!”

And it did not end there as the girl lifted the cake dog up by his feet and leapt into the air, wrapping her legs around his neck and shouting, “METEOR WARHEAD!” ramming his skull into the canvas while cheers from her fans grew louder.

Shockingly enough, this seemed to take Slurpuff down for good as Yuki immediately started the ten count, Kelani squealing, “Yay!” while clapping his hands, the others cheering as well.

“I can't believe it,” Isamu uttered, “Is it already over?” as Torchic sighed, “Somehow, I have a feeling it's not.”

And it seemed so as once Yuki reached five seconds, Slurpuff's eyes shot open as he pushed himself up with his hair, the Japanese and Turkish fans going wild. He took a deep breath, trying his best to make it come off as cute before beaming wide, as if all the pain dealt earlier meant nothing.

“Oh god, I am so tired of seeing that!” Isamu groaned as Nori stated, “It looked like Machop had won this match, but Slurpuff continues to stand.”

“Aw man,” Machoke groaned as Gardevoir smiled and said, “It's okay. I just think it's awesome that she pulled off my best move so flawlessly.”

However, the woman's tune would soon change when Slurpuff grinned and said, “I have to admit, this is a lot of fun! I've never fought anyone quite like you!” Machop tensing up as she once again detected a hint of annoyance in his tone.

The others were equally worried about where this was going as the cake dog squealed, “I wonder what I should use next! Maybe Kendama or my Pizza! Maybe I should use my Mallet again or-or Burrito Driver! Maybe Pig in a Blanket Backdrop or I could use Frosting Merry-Go-Round!”

“Does this guy have any threatening names for his special moves?” Machoke uttered as a teenaged girl seated next to him replied, “Oh no. Such names are far too vulgar for someone as adorable as Slurpuff,” hearts forming in her eyes as the man groaned.

“No,” Slurpuff said with a grin, “I've got something else in mind, a nice little surprise just for you.”

Machop's eyes widened as she uttered, “Surprise?” as Rinko groaned, “Seriously, what else can his hair possibly do?”

This would soon be made clear as said part split up into eight ropes. Slurpuff then had them all wiggle menacingly with the same cute look, saying, “I hope you like my Frosting Spider,” Machop's eyes and mouth wide open. Could this be the technique that would result in her second loss?

 

As if Slurpuff was not threatening before, he had just activated an ability that looked intimidating just from the concept alone. One could only imagine how difficult defeating him would be now that he had eight ropes of sticky hair wiggling around.

“Just when you think he's run out of surprises,” Venipede groaned, rubbing his head, “Maybe his hair is like a rubber band! They say those have nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine uses!”

“At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if that was true,” Lairon grumbled, folding his arms, “He wouldn't be the first, either. It's been said that back in the day, the legendary Greninja had a grand total of one-thousand techniques. Nowadays, she can't use a whole lot of them anymore, but there's no doubt she was quite the demon in the ring.”

“Wow,” Meloetta uttered, “Good thing Slurpuff's not really evil. Imagine someone like that serving the dark side, eh?” Kelani whimpering, “That sounds scary.”

Torchic then smirked and said, “I'm sure Machop will be fine. She once defeated an opponent with eight arms and six legs. This is nothing,” Garchomp replying, “True, but keep in mind, Tentacruel's tentacles weren't sticky.”

Machop realized this as well as she tried her hardest not to look scared. After all, she had done a good job so far and there was no way she was going to throw away a chance at victory just because Slurpuff had revealed another technique no one had seen up to this point.

Slurpuff smiled bright and asked, “What do you think? It's super cool, isn't it? I only save this for the really fun opponents, and you are the funnest opponent I've ever faced.”

“Oh, joy,” Machop groaned before striking a defensive stance, looking for a moment to strike. However, it seemed she might not get a chance as the cake dog sent four of his ropes forward, binding her ankles and wrists with them.

He then proceeded to lift her up before shouting, “FROSTING BALL GUN!” sending the other four ropes of hair repeatedly into her gut at a rapid pace.

His fans went wild as the French fans panicked, Machop grunting in pain before coughing up a bit of blood. Eiko squeaked in panic as Meloetta covered her eyes. While she was used to seeing Machop have trouble defeating opponents before, it had never looked this hopeless.

After delivering more than thirty hits, Slurpuff ended his assault and said, “I'd rather not win with this. I wanna have more fun, and I think you'll really like this one. After all, this was originally your grampa's idea.”

“Wait, what?” Machop uttered with a pathetic look in her eyes, the cake dog reeling her in and flipping her over.

The crowd watched in awe, Lairon uttering, “Oh no. I think I know where this is going,” as Isamu uttered, “There's no way it can work, right? I mean, Machop knows a way around this.”

However, it seemed that might not be the case as the girl was too weak to even struggle after all those hits. And things would only get worse when Slurpuff wrapped two more ropes around her waist, latching the last two around her neck.

He then leaped high into the air as Yuki exclaimed, “And in a shocking turn of events, it seems as if Slurpuff fully intends to use his own version of the Muscle Tombstone! I'm kinda wondering what he plans to call it now.”

“Is it wrong to say I'm kinda thinking the same thing?” Gardevoir uttered as she and Machoke looked down with shame, the man also wondering this.

However, Lairon wished he could give some advice as Isamu asked, “She can just reverse it, right?” as Noboru sighed, “Hate to say it, son, but I'm not sure if she's focused enough to pull that off right now.”

This seemed to be the case as Slurpuff descended toward the mat, squealing, “MUSCLY POUND CAKE!” the area going silent as everyone waited for Machop's inevitable collision with the canvas.

But just as it looked like all was lost, Machop's eyes widened as she gritted her teeth, growling, “NO!” Slurpuff looking terrified for the first time during the entire match.

She then let out a loud cry and used all her might to flip herself and Slurpuff one-hundred-and-eighty degrees. And while Slurpuff was too high up to make contact with the mat, Machop still wound up landing on her feet thus preventing herself from taking in damage as her friends and the French crowd went wild.

“I KNEW SHE COULD DO IT!” Machoke exclaimed as he and Gardevoir shared a big hug, Isamu breathing a sigh of relief as Eiko squealed, “Yay! Machop's the best!”

As luck would have it, Slurpuff had been so distracted by Machop's counter that he wound up loosening his hold on her. And needless to say, there was no way the girl would not take advantage of this as she spun around, swinging her arm into his cheek. She then followed it up with a roundhouse to his side and a headbutt to his face, the cheers from her fans only getting louder while Slurpuff's supporters were beyond mortified.

However, when the cake dog coughed up a bit of blood, some of the Japanese viewers gasped as one asked, “Oh my god, I was going to cheer for Machop. How did I forget that?” another groaning, “Oh god, what the hell came over me? I was going to cheer for Torchic when she fought him in the first round and then it just slipped my mind.”

“Wow, it seems like every time someone draws blood from Slurpuff, more members of the crowd turn against him,” Venipede uttered as Vigoroth tapped her chin and suggested, “Maybe it's because seeing him bleed makes him look less cute. That's the best theory I can come up with.”

“Now that you mention it, that makes perfect sense,” Venipede uttered as Torchic shrugged and remarked, “Whether or not Machop gets support hardly matters right now. What does matter is that she managed to bypass that cheap spider trick of his.”

With that in mind, all of Machop's friends cheered for her as she took hold of Slurpuff's stubby arms, leaping high into the air and flipping him upside-down. She then wrapped her arms and legs around him, descending toward the mat and shouting, “ULTIMATE DRIVER!”

The cake dog could have easily used his frosting ropes to stop himself, but right now, he was still too spellbound by the fact that she had reversed his own slam to focus. Thus his skull made contact with the canvas as he coughed up more blood, Machop releasing her hold and allowing him to collapse as she received more cheers.

“Not only did Machop get out of the Muscle Tombstone, which I will call it despite Slurpuff giving it a different name,” Yuki stated, “but she has also managed to land the other famous Mach family technique, the Ultimate Driver.”

Nori then nodded and started the ten count as Slurpuff twitched, slowly rising to his feet and breathing heavily. Thus the count was put to a halt as the Turkish fans and a good percentage of the other audience members looked relieved.

“Oh, goddammit!” Isamu groaned, rubbing his head, “Even after all that! Most opponents fall to one or two of her finishing moves and yet he gets up after taking in three!? Come on!”

“Relax,” Torchic replied with a sigh, “Machop's doing a very good job. Besides, I'm willing to bet that spider technique is all he has left.”

“Besides, we mustn't forget how much damage he took in from Clawitzer,” Garchomp added, “She actually got him breathing and he didn't feel the need to bring out that spider ability. He said himself that he saves this move for the best opponents, meaning it's probably all he has left to surprise us with.”

Though neither Eiko nor Kelani were able to give their own thoughts on this matter. Both were focused on something they shockingly picked up more quickly than the others, and it was the look on Slurpuff's face. It looked as if even he was not completely relieved by the fact that Machop's Ultimate Driver had not been enough to end the match.

It was soon made clear why as he breathed heavily, his face looking as if he was having a psychotic meltdown. And soon enough, his fans noticed this as one girl gasped, “Hey, Slurpuff, what's wrong!? You can still beat her! That move didn't finish you off!”

However, he ignored her as he revealed rows of razor sharp teeth in his mouth, barking, “WHY WON'T YOU GO DOWN!?” everyone staring in stunned silence as he added, “I KEEP PULLING OUT EVERYTHING AND YET EVERY SINGLE TIME IT LOOKS LIKE I CAN BEAT YOU, YOU FIND A WAY AROUND MY BEST TECHNIQUES! I HEARD YOUR FAMILY'S INFAMOUS FOR ITS ABILITY TO CONSTANTLY GET OUT OF TOUGH SCRAPES, BUT YOU ARE ANNOYING!”

Even Machop could not believe what she was hearing as some members of the crowd looked terrified of the cake dog. They were so used to him being a good sport that to see him blow a gasket like this was hard to take in.

Things got even worse when he spat, “It all seemed so simple and was going so well, too! My plan was to win the Olympics so the world would recognize me as their new king! They would all bow down to me and treat me like a god! Even other villains would see me as a leader, someone they could look up to!”

“Wait, other villains?” Rinko uttered as the entire group groaned, “Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.”

“It was hard defeating Delphox and Clawitzer, but I still did it!” Slurpuff growled, “And I thought for sure you'd be just as easy to take down, especially considering how close you came to losing to all of your opponents, but you're much more of a nuisance! I can't stand it!”

All went silent as everyone stared at Slurpuff. He gulped and cleared his throat before sporting a big smile and turning to his fanclub, squealing, “Hey, why'd everyone stop cheering?”

The crowd continued to stare silently at him as he started to tense up, sweating pouring down his face as he uttered, “Oh no, I really did just say all of that, didn't I?”

One of his fangirls laughed lightly and uttered, “That was a joke, right?” as another sighed, “I'd love to believe that, but that didn't sound like a joke to me.”

Slurpuff was now twitching all over as the audience members talked amongst themselves. Even the Turkish fans could not believe a villain had been representing them the whole time. While this was not the first time something like this happened, Slurpuff seemed too sweet and innocent for such a thing.

Machop blinked and uttered, “Okay, I know Daddy had to deal with this five times in his career, but I still don't get it. Why enter the Olympics?” as the cake dog growled, “Because the winner of the Olympics is deemed the greatest in the world! If I win, I'll be revered as the best of the best! They'll see my championship belt and know better than to cross my path!”

“Look, I don't care what your reasoning is,” Beedrill retorted with a scowl, “The fact remains that you're a villain in a tournament for heroes! As you probably already know, that is a major violation of the rules! I'd disqualify you, but I have a feeling that a member of the Mach family isn't going to just stand there and let you leave this ring!”

Machop nodded and retorted, “You got that right! If I had lost to a hero today, I would have been bitter for a while, but I would have eventually accepted it! Now that I know you're evil, I can't let you leave! Ditta may have been a threat, but you've already proven yourself far worse! If someone like you was allowed to walk free, no one would be safe!”

“Well, you heard her,” Beedrill replied with a shrug as the crowd went wild, Rinko barking, “That's right! Show him what you're made of!”

“Yeah, our duty is to protect the innocent,” Venipede added, “There's no way any of us would accept a default victory against a villain.”

The cheers only got louder as even the Turkish fans were cheering for Machop. And soon enough, the announcers joined in as well, despite the fact that they had to be neutral.

Slurpuff's eyes suddenly became thinner and red as a wicked smile formed on his face. He also revealed his teeth once more and laughed, pointing and shouting, “WHY, THANK YOU FOR DIGGING YOUR OWN GRAVE! NOW I NO LONGER HAVE TO HOLD BACK! I CAN KILL YOU TODAY AND HAVE NO REGRETS!”

Eiko and Kelani hugged one-another with terror in their expressions as Isamu took a deep breath and folded his arms, saying, “I'm sure Machop can defeat him. She's managed to counter all of his best tactics. There's nothing else he can do to surprise us, right?”

Lairon let out a sigh and groaned, “As great as that would be, this guy has done nothing but surprise us throughout this tournament. Somehow I doubt we've seen him at his worst yet.”

And this seemed to be the case as Slurpuff continued to laugh insanely, big clawed hands forming on the ends of his hair while the rest became big, beefy arms. The rest of it seemed to melt all around the cake dog's body as it soon went all the way down to his feet, two bulky legs forming in that very spot and holding him up. He then lowered his cherry so it was pressed up against his chest, the only part of him still exposed being his head. The remaining hair was used to form rounded ears on the sides.

Everyone stared in horror as he exclaimed, “FROSTING BEAR COSTUME!” Machoke sighing, “And there he goes, ruining the move with a non-threatening name.”

However, the other judges stared at this as Roserade uttered, “Are we really going to allow this?” before turning back to the ring only for Lucario to sigh, “I think it's too late to act professional now. But you know our policy. If the opponent is fine with the rule violation, the match will continue.”

With that in mind, Slurpuff smirked and said, “Perfect!” before clenching a fist and sending it toward Machop.

The girl easily leapt over it, but just as she was about to go beyond that, her eyes widened as the cake dog used his free hand punch her hard in the gut. This caused her to fly backwards slightly as Slurpuff raced toward her and planted his elbow into her, sending her into the turnbuckle.

The crowd gasped as Machop groaned, trying to regain focus. However, Slurpuff refused to give her such an opportunity as he advanced toward her, wrapping his arms around her and saying, “Ditta may not be a fan of bear hugs, but I absolutely love them!”

With that, he applied a strong grip to the girl's back as she cried out in pain. Despite the cake dog only having two arms as opposed to four, this dealt significantly more pain than when Ditta used it.

It seemed that Slurpuff had even more planned, though, as after a few more seconds, he leapt into the air and flipped himself one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, shouting, “FROSTING BEAR SUPLEX!” planting Machop's skull into the canvas as she coughed up blood.

The crowd stared in horror as Yuki stated, “While these last few moves from Slurpuff are a lot simpler than what we're used to seeing, they seem to pack a serious punch. Not only has his new form made him bigger, but it seems to have made him stronger.”

“Now I'm starting to wonder if his hair has muscles in it,” Beedrill uttered as the women turned to him and gave him an awkward look. For all they knew, he was probably right.

Once Slurpuff released his hold on Machop, she rolled away from him and breathed heavily with terror in her eyes. As if hitting him before was not hard enough, now he seemed even more difficult, especially with his new feet making him significantly faster.

Eiko trembled and whimpered, “Machop will be okay, right? I mean, she has to win this. She's a member of the Mach family. They can do anything.”

“It's true that Machs have a knack for getting out of tough scrapes like this, but don't forget, she has lost before,” Lairon stated, “I have no doubt victory is certainly possible, but now that Slurpuff's no longer hiding his best abilities, it's going to be a lot harder.”

Slurpuff gave Machop a smug grin and folded his arms, saying, “Go on, just try and hit me again. See where that gets you,” as the girl gritted her teeth. She could tell from looking at him that the only part worth aiming for was his exposed head, but with his new body, could she even land so much as a hit?

Before she could think about that, though, Slurpuff grew tired of waiting as he shrugged and said, “Well, if you're not gonna do anything, I guess I may as well have another turn.”

Machop panicked as she dodged two incoming punches. Unfortunately, though, the third punch managed to hit her hard in the face as she coughed up more blood, staggering backwards as the crowd watched in horror. And things could only get worse from here when Slurpuff pierced her right shoulder with two of his claws in order to stop her from falling down. As if the pain to her shoulder was not bad enough, he followed it up with another punch to her face.

The crowd stared in horror as Isamu spat, “COME ON, MACHOP! TRY THAT MACH SHIELD THING AGAIN!” as the girl nodded and hugged herself tightly.

Unfortunately, it seemed Slurpuff already knew how to get around this as he sent an onslaught of finger punches into her arms. This put more holes in her as she cried out in pain, dropping her stance thus leaving herself open for another hard punch, this time to the gut.

“Why didn't that work?” Kelani uttered as Eiko sighed, “I know all about this. See, when Machoke used it in the Olympic finals, Lucario pierced his flesh and rendered it useless. That's why the technique isn't used often.”

“It's also not considered a priority to learn it anymore,” Garchomp sighed as Rinko groaned, “What's she gonna do, then? If she can't make Slurpuff waste his energy, she can't slow him down. And if she can't slow him down, there's no way she can hit his face. And if she doesn't hit his face, she'll be stuck in his frosting.”

“This is Machop we're talking about,” Meloetta protested with fear in her eyes, “She can find a way around this. I just know it.”

It seemed as if the girl would need to think of something fast as Slurpuff wrapped his arms around her and held her up for another bear hug. He then smirked and said, “Well, I've had about as much fun as I can handle today. Guess I may as well finish this, and I know the perfect technique.”

Once he felt that Machop's back had suffered enough, he proceeded to flip her upside-down while jabbing his claws into her back as she let out another cry of pain. He then leapt high into the air and exclaimed, “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS! YOU ARE ALL ABOUT TO WITNESS MY FINAL PERFORMANCE! AND I'VE DECIDED TO NAME IT USING THE WONDERFUL LANGUAGE OF THIS FINE COUNTRY!”

He then wrapped his legs around Machop's neck and barked, “PONDO KUMA DORAIBAA!” the crowd unsure of what the girl could possibly do. This truly seemed like the end.

 

It seemed as if this match was as good as finished. With Slurpuff's new battle suit made from his frosting, he had made things much more difficult for Machop than before. And to make matters worse, the girl had not only taken in a horrible beating but was now set up for what the cake dog had built up as the move to end it all, an attack he referred to as the Pondo Kuma Doraibaa.

Machoke held his hands against his head, his eyes and mouth wide open as Gardevoir trembled and whimpered, “Honey, tell me there's a way out of that. She has your genes, too. Surely, she can pull this off, right?”

“I don't know,” the boy uttered, “The only thing I can see showing some results is our muscle expansion, but, well, even if she used that, she'd still be stuck in Slurpuff's frosting. I think this might be it.”

“No,” Torchic groaned, tears forming in her eyes, “She was so close,” as Rinko and Venipede hugged each other. Even Meloetta could not bear to watch as Vigoroth let out a sigh and groaned, “I don't think any of us could have stood up to that.”

Sneasel, Gyarados and Gigalith had no idea how to respond to this. And the same went for Noboru and Hana. They were used to seeing Machop get out of tough situations, but not even they could imagine a way out of this.

Jackalu watched this with horror in the hospital, Clawitzer finally starting to wake up as he gulped, thinking, 'Oh no, please don't let this be the first thing she sees. Come on!'

“Say something, Isamu!” Eiko squeaked, “It's because of you that she defeated Chesnaught! Surely you can help her out again!” Kelani nodding as the boy gulped.

He then took a deep breath and rose to his feet, shouting, “COME ON, MACHOP! I KNOW YOU CAN GET OUT OF THIS! MACHOP! MACHOP!”

Soon enough, the others joined in as soon enough, the entire area erupted with people chanting the girl's name. Slurpuff, meanwhile, giggled and squeaked, “You're all so silly!” while descending toward the mat.

However, this seemed to work as Machop's eyes widened, the girl gritting her teeth and barking, “DON'T COUNT ME OUT JUST YET!”

She then focused all her might as her muscles started to expand, Machoke barking, “HONEY, NO! THAT'LL JUST COST YOU ENERGY!” as even Roserade, Lucario, Golduck and Barbaracle were uncertain of this.

However, their tune changed when they noticed something truly shocking. Not only did Slurpuff's hold seem to weaken slightly but small cracks formed on his arms. And it was not long until everyone else could see this as well. They had no idea how this could possibly be, but there was no way they would question it.

Slurpuff started to notice this as well, his eyes widening as he blinked and uttered, “How?” and sure enough, the cracks grew bigger and spread until soon enough, his frosting arms burst into smaller pieces as Machop was free.

And with only a few seconds before she and the cake dog could make contact with the canvas, she took full advantage of this as she latched her arms around him. She then used all her might to flip him upside-down, driving his skull into the mat as the crowd went wild.

Yuki's jaw dropped as Nori stated, “No one knows how it happened, but Machop has actually managed to break open Slurpuff's frosting and save herself from defeat! Not only that, but she has even managed to deal some damage to the sentient dessert!”

Jackalu breathed a sigh of relief as Clawitzer had finally woken up, a smile on her face as she said, “Wow, Machop's doing a really good job,” the dog nodding and grinning as he replied, “You better believe it.”

Isamu stared in stunned silence, uttering, “She gets more and more amazing every time,” as Garchomp nodded and asked, “How do you suppose she pulled that off?”

Whatever the case, Slurpuff refused to allow himself to lose. As such, once he rose back to his feet, he had his frosting return to him, reforming the arms and growling, “You won't be so lucky again, you witch!”

But as he sent a punch toward the girl, she held up her hands and grabbed hold of the fist, smirking as she said, “Hey, my hand's not sticking to it,” the crowd now even more amazed.

Before Slurpuff could question this, she lifted him high above her head and slammed his back hard against the canvas. Due to the frosting covering him, he wound up taking in less damage, but it still hurt nonetheless. And once again, people were shocked to see cracks form on it.

“I noticed something quite a while ago when you used your bear hug on me, but I couldn't be too certain,” Machop stated with her eyes narrowed, “Unlike before, your hair didn't feel as soft as it usually does. In fact, it felt very solid. And now that I've managed to crack it, I now know the reason.”

Slurpuff stared in confusion as the girl asked, “How many times have you used this technique?” the cake dog uttering, “I used it once when learning my techniques but chose to save it for an opponent truly worthy of it.”

“So that's why you're unaware of this,” Machop retorted, “You've never used it on anyone until now, but yes, somehow, this new battle suit of yours has caused your frosting to harden, meaning anyone can touch it and let go whenever they want to. In other words, I no longer have to fear sticking to you if I aim any attacks at it.”

Beedrill blinked as Nori uttered, “Any idea how that works?” the wasp shrugging and replying, “Well, his hair isn't made of normal frosting.”

Whatever the case, it seemed as if Slurpuff was not as intimidated by this as he should have been as he smirked and said, “Well, colour me impressed, and maybe a nice shade of red. But this hardly matters. In this state, I'm still stronger than you!”

“Wait, why wouldn't he just-” Kelani uttered as Eiko shook her head and whispered, “Don't give him any ideas. Machop finally has the advantage back.”

The cake tucked in his arms and legs before rolling toward Machop, shouting, “FROSTING BEACHBALL!” but just as it was about to hit, the girl noticed his skull sticking out as she sent a hard punch into it.

The crowd went wild as this caused him to halt his attack, reverting back to normal as Machop wrapped her arms around his waist. She then lifted him up and leaned backward, planting his head hard into the canvas while the crowd went wild.

“THAT'S MY GIRL!” Machoke exclaimed with a big smile, Scyther folding her arms and saying, “Leave it to a Mach to figure out a weird weakness like that.”

“I know,” Lopunny replied with a big grin, “Machop's so cool!” and needless to say, the girl's friends were just as happy to see all of this.

However, Slurpuff refused to accept this as he growled, “Alright, if my bear costume won't help me anymore, I guess I don't need it!”

With that in mind, he reverted his hair back to normal, his cherry returning to its original spot. He then smirked and said, “Just try and defeat me now that you can't grab my frosting anymore!”

“Oh no, he still did it!” Kelani squeaked as Isamu rolled his eyes and replied, “But because you kept quiet long enough, he didn't do it sooner,” the doberman nodding with a light smile.

“Still, do you think Machop stands a chance now?” Reika asked as Torchic smirked and replied, “Don't forget, the whole reason he used that armour was because she managed to bypass his usual tactics. She's got this in the bag.”

It seemed Machop thought the same as she raced toward Slurpuff. The cake dog sent his hair forward only for the girl to leap over it, aiming her feet toward his skull. However, it seemed the cake dog had seen this coming as he pointed his skull toward her and exclaimed, “CHERRY BOMB!” launching the fruit into her gut, her eyes and mouth wide open.

The crowd stared as Slurpuff took full advantage of this, turning his hair around and sending the ends toward her back. He then combined them together to form a missile shape, shouting, “FROSTING BOTTLE ROCKET!”

And sure enough, Machop took the hit to her back as she coughed up blood, the crowd panicking. It seemed that dropping the bear suit was the best decision Slurpuff could have made at this point, and it would only get worse from here as he once again separated his hair into eight ropes, binding her arms, legs, midsection and head in place.

“This may have failed before, but after everything you've done, I doubt you have the strength to counter this again,” he said with a grin as he pulled her in, Isamu barking, “COME ON, MACHOP! THERE'S NO WAY THAT CAN FINISH YOU OFF!”

However, it seemed that Slurpuff might have been correct. Not only had Machop taken in a lot of pain up to this point, but she had used her muscle expansion earlier. She hardly had the strength to focus on the situation at hand as the cake dog reeled her in and flipped her upside-down.

Yuki gulped and uttered, “And it looks like Slurpuff has set Machop up for his own version of the Muscle Tombstone. What did he call it again?” Beedrill and Nori face-palming and groaning, “Muscly Pound Cake,” before shaking their heads.

“Don't hate on the name,” Slurpuff remarked with a smirk, “Cute but deadly is my thing. If you don't like it, you can try experiencing this for yourselves,” all three announcers shuddering.

But just as the cake dog was ready to leap into the air, his eyes widened when he heard a familiar Spanish voice shout, “HEY, MACHOP, ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO LET THIS LIAR OFF SO EASY!?”

Machop weakly looked around before spotting Chesnaught, the armadillo standing tall while barking, “Come on, this is pathetic! You are so much better than this!”

“He's right,” came another familiar voice as everyone turned to see Garbodor on the other side of the bleachers, “After the way you defeated me, I just can't stand to see you lose, especially to a villain. Don't forget, your life and the freedom of everyone here is at stake!”

Machop's eyes sparkled as even Vigoroth rose from her seat, shouting, “Yeah, come on, Machop! Show them the hero who has saved Tokyo so many times before!” Gyarados adding, “Where's that great warrior who showed me the light!?”

“What she said!” Sneasel spat as Gigalith pounded his fist against his chest before nodding his head.

Marshal also rose up from the third row and folded his arms, saying, “You were brought very close to defeat, but you and Torchic still managed to best Kingdra and I. I just know you can defeat this monster.”

And sure enough, the rest of the crowd joined in, shouting all kinds of encouraging words. Light tears welled up in Machop's eyes as Slurpuff gagged, “Oh, gross! That's too mushy, even for me!”

He then leapt high into the air as Machop gritted her teeth, focusing as hard as she could. She may have been low on energy, but there was no way she could allow herself to lose, not after coming so close. As such, she forced her arms and head forward as the crowd gasped.

“Is that such a good idea?” Eiko uttered as Lairon sighed, “Probably not. If anything, that's probably putting more of a strain on her.”

However, Isamu refused to believe that this was a waste of effort as he exclaimed, “COME ON, MACHOP! KEEP IT UP!”

Torchic nodded before chanting, “Machop! Machop!” Eiko grinning before squealing, “Machop! Machop!”

Kelani joined in along with the others, the area once again flooded with cheers for the girl. Slurpuff let out a sigh in response to this and groaned, “Can't you people ever just shut up? Seriously, it's pretty obvious she's wasting her efforts.”

With that, he soon found himself high enough, twice as high as he had been the first time he attempted the move. After all, he did not just intend to finish Machop with it. He wanted to kill her.

A grin formed on his face as he squealed, “MUSCLY POUND CAKE!” descending toward the mat as Machop continued to struggle. And all the while, everyone continued to chant her name, praying that she could get out of this. Even Beedrill, Nori and Yuki could not help but join in, Machoke and Gardevoir both raising their arms in the air.

And just as it seemed like Machop was truly doomed, she let out a loud battle cry as her arms burst through the frosting, causing it to drop toward the mat in small fragments. Slurpuff's eyes and mouth widened as soon enough, the girl's neck followed as she took hold of the tips of his feet. Then using all her might, she managed to flip him over, though Slurpuff could tell how much effort it took for her to do this as she breathed heavily while sweat poured down her face.

“Pathetic,” the cake dog said with a wicked smirk, “I can easily get the advantage back,” but as he attempted to reverse Machop's counter, he found himself unable to do so as the girl was using all her might to prevent him from turning things around.

“Something I'll admit Chesnaught was right about is that I've never used a finishing move of my own,” Machop growled, “I was okay with it before, but on the side, I've been working on plans for my own signature move and you're the perfect target to try it on.”

With that, she managed to shift her legs back far enough to free them from Slurpuff's frosting before latching them onto his neck. She then pulled his feet back further, thus forcing him into an incomplete bridge formation. No one could believe what they were seeing as the cake dog cried out in pain, the two mere seconds from hitting the canvas.

A big smile formed on Isamu's face as Slurpuff's head made contact with the canvas, Machop shouting, “MACH LIGHTNING!” the cake dog coughing up blood as he closed his eyes, the girl allowing him to collapse.

Surprisingly, the leftover frosting on the mat did not rise up as if Slurpuff's current was preventing that reaction. Either way, this would at least prevent Machop from taking in any last-minute damage as Yuki started the ten count, Nori shouting, “And just like that, Machop has revealed her own original finishing move, the Mach Lightning!”

But as impressive as the move was, the crowd could not help but worry. After all, Slurpuff had taken in so much damage earlier and continued to stand. Who was to say this move would be enough?

Soon enough, though, Yuki reached ten seconds and rang the bell, Beedrill exclaiming, “And on that note, Machop has won the match! Therefor she is our new world champion!” the area erupting with cheers as Machoke and Gardevoir hugged one-another, shouting, “THAT WAS AWESOME!”

Clawitzer and Jackalu both smiled and gave each other a high five, the dog blinking and asking, “Are you okay to do that now?” the shrimp sighing, “My head was injured, not my claws.”

Meloetta clapped her hands and squealed, “WAY TO GO, MACHOP!” as Vigoroth breathed a sigh of relief, saying, “She never ceases to amaze me.”

“Same here,” Isamu replied with a warm smile as Eiko and Kelani both rose their arms up and down, chanting Machop's name.

And needless to say, everyone else was just as happy with these results as Chesnaught folded his arms and smirked. Garbodor also gave the girl a thumb up while even the judges could not help but give her a standing ovation.

Meanwhile, in Bhopal, Gallador and his partner, a dragonfly named Yanmega, cheered and gave each other a high five. The white boy then smiled warmly and said, “You're awesome, Machop.”

Machop rose her arms in the air and basked in the cheers and applause that she received. And after a while, she looked down at Slurpuff and took a deep breath, hoping that perhaps he would come around and join the side of good. One could only guess how much someone that powerful could help protect mankind.

Beedrill then proceeded to reach for a gym bag and pulled out a golden belt, flying over to the girl with an implied smile and said, “Here you go,” holding it out and adding, “Not only have you become the new world champion, but you've saved so many lives, just like your father always did.”

But just as the girl was about to accept the belt, all the energy she had used up had finally taken a toll on her as she groaned, falling on her back and closing her eyes. Isamu gasped and rose up from his seat, running toward the ring as the others followed close behind.

Lairon lifted the girl up and noticed the medics on standby. Thus he carried her over and placed her onto the stretcher as Machoke and Gardevoir ran toward the area with panic in their eyes.

As soon as they approached Machop, Eiko tensed up and squeaked, “Oh my god, Machoke and Gardevoir are right next to me!” Kelani blinking as the man smiled and said, “Good job, sweetie. You make this man proud,” kissing her on the forehead.

Gardevoir nodded and sighed, “It was really close, just like our matches back in the day,” as Machoke nodded, the medics asking, “Can we carry her to the ambulance now?”

Both nodded as she was lifted up, Noboru saying, “Well, guess we'll stop by the hospital on the way back,” Hana nodding.

All the while, Meloetta smiled and said, “I'm just glad it's all over,” as Vigoroth sighed, “Honestly, I kind of am too. It'll be nice not to worry about fighting for a while.”

It was then that Kelani noticed the hexagons on his chest glow for the forth time, though this was only the second time he had seen it. But before he could point it out, it stopped as he blinked, now starting to wonder if this was a hidden power or something to worry about.

Whatever the case, he remembered that he had to join the others for a trip to the hospital as Beedrill bowed his head, thinking, 'Get well soon, Machop. The world needs heroes like you.'

Despite Machop's loss of energy, things had truly turned out for the best. Not only had she won the Olympics, but she had stopped a very dangerous villain. Things could only get brighter from here, or at least that seemed to be the case.

 

Note: Something worth note, and anyone who's read the original story will probably have picked up on this, but I'm not exactly sticking to the franchise's gender rules with all Pokémon, meaning some that are supposed to be male or vice-verse aren't always going to be that gender. Just thought I'd get that out there in case any of you were wondering why Yveltal is female in this story. You'll also notice hints that I did this with Hitmonchan in the first Earth's Protectors.

It had been two weeks since the Olympic finals ended. Those in charge of protecting other areas had returned, though many wished they could have said goodbye to Machop during this time. Unfortunately, that could not be done due to the fact that she had been unconscious during all of it.

Luckily, today was the day she finally woke up as all of her teen friends along with Kelani were assembled by her hospital bed. The other adults would have been there had it not been early in the day when they were usually at work. Garchomp, however, could be there as she had nothing else to do.

As Machop's eyes slowly opened, all of her friends smiled wide as Isamu asked, “Hey, Machop. How are you feeling?” the girl rubbing her head and grinning before replying, “I'm feeling fine.”

She then sat upright and groaned, “God, that match took a lot out of me. How long have I been out for?” Kelani squealing, “Two whole weeks!”

The others turned to face him as Machop sighed, “Dammit. I could have done so much during that time,” only for Isamu to plant a kiss on her lips with a warm smile before saying, “Don't worry about it. The important is that you're okay and, best of all, Slurpuff is behind bars and unable to hurt anyone.”

“How did they lock him up?” Machop uttered, “I dunno, someone like him could easily break out of handcuffs,” as Meloetta uttered, “Beedrill said something about encasing him in an iron ball. I'm not really sure how you can do that, but I can't imagine anyone breaking out of something like that.”

“Whatever the case, there's something we haven't done in quite some time, isn't there?” Isamu asked as Eiko squealed with excitement, Torchic smirking and adding, “Yeah, come on, girl. You've totally earned this.”

Garchomp nodded and added, “Don't forget to come home before six, Machop,” the girl about to ask why only for the dragon to add, “And you'll see why if you do.”

Machop nodded with a big smile and replied, “Alright,” before getting up, Vigoroth sighing, “By the way, there are a few reporters outside. We can fight them off if you'd like.”

The girl tapped her chin and replied, “Well, that does sound nice, but I think I'll answer a few questions. After all, it's only noon right now. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to just hang out.”

With that in mind, the group headed outside as Machop was already met with the sound of cameras and phones clicking, many trying to get a story only for the first reporter to interview Slurpuff to fight all of them off. After knocking one to the side with a hard punch to the cheek, she grinned and said, “I am here live in front of the hospital where Machop has finally recovered from two weeks of sleep! Tell me, how does it feel finally being awake again?”

“It feels awesome,” the girl replied with a grin as the people cheered, “Now I can go back to my regular life. In fact, I only have a few minutes to answer questions, so if it's not too much trouble-”

“Oh, I understand,” the woman replied, “I only have a few questions. For example, how long have you been working on that new finisher of yours?”

The others stood to the side as Isamu grinned and said, “Look at how famous she is. I can't say she didn't earn this.”

The others nodded as Machop answered a few more questions before heading off. And it was not long until the group was at the usual club.

Once they were seated at their usual couches, the owner brought in a trey of glasses full of liquid and said, “Special drinks for my favourite regulars,” setting them down, Machop's eyes sparkling when she received a slightly taller glass than that of the others.

“I figured I'd give our champion a little extra,” he said with a grin, “After all, you'll always be number one in my book,” Machop nodding and taking a sip, saying, “Thank you so much, sir.”

Eiko stared with envy before uttering, “I wonder if maybe I should try becoming a hero. How long did it take you to be able to fight like one, Rinko?” as the brunette laughed nervously and replied, “Well, let's just say I didn't have a whole lot of free time. You really need to be dedicated if you're going to reach my level,” before flexing her right arm as Venipede chuckled.

However, Torchic was not quite as comfortable as the others as she turned and looked out the window. And sure enough, many people were lined up outside, taking snapshots and video recordings as Vigoroth laughed nervously and said, “Don't worry about it. This sort of thing is expected now that we're best friends with the world champion, eh?”

Machop nodded and giggled, saying, “And to think, my grandpa got this kind of treatment all the time back in the day,” as Isamu nodded and sighed, “But still, I hope it doesn't last too long. When I go on a date with you, I wanna enjoy your presence, not your fanbase.”

“As long as they don't come into anyone's home, I'm fine,” Machop stated as the others nodded. They could not imagine anything worse than having people break into their homes just to film them.

Suddenly, the conversation was cut short when a young woman walked over and said, “Hey, Machop,” the girl turning and replying, “Hey there, Hatsuye. What's up?”

“Well, you know that animation studio I work for?” she enquired as the girl nodded and asked, “What about it?”

The woman then took a deep breath and replied, “Well, my boss wants to make an animated series with you as the main character. I was just wondering if you were okay with it. She's more than happy to offer you a portion of our profits,” as Machop grinned and squealed, “Are you kidding!? That sounds awesome! You don't have to pay me a thing!”

“Thank you so much,” Hatsuye said with a big smile before heading away from them, Isamu raising an eyebrow as Eiko beamed and squealed, “That's gonna be amazing! I'll definitely be one of the first to see it!”

“Oh yeah, Lucario got this treatment too, didn't he?” Torchic asked as Machop nodded and replied, “Yeah. Maybe they'll make a crossover episode with me saving his ass,” before laughing with pride as Isamu chuckled nervously. He hoped that at the very least, she would not let all of this attention go to her head.

Kelani, meanwhile, enjoyed being featured on TV as he waved to the cameras, his hexagons once again glowing briefly. But much like every other time, it did not stay that way long enough for anyone to notice.

The next few hours went by quickly as the group was ready to head home. And as luck had it, the reporters and fans with cameras had called it a day, realizing they, too, needed to head back to their families for the evening.

“I have to admit,” Isamu said on the way home, “I'm kinda surprised we actually have some time to ourselves,” as Torchic sighed, “Thank goodness. Now I'm actually kinda glad I lost the first round. I'd hate to have people follow me around everywhere I go.”

Eiko shrugged and replied, “Hey, better than being hunted down by every villain on the planet, right?” as the chicken nodded and said, “That's true. At least I've only dealt with one who cared about my lineage,” Vigoroth laughing nervously.

“Even if I wasn't world champion, I still get hunted down by those types,” Machop sighed, “Thus is the pain of being a member of the Mach family.”

She then turned to Isamu and added, “And by the way, you don't have to worry about me letting my current fame get the better of me. I've already learned the hard way that I can't get ahead of myself during a match,” the boy blinking and uttering, “Well, that's excellent. I'm not gonna lie, I was a tad worried you might get carried away the next time a villain shows up.”

Rinko blinked and uttered, “I actually hadn't thought of that,” as Venipede nodded and replied, “Well, it does happen to the best of us.”

“Good to know it won't happen to you,” Isamu said to Machop as he reached an arm over her shoulder and rested his hand against it. He then gave her a peck on the cheek as she squealed happily, Eiko feeling a tad envious.

However, that would have to wait as the group arrived home and entered, Garchomp and Lairon working on a big dinner as the dragon grinned and said, “Well, you guys are home early. You just wait in the living room and we'll call you when we're done.”

“I really should have known,” Machop sighed as the group took a seat on the couch, Venipede saying, “It must be awesome living with these two.”

“I think it is,” Meloetta squealed with a big smile, “They're so nice!” as Rinko stared at Eri, groaning, “Oh no, I forgot about the dog,” biting her lower lip and trembling.

The green-haired girl stared at her and asked, “What's wrong?” as Torchic patted Rinko on the shoulder and said, “It's fine. I'm sure the dog will love being smothered in attention. Most dogs would.”

“Yeah, but when I start-” Rinko uttered before sighing, “Oh, I can't help it,” lifting up the collie and setting her on her lap, scratching her behind the ears.

Once six o'clock came, Garchomp grinned and set the table, exclaiming, “Dinner's ready!” Lairon saying, “It's amazing how you always manage to get it done at just the right moment.”

And soon enough, everyone was gathered around as they cupped their hands together, saying, “Thank you for the food,” and serving up, Rinko finally showing enough restraint not to let Eri distract her from dinner. After all, she felt it would be insulting not to eat after the dragon and her husband had poured their heart and soul into it.

After taking a bite of each item, Machop's eyes sparkled as she squealed, “This is your best meal yet!” as Garchomp nodded and replied, “Well, we only wanted the best for our champion. You've truly earned this.”

“What did I do to deserve you all?” the girl asked as everyone shared a laugh, even though Kelani did not completely understand why she would ask that.

However, all went silent when suddenly, his hexagons started to glow for the second time today. At that moment, the area went silent as for the first time, the others saw it. And in seconds, the doberman noticed everyone go silent as he blinked, asking, “What's everyone looking at?”

He then looked down and squealed, “Yay! My body's glowing again!” as Eiko squeaked, “Again!?” the others unsure of whether or not this was something to worry about. And to make things stranger, the glow had not died down in mere seconds like it normally did.

“Okay, Kelani, this is really important,” Eiko said with a serious look in her eyes, “How many times has this happened?” the doberman tapping his chin and saying, “Three times, I think.”

“And has anything else happened?” Lairon asked as Kelani shook his head and replied, “No. But for some reason, it always disappears really fast. But it's not disappearing this time,” the others now even more concerned.

“Hey, Lairon, Garchomp, do you know anyone who could look into this?” Eiko asked as the couple shook their heads, Lairon saying, “Something like this has never been witnessed before. But if it's true that nothing's ever transpired as a result and this has happened more than once, it might just be a reaction to him growing.”

He then gave Kelani a serious look and asked, “When was the last time you saw it glow?” the doberman replying, “I saw it when Machop fainted after beating up Slurpuff,” Vigoroth folding her arms and saying, “So two weeks ago.”

“And how about the first time?” Lairon asked as Kelani tapped his chin and smiled, squealing, “I remember! It was the day after the demi-finals!”

“That's semi-finals,” Isamu corrected as Lairon nodded and folded his arms, saying, “Well then, if it started that recently, it could very well just be a sign of growth. After all, we don't know anything about your species, Kelani.”

“I don't either,” the doberman whimpered, “I don't even know who laid my egg,” as Eiko gave him a warm smile and hugged him, squealing, “Well, I'm pretty sure this is nothing to worry about! I think it's cool!”

But just as everyone was about to calm down, they all let out a cry of terror when suddenly, Kelani's mouth opened up and a beam of light shot out of it. And just as soon as it emerged, it stopped as Torchic uttered, “Okay, I think we have a reason to worry now.”

It seemed that they had more to worry about than they initially thought, though as the beam seeped through the nearest window and flew through the air. As if that was not enough, it stopped in mid-air and turned southwest, resuming its flight. But why it was headed in that direction was anyone's guess.

With all said and done, Eiko and Isamu decided to take Kelani to see a doctor. However, Lairon was uncertain whether or not a human doctor could really figure this out. But with no other options, Garchomp agreed to drive them to the nearest clinic, the others naturally joining in. After all, they wanted to make sure Kelani was okay just as much as Eiko.

During the trip, the doberman asked, “Am I going to be okay, Mommy?” as Eiko nodded and sighed, “Of course you are. You'll be in good hands. Besides, you don't feel sick or anything, right?”

“Nope,” Kelani squeaked with a big smile, “I'm perfectly fine!” as Isamu blinked and uttered, “Well, even so, it doesn't hurt to make sure.”

During this time, the beam of light reached its location at an incredible speed, having flown all the way to Kagoshima, specifically the volcano, Mount Sakurajima. As it entered the top, it descended all the way to the bottom where a red draconian bird and a black and blue stag lived.

Along with her red body, the bird had grey feathers around her neck, the back feathers sticking out and blowing in the air. Her wings were more like arms with five claws coming from the ends of each, her tail very similar and her legs only measuring to a third of their size. She also had branching black markings leading from her underside to her forehead.

Black covered the stag's torso while his neck and head were blue. Atop his head were eight antlers with colourful protrusions attached to the middle and top of each.

The bird smiled and said, “Finally, after all this time, we'll know where our baby has gone. Lead us to him, light of order.”

The stag nodded and added, “I assume we'll be flying there, correct?” the bird rising up and spreading her wings, saying, “But of course.”

With that, she flapped over the stag and lifted him up by the antlers. She then flew out of the volcano and headed toward Tokyo at a fairly impressive speed. It would take them a while to get there for sure, but at the pace they were headed, they were certain they could get there before midnight. And all the while, the beam of light shot toward their destination to lead the way.

Back in Tokyo, Kelani was seated on an examination table while a doctor had given him a full checkup. All the while, Eiko, Machop and Isamu stood idly by to make sure all was well, the others waiting in the lobby. And as it so happened, the doctor had just given the doberman an X-ray scan, which revealed nothing but a healthy bone structure with nothing else inside of him.

“Well, I don't detect anything wrong with him,” the doctor said with a nod, “His heart rate is normal, his reflexes are fine and there's nothing inside of him worth worrying about.”

Isamu and Machop looked relieved until Eiko squeaked, “But he vomited light!” as the doctor gave her an awkward look.

After a few seconds, he nodded and said, “As I've never seen a member of this species, I don't know how to explain that. But luckily for you, I have connections on Hero Planet. I think I'll give Chansey a call and see if she knows anything about this.”

“Okay,” Eiko replied with a light smile, “Thank you so much,” as Isamu and Machop turned to one-another, wondering if every doctor in Tokyo had such connections. After all, there was no way for them to check out another species without having at least some knowledge of it.

The conversation went for quite some time as the doctor described Kelani's appearance and explained the whole situation. When he mentioned the glowing hexagons and the light, he paused for a few seconds to listen to the response.

Once the conversation came to a close after a solid ten minutes, the doctor entered as Machop asked, “So, um, is there anything wrong?” as the doctor replied, “According to Chansey, it seems Kelani's species has never been discovered on any other planet. No one has ever seen a black and green dog let alone whatever he was when he was born, but considering nothing is really off with him, the only explanation I can think of is that this is a sign that he's growing. You say he essentially developed the mentality of a toddler in less than a month, correct?”

“That's right,” Eiko replied with a nod as Isamu uttered, “It's still weird thinking about it.”

“And how long has it been since that happened?” the doctor asked as Eiko replied, “Almost three months, now.”

The man nodded and replied, “Well, then, this could very well be puberty for his kind,” as Kelani uttered, “What's puberty?”

“Considering he still sounds and talks like a child, I'm not sure if I believe that,” Isamu whispered as Machop shrugged and replied, “It would make some sense, I guess.”

Either way, Kelani seemed happy as he asked, “So am I okay?” the doctor giving him a sweet smile and replying, “That appears to be the case,” before turning to Eiko and adding, “Though to be on the safe side, I'm considering calling in someone from Hero Planet to either take Kelani there or bring in some technology so maybe we can find more info on this.”

Eiko thought about this as Isamu smiled and said, “That might be the best option,” as the pink-haired girl sighed and nodded, saying, “Okay. All that matters to me right now is Kelani's health, so do all you can to make sure he's okay.”

“Excellent,” the doctor said with a smile, “The shuttle should arrive by early morning. Until then, watch over Kelani to make sure nothing else happens.”

With all said and done, the group was headed home as the others were dropped off at their own homes first. After all, it had gotten rather late in the evening and now that they knew there was currently nothing wrong with Kelani, they felt more at ease.

While on the way to Isamu and Eiko's house, Garchomp grinned and said, “I really hope things turn out well,” as Eiko nodded and hugged Kelani.

“Hey, Isamu, I was thinking maybe I could watch over Kelani with you,” Machop said as the boy rose an eyebrow, “I mean, you guys are like family to me now. If something really bad happens, I wanna be there to help.”

“I'm fine with that,” Garchomp replied as Eiko nodded and squealed, “Thank you so much, Machop.”

And soon enough, the teens were dropped off as Meloetta asked, “Should I stay too?” as Isamu replied, “Only if you want to.”

And sure enough, all four entered the house as Noboru and Hana approached Isamu and Eiko, the man asking, “So, how did it go? Is Kelani alright?”

“Well, it seems likely,” Isamu replied, “We're not completely sure yet, but the doctor found nothing wrong with him, so we think this might just be a sign of him growing up. Though just to be certain, a doctor from Hero Planet's coming here to give him one final checkup just to be on the safe side.”

Hana blinked and asked, “You mean he's coming here?” the boy sighing, “First of all, the doctor's a she, and secondly, she's going to stop by the same clinic we went to. We just have to bring Kelani in first thing in the morning.”

“Oh, okay,” the woman replied with a nod, “That makes much more sense.”

At that moment, the parents noticed Machop and Meloetta and were soon cleared in on why they were staying as well. And seeing as they were simply there to check up on Kelani, they agreed that perhaps letting them sleep over would be a good idea. Thus they led the heroes to a guestroom with a bed big enough for both of them.

And with all said and done, the teens decided to spend some quality time together until midnight. As such, they went to the basement to play video games with Kelani, the doberman really happy to have this much fun with his friends.

Once eleven-thirty rolled around, Eiko walked upstairs to her room and said, “Alright, Kelani, it's way past your bedtime,” the doberman nodding and squealing, “Thank you for letting me stay up late, Mommy! That was fun!”

Isamu, Machop and Meloetta watched this with sweet smiles when suddenly, they heard the doorbell ring. Though this hardly mattered when Noboru exclaimed, “Don't worry, kids! I'll get it!” as they shrugged, Isamu saying, “I wonder who'd stop by at this hour.”

When Noboru opened the door, his eyes widened at the sight of a certain red bird standing before him with a stag next to her, saying, “Good evening, sir. I'm sorry to bother you, but we are looking for our son and we have reason to believe that he might be in this very house.”

Soon enough, both were brought into the house and seated in the living room with Hana joining the conversation. The bird introduced herself as Yveltal while the stag told them his name was Xerneas.

“So, what does your son look like?” Hana asked as Yveltal sighed, “Unfortunately, we don't know. He was still an egg when we lost him. I was flying him back home and dropped him along the way. He's been missing for months.”

The human parents stared for a few seconds as Noboru whispered, “You don't think...” only for Hana to nod and reply, “We can't be too sure, but there's no harm in letting them see him.”

With that in mind, Noboru turned toward the staircase and called out, “Hey, kids, can you bring Kelani in here!?”

All four teens had tucked him in when they heard this, Kelani squealing, “Yay! I get to stay up even longer!” as Eiko giggled.

But when the group entered, they were just as shocked as Noboru had initially been to see what this was all about. And the exact second Yveltal turned to face Kelani, her eyes sparkled as she smiled and said, “He looks exactly like we thought he would.

The doberman blinked as Xerneas rose up and said, “We finally found you, our little Zygarde,” the entire area going silent as no one could believe what they had just heard. Were these two really the doberman's parents?

 

Kelani was beyond confused as he looked back and forth between the bird and stag. They seemed to believe they were his parents, but even the doberman, despite only having been alive for more than three months, found this confusing. If anything, he always suspected at least one of his parents would be a dog like him. Not only that, but the name Zygarde did not sound the least bit fitting to him.

The others seemed to think this as well as Isamu asked, “Wait, are you telling me that was your egg my sister found?” as Yveltal nodded and sighed, “See, when I hatched the egg, I decided to have a little vacation in Kushiro. I brought the egg along mostly so I knew it would be in good hands, but on the way back, it slipped out of my talons, and by the time I realized this, it was too late. I searched for hours, but I wasn't able to find it.”

“Quick question,” Noboru asked, “When did this happen?” as Xerneas replied, “It was quite some time ago. I believe it was the same day that news article about Kingdra and Marshal's defeat was featured, right?”

Yveltal nodded as Isamu's eyes widened, the boy uttering, “That was the day you found the egg, right?” as Eiko nodded and squeaked, “Oh my god! You really are Kelani's parents, aren't you!?”

The doberman was unsure whether to be grateful or scared right now as Yveltal nodded and replied, “While it is true that the egg did not hatch, members of my family can tell when someone is related to us. I just had to take one look at those eyes and those glowing hexagons to know that you are, in fact, my son.”

This all seemed far too convenient, especially since neither Yveltal nor Xerneas had these features on them. As such, Noboru was about to suggest a DNA test when the bird said, “If you still don't believe me, I'll show you more proof that we are, in fact, the parents of this child. You see, we are the only ones who know why his chest is glowing.”

The others stared wide-eyed as Isamu said, “Okay, if what you're saying is true, this is definitely good news,” as Machop nodded and asked, “So, is this something to worry about?” Kelani wondering the same thing as he bit his lower lip.

“Oh, heavens no,” Yveltal replied with a grin, “It just means our little Zygarde here is ready to grow into his next stage of life,” the others glad to hear that their initial theory was correct.

“So it is a sign of growth,” Isamu said with a grin, “Guess we can let the clinic know we won't need that extra checkup after all,” as Xerneas nodded and replied, “Oh, yes. Zygarde here is going to help us achieve our destiny.”

The others stared as Kelani's eyes sparkled, the doberman squealing, “You mean I'm going to save the world or something like that?”

“Actually, you're going to help all of villain kind enslave it,” Yveltal replied with a sweet smile, “Doesn't that sound fun?” as Machop and Meloetta wasted no time sporting fighting stances.

Kelani trembled and backed up as Eiko wrapped her arms around him, growling, “Hate to break it to you, but Kelani here, not Zygarde, is not going to help you!”

Xerneas then let out a sigh and groaned, “This is why we wanted to find him sooner, in case he wound up with a goody-two-shoes family. Unfortunately for you, we're not giving you much of a choice in the matter. While Zygarde may have the potential to overpower even us, his parents, he has not reached that potential yet. You see, while he's able to go from his child state to the form you see now on his own, he can't take on the others without our assistance, meaning unless we're involved, he will never outgrow adolescence.”

Kelani trembled and whimpered, “No! I don't care if I remain a child my whole life! I'll never help you!” as Yveltal sighed, “Then I guess you give us no choice.”

However, just as she readied her arms to grab the doberman, Meloetta immediately whipped out her hair and used it to bind her wrists together. Xerneas saw this and went down on all fours, charging toward the green-haired girl. Luckily, Machop saw this coming as she dashed in front of him, grabbing onto his antlers and using all her might to force him back.

“Word to the wise, don't confess to a plan like that until after you seal the deal,” Machop said with a smirk, “Especially when there are heroes in the room. Did you seriously not see this coming?”

“As a matter of fact, we did!” Xerneas retorted as he swung his head to the side, sending her toward Meloetta as Yveltal managed to fight the green-haired girl's grip, flinging her into Machop.

“We know full well who you two are,” Yveltal said with a smirk, “You, Machop, are the most famous of all. Not only are you the daughter of the mighty Machoke, but just recently, you won the Hero Olympics and became the world champion.”

“And you, Meloetta, are a relic from the past who was easily manipulated into joining evil for a while,” Xerneas added as the green-haired girl's eyes widened, Machop patting her reassuringly on the shoulder. Though it did surprise her that they knew this as barely anyone ever talked about Meloetta's alliance with Tentacruel anymore.

Either way, Machop refused to back down as she readied herself for more. However, she and Meloetta were both shocked when Yveltal held out her arm, a thick, green line shooting out of the side of Kelani's neck and stretching all the way toward her hand like a leash.

Eiko's eyes widened as the bird sighed, “We tried to be sensible, but since Zygarde won't come with us willingly, we simply have no choice,” the doberman growling and trying his hardest to run away. Unfortunately, Yveltal was very strong for her age and thus was easily able to prevent his escape.

“NO!” Eiko squeaked as she tried to help Kelani along with the other humans. But just as Machop and Meloetta were about to help, Xerneas' antlers glowed as he charged and knocked them both into the wall, Yveltal overpowering the humans and using her tail to send them flying backwards as well.

As if that was not enough, Kelani was starting to feel weak as he panted heavily, a weak look in his eyes as Yveltal sighed, “I'm sorry to do this, Zygarde, but you were being unreasonable. Until you cooperate with us, we simply have no choice but to keep you on a leash.”

Machop gritted her teeth and growled, “Do you seriously think two hits are going to keep us from fighting back!?” as Meloetta nodded and squeaked, “We're not gonna let you take our friend!”

Xerneas was about to retort only for Yveltal to hold up her hand, saying, “You know, this is hardly a good place to have a fight. This house is so lovely and I would hate to damage it further. Therefor, I propose that we have two simultaneous matches to decide this. I will face you, Machop, because you intrigue me.”

“So you're leaving me with Meloetta?” Xerneas remarked as the bird nodded, the stag shrugging and saying, “That's fine by me. That just means I get to punish the traitor.”

“Alright, fine, name the time and place,” Machop growled, folding her arms as Eiko watched Kelani fall asleep with horror in her eyes.

“Hey, hon, what do you think of the Tokyo Dome?” Xerneas asked as Yveltal nodded and replied, “The location of the Olympic finals? Why not. I can't think of anything more fitting. Not to mention it would be most ironic for the world champion to lose there.”

“You'll be eating those words soon enough!” Machop retorted, “Now give us a time already!” as Xerneas and Yveltal both nodded at one-another before saying, “One o'clock in the morning.”

“Wait, you mean less than an hour from now?” Noboru uttered, his eyes wide open as Hana gasped, “That's way too late! We were just about to go to bed!”

“Yes, but imagine how hard sleeping will be tonight knowing that your precious little whatever you decided to call our son is in danger,” Xerneas retorted, “We'd much rather take care of business as soon as possible, so you'd better hurry on over if you want him back.”

With all said and done, Yveltal opened the door and nodded at Xerneas, lifting him up with her talons before taking off into the air toward the Tokyo Dome. Machop stared silently as Noboru sighed, “Well, come on. We'll drive you there.”

As much as Eiko would have normally loved the idea of staying up this late, she was far too worried about Kelani to care. She may not have been his real mother nor did she really consider herself his legal mother, but she had hatched his egg and raised him since birth and thus she felt that his safety was her responsibility.

And soon enough, the group was on their way to the Tokyo Dome as news very quickly spread of the match. And along the way, Machop and Meloetta had called up the others to let them know what was going on, and needless to say, they were all more than ready to head down and support their friends.

This was slightly inconvenient for Vigoroth and Torchic as they were just about ready for bed, though this was not a big deal for Rinko and Venipede as the two had decided to stay up late to watch a movie together. And while they had not yet finished it, they were happy to put it on hold if it meant being there for Machop and Meloetta.

Luckily, it was not particularly long before everyone arrived, Machop and Meloetta immediately getting themselves ready for the match while a news crew was gathered around to film the event. As it so happened, word had spread very quickly as many had chosen to stay up late just to witness this event, including Nori and Yuki.

Yveltal waited in one ring while Xerneas was in another, both of which were next to each other as Yuki yawned and groaned, “Well, we were about to head off to bed, but it would seem that only one day after her recovery, Machop is already in another match as she has been challenged by Yveltal. Though this is not your ordinary good versus evil struggle as the freedom of Kelani, who is apparently their son, is at stake.”

“Excuse me,” Yveltal retorted as Nori blinked, the bird flying over and asking, “May I borrow your microphone?”

“Um, sure,” Nori replied with her eyes wide open, handing it over as Yveltal stated, “For the record, our son's name is Zygarde! Kelani was the name the ignorant human who hatched him gave him and it's completely unfitting!”

However, when everyone turned to look at the doberman, who was still sound asleep and now bound to the side of the bird's ring, they all felt that Kelani was a more fitting name for one who looked so cute. But even so, none of them would dare question the logic of a powerful villain, at least not when she was still capable of harming them.

Eiko and the others were already in the front row as Eiko let out a sigh and whimpered, “I really hope they win,” as Isamu patted her on the shoulder and replied, “Hey, this is Machop and Meloetta we're talking about here. At the very least, Machop can win this for sure.”

Rinko nodded and said, “Don't forget, she dealt with all kinds of torment from Slurpuff and still came out on top. It's also worth note that Meloetta did an excellent job keeping Cranidos and Shieldon at bay while Vigoroth was unconscious.”

“Not to mention she beat me up pretty easily,” the sloth added with a smirk as Eiko breathed a sigh of relief, saying, “Yeah, you're right.”

The crowd seemed fully confident that Machop could win at the very least as many wore clothing with her face on them. One member of the crowd shouted, “You made a big mistake, bird lady! Machop's gonna clean your clock!” another adding, “You don't mess with the world champ! She can kick anyone's ass in a heartbeat!”

During this time, the two girls had spent ten minutes training as Machop asked, “You ready for this? Don't forget, this isn't like when you and Vigoroth fought in a team match. I'm not allowed to help you out during this.”

“I know,” the green-haired girl replied with a sweet smile, “As long as it's to protect the innocent, I will fight to the bitter end. Besides, you may not be allowed to help me, but Yveltal isn't allowed to help Xerneas either, so it's a lot more fair than when we fought in the house.”

Machop nodded before blinking and saying, “I just noticed something. Xerneas, Yveltal and Zygarde,” Meloetta gasping, “X, Y and Z!”

The two then stared at one-another before giggling briefly, but they quickly remembered they needed to stay focused. After all, even though Machop was the world champion, that did not mean failure was impossible for her.

The duo noticed they only had fifteen minutes to prepare themselves further as Meloetta asked, “Hey, Machop, can you help me with something?”

Once one o'clock finally rolled around, Nori and Yuki both took big sips of coffee as the older woman exclaimed, “Alright, folks, it's finally time for the big event we all postponed our sleep for! Let's hope to god this was worth it!”

“Representing the side of evil are Xerneas and Yveltal who are already in the ring!” Yuki stated as the crowd booed them, one shouting, “YOU'RE GOING DOWN!” as both villains waved to the crowd with big grins on their faces.

“And fighting for the sake of the world and, um, Zygarde's freedom-” Nori said as Yveltal replied, “Thank you,” the older woman nodding and adding, “We've got the Hero Olympics champion, a hero who has saved Tokyo countless times and that powerful idol who has truly proven herself both a master of combat and the dance floor! Machop and Meloetta, everyone!”

The crowd was prepared for a typical Machop entrance when suddenly, they heard background music as she and Meloetta approached the ring with idol outfits on. Both danced toward the ring while Meloetta sang a beautiful, epic song about freedom. Needless to say, the crowd was much more excited as they applauded the two, Torchic uttering, “Well, I'll be. Out of all the overblown entrances Machop's given us, this is actually really cool.”

“I know,” Venipede replied, “They're usually so embarrassing,” as Rinko nodded and added, “Not only that, but it gives Meloetta a real chance to shine.”

Yveltal folded her arms as both girls entered the separate rings, the bird saying, “I have to admit, that was actually quite entertaining. It's good to know you both have the energy to fight us despite this match being held so early in the morning.”

“Yeah, well, we heroes always gotta be prepared, right?” Machop replied with a smirk as Meloetta really hoped her energy would last. After all, while Machop had woken up at noon, giving her plenty of energy, the green-haired girl had been awake since eight in the morning and had not taken a nap.

Even so, neither could afford to feel tired as Yuki exclaimed, “Alright, the combatants are set! So without further ado, let us begin!” ringing the bell.

Machop wasted no time racing toward Yveltal. And before the bird could respond, the girl leapt at her with her arm out and spat, “MOON HOOK!” hitting her neck hard. She then kept a tight grip on that very spot and swung behind Yveltal before placing her free hand against her chest.

The crowd cheered wildly as she leapt into the air and leaned backward, planting the back of the bird's head into the canvas. Needless to say, she was off to a good start and would not allow herself to lose this advantage any time soon.

Meanwhile, Meloetta had bound Xerneas in place with her hair as she stood on one foot and shouted, “PIROUETTE SWING!” But just as she was about to twirl, she found herself unable to do so as the stag spread out his legs with a smirk, saying, “Interesting technique, but unfortunately for you, I've developed a stance that makes it really hard to move me.”

The green-haired girl's eyes widened as he stood on one foot himself and added, “By the way, I can also do mean pirouette,” before twirling and flinging Meloetta into the turnbuckle.

Eiko bit her lower lip upon seeing this as Isamu gulped and uttered, “Don't worry, I'm sure she can still win,” as the siblings turned to the ring Machop was fighting in. Luckily, she had maintained her advantage over Yveltal, sending an onslaught of punches into her face before kicking her hard in the gut, causing her to back up while the crowd continued to cheer.

But just as the girl raced toward Yveltal with the intention of adding to the damage, the bird smirked and flapped her wings, rising up into the air. She then swung her tail between her legs with her claws clenched into a fist, hitting Machop hard in the face before opening them up and clutching onto that very spot. The crowd gasped as Yveltal flipped herself all the way around, flinging Machop into the turnbuckle as she groaned in pain.

Eiko squeaked in panic as things were also looking worse for Meloetta. The green-haired girl had attempted to fight back with her ballet kicks only for Xerneas to lean forward just far enough to send a hard punch into her face. He then unleashed a barrage very similar to the one Machop had just used on Yveltal, only his punches were much quicker as Meloetta's face was already bleeding.

“Don't feel too bad about this,” the stag said as he sent both hooves into her face thus sending her tumbling backwards, “In all honesty, I could tell from the moment I saw you use that hair of yours that you never stood a chance against me, so this isn't a fault on your part. If anything, I commend you for trying your hardest.”

He then knelt down on all fours and started counting with his left foot as his antlers glowed, Meloetta groaning and rising back to her feet. There was no way she would allow him to win, not when so much was at stake.

All the while, Machop seemed to have lost her advantage as Yveltal lifted her up by the head with her tail once more. She then threw said part backwards thus forcing the rest of Machop to flip upside-down. The bird shifted her arms back just in time to latch onto the girl's ankles, thus sending her face-first into the mat while shouting, “TRIPLE ARM DRIVER!”

Machop's face was now bleeding as the crowd stared in horror, the bird releasing her hold and allowing her to collapse. And while this went on, Xerneas charged toward Meloetta and shouted, “GEOMANCY STAMPEDE!”

The green-haired girl refused to let him land another attack as she exclaimed, “HYPER VOICE!” unleashing a loud sound from her mouth.

The sound waves not only slowed down Xerneas' movement but also put a number of small cuts on him. However, he ignored the pain and did his best to fight the gust, his legs slowing down and weakening by the second.

But just as it seemed like Meloetta had finally gotten the drop on the stag, her eyes started to sag as she found herself unable to continue. Thus she stopped making her loud noise and breathed heavily, sweat pouring down her face thus allowing Xerneas to advance forward, all strength returning to his legs.

'No!' she thought as the others watched in horror, Eiko squeaking, “COME ON, MELOETTA!”

But it was too late as Xerneas rammed his antlers into her, causing her to cough up a bit of blood. However, his attack was far from over as he locked her arms in place with the very part he had hit her with and propelled himself high into the air. And to top it all off, he proceeded to lean backwards when he felt he was high enough and shouted, “GEOMANCY SUPLEX!”

Everyone stared in horror as Xerneas leapt away from the green-haired girl. It seemed his move had finished her for good as she was barely breathing at this point, Nori exclaiming, “And despite her best efforts, Xerneas seems to have defeated Meloetta! Let's see if Machop can get her advantage back!”

The crowd started cheering her on as she slowly rose to her feet only for Yveltal to strike her with her tail and knock her on her back again. The bird then let out a sigh and said, “I am so disappointed right now. I expected so much more of a challenge from the world champion, but if you're the best mankind has, then they're screwed.”

“Hey, shut up!” Rinko spat, “So she's taken in a few hits! Don't forget how much damage she dealt to you earlier!”

“Do you honestly believe that was her doing!?” Yveltal retorted as the area went silent, Isamu and Eiko especially scared by these words. Had the bird just implied what they thought she did?

“That's right,” Yveltal stated as Machop gritted her teeth and tried to rise back to her feet, “I let you hit me those first few times because I wanted to see what kind of skills the Hero Olympics champion had. Honestly, I'm not impressed. All this does is prove how pathetic your opponents were.”

With all said and done, Yveltal took to the sky as Torchic shouted, “Come on, Machop! Show her how awesome you are!”

“Yeah, you're so much better than this!” Rinko exclaimed while Venipede added, “You've dealt with far worse than this! This is nothing!”

Vigoroth nodded and barked, “Seriously, where's that awesome powerhouse who stood up to an onslaught in almost every one of her matches and continued to stand!?” Noboru, Hana and Isamu joining in.

However, despite only having taken in a few hits, Machop still felt surprisingly weak as Yveltal was now ten feet above the ring, a red light surrounding her body. She then soared toward the girl at an incredible speed, shouting, “OBLIVION WING!”

Machop was just about to finally rise to her feet when the bird's beak hit her hard in the gut. Thus she coughed up blood as an explosion formed around the two, Eiko shouting, “NO! MACHOP!”

Once the smoke cleared, the crowd was aghast to see Machop lying there with her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her arms and legs were spread out as Isamu and Eiko panicked more than ever before.

However, the crowd refused to believe what they had just witnessed as one rose up and shouted, “COME ON, MACHOP! YOU'RE THE WORLD CHAMP! RISE TO YOUR FEET!” another barking, “I know you can do it!”

Soon enough, the entire crowd was cheering heavily for the girl, but unfortunately, it seemed that Yveltal's attack had truly brought an end to the match. Machop was no longer conscious as Nori slowly lifted her gavel, ringing the bell and uttering, “And despite their best efforts, Machop and Meloetta have lost, thus Yveltal and Xerneas have won custody of Zygarde.”

Even after hearing it from the announcer's mouth, this was still impossible for the crowd to believe. As if Meloetta losing was not enough, even Machop had been defeated. This was truly a dark day.

 

Eiko let down tears after what she had just witnessed and heard. Both Meloetta and Machop had lost meaning that she had no choice but to allow Xerneas and Yveltal to take Zygarde away from her.

The others stared wide-eyed as Torchic gritted her teeth and growled, “Alright, screw the agreement! Lemme at 'em!” before leaping toward the ring with her beak on fire, shouting, “FIRE PECK!”

However, Yveltal easily saw this coming as she flew up to the chicken's level, taking hold of her face and flipping her backward and upside-down. She then latched her wings around her ankles and sent her face-first into the ground, shouting, “TRIPLE ARM DRIVER!”

Xerneas folded his arms and smirked, saying, “Idiot,” as this seemed to be more than enough, Torchic lying on the surface with her leg twitching and her tongue sticking out the side of her beak.

“Anyone else?” Yveltal asked with a smirk, “I know our agreement was to only fight Machop and Meloetta, but we welcome the challenge.”

Rinko and Venipede nodded as the centipede leapt toward Xerneas, rolling up into a ball as his shoulder blades formed. The stag saw this coming as his antlers glowed, the coloured formations on the sides growing longer as he lowered his head and shouted, “GEOMANCY!”

Rinko, meanwhile, leapt toward Yveltal with her arm at the ready, barking, “ARM SCHWERT!”

When Venipede's blades made contact with Xerneas' antlers, it seemed as if he would overpower them. Unfortunately, this did not last as the antlers proved too powerful, thus the stag took full advantage of this, lifting up his arms and sending them hard into the centipede's side, thus causing him to revert to a more normal state. As if that was not enough, his body was also covered in holes due to the coloured protrusions piercing his flesh.

While this happened, Yveltal flew toward the incoming Rinko. The brunette swung her arm toward the bird only for her to fly higher, thus causing the attack to miss. She then sent a hard punch with her tail into Rinko's skull, sending her careening toward the ground.

With Venipede in his grasp, Xerneas leaned backwards and planted his skull hard into the mat at the exact same time Rinko made contact with the ground. And sure enough, both had suffered the same fate as Torchic, the crowd's panic rising by the second.

Vigoroth gritted her teeth and growled, “Don't worry, Eiko! I'll get Kelani back!” leaping toward the area with her arms spread out and her claws at the ready.

Once she was close enough, Xerneas leapt toward her while Yveltal flew. And once both were right next to the sloth, her eyes widened as the stag spun around and sent his foot into her right cheek. Things only got worse when the bird swung her tail fist into the opposite side of her head, Vigoroth coughing up blood as she fell forward, her chin hitting the ground hard.

Eiko, Isamu and their parents stared in horror as Nori stated, “Well, folks, you all just witnessed this. All six of Tokyo's heroes have lost to Yveltal and Xerneas. Is there no one who can stop them?”

But just as it looked like the villains had truly won, their eyes widened when a familiar feminine voice grunted, “Hey, Miss Nori, retract your final verdict! I'm not done yet!”

The area went silent, the crowd just about ready to cheer as Machop had risen to her feet, though she was breathing rather heavily with a weak look of anger in her eyes. But just as Xerneas was ready to continue, Yveltal held up her hand and said, “Don't bother.”

“What's wrong!?” Machop retorted with a smirk, “You scared that I'm the one who was able to keep fighting!?” only to cough up more blood as she fell forward, her chin hitting the ground hard as Eiko let down tears and cried, “NO!”

She was just about to get up and race toward the area when Isamu placed a firm grip on her shoulders, sighing, “I'd love to go in there and help too, but there's nothing we can do,” the pink-haired girl sniffing, “I know, but I have to try!”

However, the boy would not let her advance forward and put herself in harm's way as Yveltal took hold of Zygarde's leash. However, just as she and Xerneas were ready to take off, the bird turned toward Machop and said, “Bring her along.”

The crowd gasped in horror as Xerneas remarked, “What?” as Yveltal added, “While I hardly think she's deserving of her title, I think the world will fear us even more knowing we have their champion in our grasps.”

“Of course,” the stag replied with a smile as Isamu rose up and gasped, “NO!” Noboru and Hana holding him and Eiko back.

“Wait, if you want the world to fear you so much, why not just kill her?” one member of the crowd asked as everyone gave him a cold look, Isamu barking, “DON'T GIVE THEM IDEAS!”

“Oh, you needn't worry about that,” Yveltal remarked with a smirk, “The truth is, we don't intend to kill anyone. See, when Zygarde reaches his full power, no one will be able to stop us, not even her, but if we were to kill her, well, that would be one less slave for us. After all, one cannot rule the planet without as many servants as possible.”

There were so many things everyone wanted to say in response to this, but they were too afraid to speak up. As such, Yveltal flew up into the air, using her talons to clutch onto Xerneas' antlers while cradling Zygarde with her tail. Xerneas, meanwhile, held Machop tightly in his arms as the villains were more than ready to take off.

But just as they were about to do so, Yveltal smirked and said, “By the way, if anyone wants to play the hero and come after us, you're more than welcome. We live in Mount Sakurajima. That's in Kagoshima, in case you were wondering.

And with that, the villains took off with their captives at an amazing speed, Eiko rising up and growling, “Mom, Dad, can I have money for a trip to Kagoshima!?” only for Noboru to sigh, “First off, a flight is very expensive. But secondly, you'd be much better off staying here. You heard them. They gave away their location. I'm sure heroes from around the world will assemble to take them down.”

As much as it pained Isamu, he had to admit that they had a point. As such, he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, grunting, “Listen to them, Eiko. They know what they're talking about. There are hundreds of heroes all around the world. We saw a good number of them during the Olympics. I have no doubt they will get Kelani and Machop back easily.”

But as he said this, tears rolled down his cheeks as he had never felt more helpless in his life. Even if he had not been held back and had gone down there to help, it would not have made a difference. Right now, all he and his family could do was make sure the other heroes who had fallen today would be okay.

As such, the heroes and their human friends spent the rest of the night in the hospital. While Lairon and Garchomp had not yet been informed of the events, they would know as soon as they received the day's newspaper.

Meanwhile, Yveltal and Xerneas had returned to their home before retracting the leash back into Zygarde's neck. Thus he slowly opened his eyes and squeaked in terror, looking around and whimpering, “Where am I!? Where's Mommy!?”

“Why, I'm right here, son,” the bird replied with a sweet smile as he turned and breathed heavily. He was about to question all of this until he turned and noticed Machop unconscious and trapped inside a clear cylindrical capsule.

“As you can see, Machop and her friends failed to keep you away from us,” Xerneas explained, “But you should be happy. Now you can live with your real mommy and daddy, but also, you can finally reach your teens thanks to us.”

Zygarde growled and backed away, retorting, “No!” Yveltal frowning as he held up a defensive stance, saying, “If you really need me to help you take over the world, then that means I must be stronger than you! I'll beat you up myself and save Machop and then Mommy will be really proud of me!”

Xerneas folded his arms and asked, “Are you sure about that? Do you even know how to fight?” the doberman retorting, “I've seen the others enough times to know!”

He then raced toward the stag and sent his palm toward him only for his attack to be easily blocked. He sent a kick toward Xerneas' shin, but the stag sent a kick of his own outward and despite holding back a little bit, he managed to easily overpower the doberman.

Zygarde felt helpless now as he sent a flurry of punches forward only for Xerneas to push on his head, preventing him from hitting him. Yveltal took full advantage of this and flew behind the doberman, reaching her wing around him and poking his hexagons with one claw from the end of each.

At that moment, Zygarde's eyes and mouth were wide open as his body changed to that of a tall snake with two green arms. His lower body and tail were the same colour on the front with the backside being black, his upper body matching that colour. His eyes were shaped more like hexagons with three green ones right next to each. The tip of his tail was also green and had five tendrils on the end. And sticking up from the back of his head were five black frills with two green hexagons near the top of each one.

“There, now most of your power has been unlocked,” Yveltal said with a smile, “All you need now is to enter adulthood and you'll be ready to rule this planet with us.”

As if the transformation was not enough, it seemed as if Zygarde's entire personality changed as he bowed his head and replied, “But of course. I can't wait to take over the world with you. This is gonna be sweet.”

Due to the fact that the humans were unable to fall asleep until two-thirty in the morning, the entire group woke up around ten. This included the heroes as Vigoroth rubbed her head, groaning, “Oh, god, are you serious?”

“You're not alone,” Rinko grumbled, “I didn't even land so much as a hit,” Venipede sighing, “Me neither.”

Torchic, meanwhile, looked at Eiko with concern. The pink-haired girl still had tears from her sleep as Isamu let out a sigh, looking down.

“I'm so sorry,” the chicken groaned as Eiko sighed, “Don't apologize. You did the best you could. I wish I could be strong like you. Then I could have saved Kelani from those monsters.”

But while the others were focused on that, Meloetta looked around and asked, “Where's Machop? Was she brought to another room?” only for the humans to go silent, Noboru biting his lower lip and rubbing the back of his neck. And when Hana looked down, trying her hardest not to cry, the heroes very quickly put two-and-two together.

“Oh no,” Torchic groaned as Meloetta squeaked, “But why!? What do they need her for!?”

“Well, according to Yveltal, they're not going to kill her,” Isamu replied with a sigh, “They plan to keep her as proof that they defeated her in combat in case anyone decides to challenge them. The only reason they've kept her alive is so she can serve them when they take over the planet.”

“You mean if they take over,” Noboru replied only for the boy to ram his fist into the wall, grunting, “Do you honestly think the other heroes in the world will really stand a chance against them!? You saw how easily they beat everyone! You saw how powerful they are! I don't even think all of the heroes in the world will be strong enough to get Zygarde and Machop back!”

“Um, Isamu, his name is-” Eiko uttered only for the boy to retort, “You heard them! He is their son now, therefor we may as well call him Zygarde! That's the name they gave him before he was born, and seeing as they're likely gonna be our new leaders soon, we may as well honour that!”

Everyone stared at the boy with horror in their expressions, Hana uttering, “Son, where is this coming from?” only for Isamu to retort, “Where do you think!?” his eyes welling up with tears, “Yveltal alone was enough to defeat Machop with ease! Just admit it! There is no hope! We may as well just enjoy whatever time we have left before those freaks enslave us all!”

At that moment, Eiko rose up from her seat and marched over to Isamu, slapping him hard across the cheek. The others gasped as the boy rubbed that very spot, the pink-haired girl squeaking, “Are you really going to lose faith just like that!? The Isamu I know would never do that!”

Isamu stared in stunned silence as she added, “So our friends failed last night! So what!? It's not like they've never lost before! Even Machop lost her first match on Earth, but did she give up!? No! She rose her way up to glory and became the world champion! I'm sure if we go to Kagoshima and challenge them, they can win! Right, guys!?”

The heroes stared awkwardly for a few seconds until Vigoroth nodded and pounded her fist against her palm, grunting, “She's right! There's no way I'm letting humiliation like that go!”

“Me neither,” Rinko added with a stern look, “I'll march right up to that Yveltal and smack her in the face!” Venipede nodding in agreement.

Torchic smirked and said, “I'm all for this plan,” as Meloetta took a deep breath and replied, “As long as it's for the sake of our friends and the world, I'm in.”

Isamu blinked as the chicken sighed, “Look, there's no way we're going to back down just because of one loss. We promise that we'll get Machop back, and we'll also rescue Kelani,” before smiling at Eiko, the pink-haired girl's eyes sparkling.

Isamu looked around as all the others gave him thumbs up. Something about their confidence filled him up with the same level as he took a deep breath, wiping his eyes. He really felt like he should have known better than to underestimate such an amazing group, especially after all they had done.

With that in mind, he took a deep breath and smiled, saying, “Well, Kagoshima is pretty far, but it's better than sitting around and doing nothing,” before sighing, “Just don't tell Machop about my outburst earlier. I'm not exactly proud of that.”

“I'll tell her you were the most level-headed of all of us in this situation,” the chicken replied with a grin as the others laughed, Eiko breathing a sigh of relief.

Soon enough, the group was assembled at the airport where they had booked a flight to Kagoshima, Isamu, Eiko and their parents there to see them off. All the while, Eiko let out a sigh and groaned, “I wish I could go with them.”

“As ideal as that sounds, it's best you stay here,” Noboru replied, “After all, they're going up against deadly villains, and for all we know, Yveltal and Xerneas might have followers. If you went, you'd only get in their way.”

“Yeah, you're right,” Eiko replied with a sigh as Isamu smiled and patted her on the shoulder, saying, “You're being really mature about this whole thing. I'm proud of you, sis. You're practically doing my job for me.”

This lifted her spirits slightly as the heroes were ready to head off, all of them waving to their human friends. But before they could head toward the plane entrance, Lairon and Garchomp entered the area and approached the group.

“Thank god, we didn't miss you,” Lairon sighed as Garchomp held up some plastic bags and said, “We packed you some home-made snacks in case you get hungry. After all, the trip itself will be pretty long.”

“Thank you so much,” Meloetta squealed as Lairon smiled and said, “Any time. But seriously, don't let Machop's absence from the group discourage you. She may have the most impressive track record, but I'm sure you can pull this off. Besides, if anyone else accepts that challenge of theirs, you'll most likely have help.”

Torchic nodded and replied, “I'm sure we'll get plenty of that. I doubt anyone else is just gonna sit around and let two villains enslave humanity.”

Rinko nodded and said, “That's right. I'm willing to bet every hero in the world has assembled for this,” Venipede adding, “Yeah, if we all work together, we can stop this threat for sure.”

With all said and done, the heroes boarded the plane while Isamu and Eiko patted each other on the shoulder and nodded. After all, each one had someone special taken from them this morning, so they were both praying for the best.

“Well, we best head home,” Noboru said with a light smile as Eiko replied, “You go on ahead,” Isamu adding, “Yeah. We just wanna see the plane off first. We'll catch a bus back.”

“Well, if you're sure,” Hana replied, “Don't take too long, though. Your father and I are gonna prepare you a nice casserole to help keep your minds at ease.”

“You really don't have to do that,” Isamu replied, but the adults simply saw this as him being humble. However, it seemed he had a different meaning entirely as he and Eiko grinned at one-another once all four had left the area.

And while the heroes were ready to take off, it was just as Lairon and Noboru predicted. Quite a few others had seen the report and were more than happy to take action against these villains.

Currently, Jackalu and Clawitzer were in the middle of booking a flight of their own as the dog grinned upon approaching the ticket booth and said, “We'll take first class,” only for the shrimp to retort, “No, we are going to save money by taking a normal flight!”

“But I wanna take first class!” Jackalu whined as Clawitzer sighed, “We're taking middle class and that's final,” the dog folding his arms and grumbling, “Fine.”

Surprisingly, Marshal was on his was to Kagoshima as well. After all, Machop had helped show him the light.

Gallador and Garbodor were also on their way after the white boy's flight had stopped in the garbage pile's assigned city. And while Garbodor may have been bitter toward Gallador before, he had no problem working alongside him now.

Of course Sneasel and Gigalith were headed to Kagoshima as well. There was no way they would allow their friends in Tokyo to do this by themselves no matter how much faith they had in them.

Fletchinder of course went as not only did she want a piece of the action, but Talonflame would have scolded her for not putting up the effort. After all, he had done something similar when he and Lucario entered the reverse world to try and prevent Giratina's revival.

The last one headed toward Kagoshima was Delphox as she had a feeling Rinko and Venipede would be there. After all, they were her first real friends and she wanted to be there for them.

With fourteen heroes headed toward the volcano, there was no doubt Yveltal and Xerneas would have a lot of trouble. But would Zygarde's new power make them that much more difficult to defeat or would he not make that much of a difference? Only time would tell.

 

It would only be two hours until the heroes of Tokyo arrived in Kagoshima and they were certain that when they arrived, they would be able to save their friends. They could not afford failure, not when the world's freedom was at stake.

The flight was fairly peaceful due to the fact that there were only two other passengers, both of which were dressed in big trench coats and fedoras. But while this was certainly strange, it also allowed the heroes to focus more on planning as they were all seated close together.

“I'm betting there will probably be some kind of entrance,” Torchic stated as Rinko nodded and added, “Yeah, I doubt they'd set up their base of operations in a volcano and not modify it so it can double as a home.”

Meloetta, all the while, trembled and whimpered, “Guys, those two look suspicious,” pointing at the strangers in the coats as Torchic blinked and frowned, whispering, “You're right. What if they're working for Yveltal and Xerneas?”

Rinko nodded and said, “Alright, we'll pretend we don't notice them and then jump them when they least expect it. That way, they can't get the drop on us first,” as Venipede implied a smile and said, “That's my girl,” ruffling her hair as she chuckled.

With that in mind, Vigoroth rose from her seat and said, “Excuse me, guys, I need to take a leak,” the others nodding as Torchic gave her a toe up.

She then walked by the figures, both of which were looking toward the floor with their hands on their laps. And just as the sloth was right behind them, she reached her arms around their necks, shouting, “NOW!” the strangers' eyes widening with terror as they struggled to free themselves.

Torchic nodded and leapt toward them, planting a talon in each one's gut. As soon as she did so, the hats of the figures flew off of them as their faces were revealed, the chicken staring silently as Rinko blinked and uttered, “What the hell?”

As it so happened, the two wearing the coats were Isamu and Eiko, the pink-haired girl giggling nervously and saying, “Um, hi.”

Meloetta breathed a sigh of relief as Venipede trembled and uttered, “What are you two doing here!? You should be at home right now!”

“Look, I'm sorry,” Isamu sighed, “I know this is really irresponsible, especially for me, but I just have to make sure Machop and Kelani are alright. I can't just sit back and pray for the best.”

“Same here,” Eiko sighed, “We came up with the idea shortly before the trip to the airport. Isamu tried to talk me out of it, but I need to be there,” tears welling up in her eyes as the heroes groaned, slapping their foreheads. There was no way they could say no to such a thing.

“Well, guess that settles that,” Vigoroth sighed, “As long as you two stay out of trouble, it should be okay,” the humans nodding with big smiles.

After a few seconds, though, Torchic realized something as she asked, “How did you two get on here, anyway? And where did you get those big coats?” Eiko giggling and replying, “Well, we borrowed the coats from Mom and Dad. As for how we got on, um, you tell them, Isamu.”

The boy nodded and said, “Before you assume anything, we didn't do anything illegal. Eiko wanted to sneak on, but I'd rather not break the law, even if it is for a good cause, so I paid for our tickets.”

“Oh, thank god,” Torchic sighed, “I thought you two did something illegal,” as Rinko asked, “But wait, where did you get the money? Your father didn't lend you any, did he?”

“Well, unlike Eiko, I've been saving my money ever since I got my first allowance,” Isamu replied as the pink-haired girl stuck her tongue out, the boy adding, “As such, affording a flight to Kagoshima wasn't that hard for me. Though it has reduced the odds of me getting into college immediately after graduation.”

Eiko giggled nervously and replied, “Sorry, bro,” only for Isamu to roll his eyes and remark, “I probably would have decided to go even if you hadn't pressured me into it. Don't blame yourself for this,” the siblings then sharing a hug as the heroes smiled sweetly at them.

During this time, Yveltal and Xerneas were showing Zygarde around their base seeing as he was now loyal to them. And just as Torchic and Rinko had suspected, both villains had renovated the volcano to work as a home for them, even finding an effective way to keep the magma from rising.

And as was also expected, they had a variety of helpers in their base, all of them shocked to meet Zygarde. After all, they had been assigned to search for him months ago, so to see their leaders find him without their help did make them feel a little ashamed for not doing it themselves. As it so happened, Gourgeist and Trevenant, the two who had tried to take Zygarde away from Eiko after he was born, were also working for Yveltal and Xerneas, but seeing as they were still behind bars on Hero Planet, the dragon was unable to meet them on better terms for the time being.

Either way, he seemed to really like his new home when suddenly, a big red dinosaur with a pointy hunch on his back entered the area. Attached to the sides of his hunch was a big metallic-looking ring with blue and yellow circles lining the sides and top. He had pointed ears and bright blue eyes along with bushy yellow eyebrows and a matching mandible. Each of his cheeks had a spiked protrusion extending to his lower jaw and his chest had four yellow diamond-shaped markings on it. His legs and arms were short, thin and black while his forearms and feet were bulky and red, three golden claws on the end of each.

Upon seeing him, Yveltal smiled and said, “Oh, Volcanion, just the guy I wanted to see,” as the dinosaur stating, “Oh yes. I heard you found your son.”

Xerneas nodded and replied, “Well, you heard correctly. Introduce yourself,” the dragon nodding and holding out his fist, saying, “Hey, I'm Zygarde. Nice to meet you.”

Volcanion blinked and pounded his fist against the dragon's before saying, “Nice to meet you, too,” as he looked back and forth between him and his parents, thinking, 'Seriously? This guy came from a bird and a stag? Is there something Yveltal's not telling us?'

He then resumed focus as Yveltal said, “By the way, we figure we might have a few heroes coming here later to try and stop us. Even we have our limits, so I want you to make sure the others are at least prepared for any surprise attacks.”

Volcanion nodded and asked, “How many are you expecting?” as Xerneas replied, “Considering Yveltal here gave away our location to the entire world, we'll probably have at least a hundred heroes coming here for our heads.”

“A hundred!?” the dinosaur retorted with his eyes wide open as Xerneas folded his arms, remarking, “I hope that response was meant to be enthusiastic as opposed to a sign of fear.”

“Yes, of course,” Volcanion uttered with a nervous chuckle, “I'll go and assemble our best fighters for the job. I'm sure they can handle this,” as Yveltal nodded and replied, “Good to hear. I also hope that you plan to join in if things get too tough to handle, yes?”

“Absolutely,” the dinosaur said with a bow of his head, “Believe you me, I was born for this sort of thing,” though deep down, he really hoped the number of heroes would be smaller than predicted. He had faith in himself and the other villains living in the base, but at the same time, their numbers were not particularly high.

Luckily, it seemed Yveltal and Xerneas had not caught onto this thought as the bird said, “Good. Remember, while our son has returned, he's not quite powerful enough to help us enslave mankind.”

“About that,” Zygarde replied, “I was wondering if you could teach me how to fight. I'm not really sure what kind of abilities I can use,” as Xerneas replied, “Don't worry about that, son. When the time comes, you'll know exactly what to do.”

Suddenly, the dragon panicked when he noticed a red spider hung from the ceiling. Yveltal immediately smacked her in the side of the face and snapped, “What do you think you're doing, scaring our son like that!?”

Along with her red torso, the spider also had black stripes. Her two arms and four legs were yellow with purple stripes. She had two black round markings on her abdomen making it look like a face and a horn attached to her forehead.

“Accept my apologies,” the spider said with a bow, “I simply wished to meet the key to our salvation,” as Zygarde blinked and said, “Don't worry, Mom, I wasn't actually scared. Heck, I think spiders are cool,” before holding out his hand.

The spider implied a smile and shook it, saying, “A true pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Ariados.”

She then turned to Yveltal and asked, “Is it true that we're about to have a bit of a war on our hands?” as the bird replied, “Well, it's not official yet, but we have no doubt in our minds that it will most likely happen. Though we'd like to save you for the more threatening heroes, the ones who are able to make it into the base.”

“Say no more,” Ariados replied with a bow of her head, “Just let me know when they arrive and I'll make all the preparations I need,” as Xerneas nodded and said, “Excellent.”

As the spider used her silk to lift herself out of the area, Yveltal let out a sigh and said, “With that out of the way, I guess it's time we show you the rest of your home,” as Zygarde nodded and followed them.

After a little less than two hours passed, the Tokyo plane finally landed at the Kagoshima airport. And as soon as the heroes exited, the only other person in the area was a news reporter and her cameraman, the woman signalling him to start rolling.

“We are here live at the Kagoshima airport,” she stated, “where five heroes have arrived to combat these newly revealed villains who threaten our lives. We are devastated to know that they have been living here in Sakurajima all this time. But while most citizens would much rather not step outside knowing these monsters could attack us at any time, at least there is some hope now.”

“Did they know we were coming?” Venipede uttered as Rinko shrugged and replied, “Makes sense. I mean, Yveltal did reveal this location to the whole world. Though are we seriously the only ones here?” the others wondering the same thing.

The reporter then walked over to them and asked, “So, you are the heroes from Tokyo, correct?” the heroes nodding as she added, “How does it feel knowing Machop is in their clutches right now, most likely being tortured?”

Isamu stepped in front of the camera and barked, “I'll tell you how we feel! We're angry as hell! There's no way we're backing down!” as the reporter asked, “And who might you be?”

Eiko stepped in front of the camera and grinned, saying, “This is my brother, or more specifically, Machop's boyfriend,” pinching his cheek as he groaned, “Just announce that to the entire world, why don't you?” the others laughing in response.

Both humans would have been afraid to do this had Isamu not sent his parents a text telling them about this after boarding the plane. After all, the last thing he wanted was to leave them wondering where their kids had gone.

Needless to say, though, the cameraman and reporter were both astounded to hear this as she said, “Why this has never been covered before I will never know, but one thing is for certain. This boy is definitely brave to enter dangerous territory to save the hero he loves.”

At that moment, a few more planes arrived as Torchic blinked and uttered, “Hey, we might actually have some help after all,” and this was confirmed as a few other heroes stepped out, including Gallador and Garbodor.

Marshal exited another plane alongside a few other heroes while Sneasel and Gigalith were close behind. And sure enough, Delphox emerged as well, her eyes sparkling when she spotted Rinko and Venipede, racing toward them and holding them in a tight embrace.

“I knew you two would be here!” she exclaimed with a grin as Rinko patted her on the back, replying, “Nice to have you helping us out.”

Gallador approached the group as well, saying, “I had a feeling you'd all come. I still can't believe they kidnapped Machop like that.”

Garbodor nodded and replied, “I'll say. After the way she beat me, it's hard to imagine that someone out there was able to pull this off. But even so, we got numbers on our side.”

Sneasel and Gigalith also joined the conversation as the cat smirked and added, “Damn straight! No one captures Machop and gets away with it!” her golem ally folding his arms and nodding.

“It's also refreshing to know that we're not alone in this,” Marshal stated, “Though I wonder if even this will be enough. I was once attacked by one of their minions.”

The tan boy remembered shortly after he turned good and took up residence in Sapporo. There, he was attacked by a dark bluish-green ghost with round red gems on her neck and flowing lilac-tipped hair named Misdreavus. While she put up a good fight, he ultimately managed to defeat her with his Sleeper Hold Suplex.

“Wait, what?” Torchic uttered as the fighter tan boy replied, “Well, she didn't directly tell me she was working for Yveltal and Xerneas, but she said that her masters were looking for a green egg. I can only assume she was referring to that Zygarde being the news mentioned, yes?”

“Come to think of it, those two villains Machop and Jackalu defeated were trying to kidnap Kelani, right?” Torchic asked as Eiko squeaked, “Oh my god, how did we not realize that!?”

“That's a good question,” Isamu groaned, “I at least should have caught onto that,” as Vigoroth sighed, “Either way, this does at least confirm our suspicions of Yveltal and Xerneas having followers. For all we know, they probably have hundreds poised to attack anyone who approaches their base.”

Isamu looked around and said, “If that's the case, we should probably wait before going in for the attack. Right now, there's only a little more than twenty of you guys.”

It was at this moment that another two planes landed, a total of ten heroes exiting them. And among them were Jackalu, Clawitzer and Fletchinder. And needless to say, the dog and shrimp were more than happy to see their friends from Tokyo as they waved with big smiles on their faces, racing over to them.

Eiko grinned wide and squealed, “Yay! It's like the whole gang's here now!” as Isamu replied, “Not quite everyone. I don't see Gyarados.”

Jackalu and Clawitzer stared at the humans as the shrimp asked, “Hold on. What are you two doing here?” both looking nervous until Torchic replied, “We figured that since these two have such a strong connection to Kelani that maybe them being here could help, you know.”

“Actually, that is a good idea,” Jackalu replied, Clawitzer turning to him as Vigoroth said, “That's right. I almost forgot. You actually know something about all of this, don't you?”

“You do?” everyone else asked as Fletchinder approached the group and folded her arms, asking, “Wait, is this true, Jackalu?”

The dog turned and smiled, exclaiming, “Wow! I didn't think you'd be joining us!” as the robin rolled her eyes and remarked, “Look, our fathers teamed up back in the day. It only makes sense that I'd help out too.”

She then tapped her talon and sighed, “Anyway, what was it you were talking about?” the dog nodding and saying, “Well, it is true that this event was actually prophesied many years ago, but it was so long ago that many forgot about it. But yes, it was stated that a majestic draconian bird and a stag with fairy magic would give birth to a demonic creature who would bring an end to civilization as we know it. I figured that as long as he was in your care, Eiko, that horrible travesty would never happen.”

Clawitzer stared as Fletchinder frowned and retorted, “If that's true, how the hell do YOU know it!?” as Jackalu chuckled nervously and replied, “I used to spend all my free time on the Internet. You'd be amazed by the stuff you come across there.”

“You mean to tell me you used to be a computer geek?” Rinko asked as all went silent, the group breaking out into hysterics as the dog let down light tears, groaning, “I know! I'm so ashamed!”

“Look, as dorky as that sounds, it's a good thing someone is aware of this,” Marshal stated as Sneasel took nodded and added, “He's right. Jackalu knows everything about this prophesy, meaning he probably knows how long we have to prevent all of this horrible stuff from happening, right?”

The dog blinked and tapped his chin before nodding and saying, “That's right. From what I can recall, this will happen when Zygarde, or as you call him, Kelani, reaches full power, but that won't happen until adulthood.”

“That gives us plenty of time,” Eiko squealed, “We can wait for more heroes to show up and help us!”

The heroes were all confused by this until Isamu added, “Something Yveltal and Xerneas told us is that Kelani only just recently entered his teen years, or at least the teen years of his species, and that took somewhere around four months. Imagine how long it'll take him to reach his adult years.”

“That would sound ideal, but here's the thing,” Jackalu replied, “It's kind of confusing, but if what I read is correct, Yveltal and Xerneas should possess the power to speed up his development, meaning they could very well make it so he becomes an adult today. In other words, if we don't hurry, he could be lost to us.”

“Wait, is that really such a bad thing?” Venipede asked as the others stared, the centipede adding, “Think about it. Not all prophesies are automatically true. But also, well, Kelani was hatched and raised by Eiko, probably one of the sweetest people I've ever met.”

The pink-haired girl blushed as she squealed, “Did you hear that, Isamu?” the boy rolling his eyes as Venipede said, “Not only that, but he's been nothing but an angel for as long as we've known him. Do you really think someone like that is just going to turn over to the side of evil just because his biological parents happen to be villains? Heck, there have been stories of the children of heroes becoming evil, so I'm sure it can work vice-verse.”

Jackalu smirked and said, “All the more reason to go in there and rescue him, eh?” as Fletchinder nodded and replied, “Agreed. The longer we stand around here, the more time those monsters have to possibly torture their captives.”

With all said and done, all fourteen heroes came to an agreement before signalling the others over to discuss a battle plan. For all they knew, there probably were other heroes on their way, but for the time being, they would need to rely on the twenty-one allies they currently had. But while Yveltal and Xerneas did not have a particularly high number of allies, would it be low enough for the playing field to at least be even or would it have been a better idea to wait?

 

This was it. After devising a plan of attack, the heroes would finally storm Yveltal and Xerneas' base in order to rescue Zygarde and Machop. But while the villains in the volcano had no means of seeing the news, they were already prepared for any attack no matter how big their numbers were.

During this time, Yveltal and Xerneas had just finished giving their son the grand tour of their base as he said, “Wow, it's like living in one of those evil lairs you see in films. This is so cool.”

“Isn't it?” Yveltal replied with a big smile, “But don't forget, there is a possibility that an army of heroes will come here to take you away from us. Then you won't live here anymore, but you won't let that happen, right?”

“Hell no!” Zygarde retorted as he folded his arms, “If any of those goody-goodies comes in here, I'll give him a thrashing he'll never forget!” before asking, “But are you sure I'll know about every single one of my abilities just from fighting someone? That sounds way too convenient.”

“Trust me on this one,” Yveltal replied, “It's not exactly how we learned to fight, but you're special. You have the potential deep within. You just need a reason to unleash it. We hope that you won't need to, but you might.”

“Alright, I trust you,” Zygarde replied with an implied smile, “After all, you are my parents, so you obviously know best,” as Xerneas smirked and replied, “Well said.”

At that moment, Volcanion entered the area and said, “Good, I found you. Just wanted to let you know all of my best soldiers are ready for combat. Though I was thinking maybe we should have a few stay within the base just in case.”

“We're a little ahead of you on that detail,” Yveltal replied with a smile, “But that's certainly good thinking. We already have Ariados preparing for an inside invasion, but who else did you have in mind?”

“Well, despite their rather weak appearances, Sunflora and Jumpluff have proven to have a lot of potential, especially when working together,” Volcanion explained, “As such, I've assigned them to guard one area together. Dunsparce I wasn't sure about, but he seemed really eager, so I gave him the first floor. Figured I may as well give him something to do. Magcargo can't bring himself to leave the volcano, so I'm trusting him with another room.”

“I'll admit, those are promising choices,” Yveltal said as Xerneas asked, “What about Froslass? I think she'd do really well protecting an area.”

“Oh yeah, I got her in the base,” the dinosaur replied, “Bronzong refused to leave his usual area, so I've decided to put my faith in him as well. And I've also chosen to let Porygon and Combee do some work as well. Both are really eager to do this.”

“Well, a couple of those picks are questionable, but I think they're fine,” Yveltal replied with a nod of her head, “That just leaves you, Volcanion.”

“Wait, me?” the dinosaur remarked as Xerneas nodded and replied, “Well, you are the best of all of our followers. It only makes sense for you to protect our room, right?”

“Well, yeah, but I wanna be out there to lead the others,” Volcanion uttered as Xerneas replied, “Don't worry. They can handle themselves,” as the dinosaur nodded and let out a sigh.

With all said and done, the trio returned to their room on the top floor, smirking at the sight of Machop still locked in the capsule. Zygarde then tapped the material and blinked, asking, “I don't get it? Wouldn't she be able to break out of this when she wakes up?”

“Actually, no,” Yveltal replied, “See, this isn't ordinary glass we've trapped her in. In fact, the surface is made of tektites, which are very hard. It'll be difficult to break through to say the least.”

“Wow,” Zygarde uttered with an implied smile, “You thought of everything!” as Xerneas nodded and remarked, “But of course. Do you doubt your parents?” the dragon shaking his head.

Meanwhile, it seemed that the heroes had a plan of attack now as they all stood a fairly long distance from the volcano. Eiko took a deep breath as Garbodor turned to her and nodded, giving her a thumb up and saying, “Don't worry. We'll keep you safe.”

He then let out a sigh and whispered to Gallador, “Is it really such a good idea to bring these two along?” the white boy shrugging and replying, “Well, Machop's friends were certain they could be of help in some way or another. Besides, if we forbade them from coming, they would have tagged along in secret, meaning we wouldn't even know they were there and wouldn't be able to protect them.”

Vigoroth had her hand over her eyes as she looked over the area in front of the volcano. Just as they suspected, quite a few other villains were on standby, poised for attack. To make matters worse, there had to be at least one-hundred of them.

“My god,” Vigoroth uttered, “They have more followers than I thought they would. I normally don't say this, but maybe we should wait for more reinforcements.”

Jackalu shook his head and replied, “While that sounds ideal, we need to get in there and put all of this to a stop as soon as possible. We'll just have to do the best we can,” Clawitzer wondering if she should side with him on this issue or not.

“Well, I couldn't care less if there was a thousand of them,” Fletchinder remarked with a cold look, “Their asses are grass either way!” some of the other heroes cheering in agreement.

Torchic let out a sigh and replied, “I hate to say it, but he's right. I just couldn't rest easy knowing our friends are in there. They probably have Kelani chained up right now while doing everything they can to get him to join their side. They may be his parents, but I doubt they'd be above hurting him.”

Eiko trembled in response to this as Isamu patted her on the shoulder with a supportive smile. He was certain they could get him back, even if the odds were currently stacked heavily against them.

But before they could head into the battlefield, Torchic looked around and said, “It doesn't look like we'll be able to just sneak past them,” as Fletchinder cracked her knuckles and smirked, remarking, “That's fine by me. I can handle at least fifty of these guys no sweat.”

Jackalu laughed nervously before sighing, “Well, it's not ideal, but we've got no choice. We're gonna have to barrel in there and do the best we can to fight past them. I'm not even sure if we can succeed, but we gotta try.”

Venipede tensed up at the sound of this only for Rinko to pat him on the shoulder and give him a supportive smile. There was no way she would sit back and allow him to revert to the wimp he used to be, not after he had come so far.

All of the other heroes ultimately accepted this as they let out a loud battle cry, charging toward the volcano and getting the attention of the villains stationed outside. And needless to say, they were not going to stand around either as they all readied themselves for combat.

Two of the heroes, specifically Magneton and Wartortle, noticed ten villains racing toward them as the cyborg's three heads turned to their turtle companion and said, “Alright, let's give tactic three-hundred-and-six a go. If this succeeds, we can take out all ten of these bad boys.”

The turtle nodded with a smirk as she tucked herself into her shell, Magneton leaping onto her back and shouting, “SONIC SURFER!” pointing all six of their magnets back and unleashing a big shock wave. And while three of the villains managed to dodge in time to avoid this, seven of them were unable to react in time as they wound up flying into the air.

Seeing this, Magneton leapt up to their level and shouted, “SPARK BARRIER!” forming an orb of electricity around themselves that was just big enough to hit three of the villains.

Wartortle followed suit and jumped high into the air while still tucked in her shell, ramming herself into one villain before ricocheting off and hitting the remaining three, barking, “SHELL PINBALL!”

Quite a few cheered wildly as their opponents fell to the ground, some of the other heroes fighting their own adversaries as well. One ally, Psyduck, was currently locked in combat with a coal-black creature with a pearl-like head and blue-violet shells covering various parts of her, her head especially looking like a clam. Her hands were also small clam shells.

The duck was currently taking in quite a bit of pain as the clam pinched him repeatedly. However, he refused to let this get to him as he grabbed hold of her wrists, propelling himself up and latched his feet onto her neck. He then leaned forward until he was able to grab hold of her ankles and leapt high into the air, flipping one-hundred-and-eighty degrees.

“ICE ROCK DRIVER!” he exclaimed as he slammed the clam's head hard against the surface, breaking open her helmet before releasing his hold. And as she lay there unconscious, it was clear that the duck had defeated her.

Fletchinder was flying toward the entrance when she noticed a crow flying toward her. Seeing this, she held her arm out before engulfing herself in flames, shouting, “FLAME STEALTH BOMBER!” the crow seeing this coming and flying over her.

He then clenched his talons as darkness surrounded them, shouting, “TALON SUCKER PUNCH!” sending them hard into her back. However, the robin easily ignored the pain and lifted up her wing, forcing him higher into the air and lowering his guard.

She then performed a U-turn and flew at him with her body covered in flames once more, shouting, “FLAME MISSILE!” and planting her beak hard into the crow's back.

This caused him to cough up blood as he descended toward the ground, his head making contact as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. There was no doubt that the robin had defeated him as she smirked, saying, “Too easy.”

Marshal was currently sprinting alongside Phanpy, the elephant noticing two ladybirds charging at them and poised for attack. One had a red collar while the other had a purple one that resembled hair.

Seeing this, Phanpy smiled and asked, “You ready for this?” the tan fighter nodding and replying, “But of course,” leaping into the air and tucking his body in like a ball, Phanpy doing the same while rolling.

“ROLLOUT!” the elephant exclaimed as he rammed himself hard into the one with the red collar while Marshal retracted from his ball-like state and landed on top of the ladybird with the purple collar and exclaimed, “FALLING ROCK!” crushing her under his weight.

Both villains were out cold as the two heroes grinned at one-another and shared a high five. Needless to say, things were really looking up.

Left and right, more and more villains started to fall as six of them raced toward Sneasel and Gigalith, knowing just how dangerous they could be. However, Sneasel did not feel the least bit alarmed as he said, “Come on, let's show them our power,” Gigalith nodding and giving her a thumb up.

The cat then leapt toward the golem as he took hold of her feet, her ear feather glowing. And once all six villains were close enough, Gigalith swung Sneasel across their chests like a sword as she exclaimed, “FEATHER SABRE!” all six enemies crying out in pain and passing out.

Gallador and Garbodor, meanwhile, were currently locked in combat with a purple blob who had a yellow moustache and a white wind chime with red markings. The chime was currently unleashing a powerful sound wave to distract the heroes while the blob regurgitated two balls of sludge toward them, hitting them hard in the face.

But while Gallador groaned in response, trying his best to ignore it, Garbodor easily shook it off with a smirk and tauntingly asked, “Really? You're gonna use sludge on walking trash? Are you for real?”

He then turned to Gallador and said, “Come on, buddy, let's show these two what we're really made of,” the white boy nodding and replying, “Right,” ignoring the pain and how much he smelled.

Garbodor then lifted him up by the arm and flung him toward the chime, Gallador folding his arms and spinning while shouting, “SWORDS DANCE PINWHEEL!” putting a big cut on her face thus knocking her unconscious.

Things only got better when Garbodor rammed his fist hard into the blob's face, lifting him up and forcing him into a ball-like state. He then slammed him hard into the ground and shouted, “RECYCLE BOMB!” knocking him out for good.

With both villains down for the count, Gallador and Garbodor bumped elbows, the white boy not even batting an eyelash at the fact that he had just touched living garbage. It was truly amazing how these two had gone from bitter rivals to friends all thanks to Machop, all the more reason to save her.

Torchic and the others had been lucky enough not to be attacked just yet as the other heroes were providing a descent distraction for them. But as they got close, Meloetta found herself overwhelmed as a trio of bag worms surrounded her. One had a bag made of green leaves and daisies, another had a pink one with violet arms attached to her head and the last one had arms made of brown pebbles and a bag made of brownish-white sand. All three had pointy noses with their tips coloured in a way that matched their theme.

The green worm flew toward the green-haired girl while his leaves spun like propeller blades. The pink one, meanwhile, advanced toward her with her arms at the ready. Finally, the brownish-white worm lunged at her with his arms aimed at her cheek.

There was no way Meloetta would allow herself to take in damage, though, as she stood on one foot and whipped out her hair, binding the green worm in place. She then twirled and rammed him into his siblings while shouting, “PIROUETTE SWING!” sending all three flying into a nearby rock, thus knocking them out cold.

Vigoroth gave her a claw up before dodging an incoming strike, Jackalu and Clawitzer having already made their way to the entrance. And with the other villains currently distracted, Torchic and the others soon reached them along with Eiko and Isamu, who had moved along the farthest edge of the area to avoid detection. In any other circumstance, this would have failed, but since every villain outside was focused on fighting the heroes, it worked swimmingly.

“Shouldn't we stay and help the others?” Venipede asked before noticing Marshal and Phanpy struggling against a powerful opponent, specifically a brown mammoth.

Currently, he and Phanpy were matching blows as the elephant used Rollout while the mammoth had covered himself in ice, forming a boulder made of the substance. Marshal was just about to help out when the elephant cried out, “Marshal, I'll take care of this guy! What's important is stopping Yveltal and Xerneas as soon as possible!”

The tan fighter hesitated but ultimately realized his ally was right. Therefor he bowed his head and replied, “Good luck, my friend,” before heading toward the entrance, Phanpy ultimately overpowered as he flew into a rock, now out like a light.

Despite the results, though, all three had been close enough for Venipede to hear the conversation. And deep down, he knew Phanpy's words were correct as Marshal joined the group, feeling happy to have at least made it this far.

“Sweet, you made it,” Vigoroth said with a grin as Jackalu nodded and said, “That's great. We could use all the help we can get.”

And sure enough, Delphox, Gallador and Garbodor made it to the entrance as well, the fox breathing a sigh of relief and saying, “I feel like I should stay and help the others fight some more, but we can't afford to waste time out here.”

Just as they were about to enter, though, Sneasel, Gigalith and Fletchinder managed to catch up as well, the robin asking, “You weren't going to storm their base without us, were you?” as Jackalu smirked and replied, “Wouldn't dream of it.”

Eiko had a light smile on her face as she said, “Thank you all so much for this. I know this isn't just for my sake, but it still means a lot.”

Sneasel nodded and replied, “Any time. You are our friend, after all,” as Gigalith gave her a thumb up.

With all sixteen friends together, they felt that they could not lose, and considering they did outnumber the villains inside just a little bit, this might have been the case. Even so, they had wasted enough time as it was, so it was time to head inside. But before doing so, they turned to the others, hoping they would not meet the same fate as Phanpy. Hopefully they would be able to enter the base and join them.

During all of this, Volcanion had been watching with a pair of binoculars, thinking, 'Dammit, what have I been training these people for!? Losing numbers so easily to thirty-five heroes!?' before looking down and spotting the group running inside as his mind added, 'And to make matters worse, now my soldiers on the inside are outnumbered.'

Even so, he took a deep breath and tried his best to calm down. After all, he truly felt that those stationed within the base could at least handle the majority of the heroes who had entered. This would give him and his leaders less to deal with.

Upon entering the first room, the group was ready as Rinko said, “Everyone, be on your guard. There might be others inside.”

“You're a lot smarter than I figured you'd be,” came a menacing voice as the heroes all looked around, “I have to admit, I didn't think you'd catch onto the fact that there's more of us. But whether this knowledge will help you or not is a whole other thing.”

“Spare the chit-chat,” Fletchinder growled, “How about you show yourself, coward!?” as the voice remarked, “Don't mind if I do!”

With that, a door opened up as a yellow land snake with a blue underbelly entered. His back was white with blue stripes and his head was perfectly round with his wide mouth extending under his jowls and curved up toward the middle of his face. His chin matched his belly's colour and had two spiky prongs. His eyes seemed permanently closed as all anyone could see were his white eyelids. He also had two small wings on his back and a nice set of arms and legs, his tail shaped like a drill.

The group stared silently for a few seconds as even Garbodor thought he looked weird. But even so, they remembered that this snake was in their way as Marshal stepped forward and smirked, saying, “So you're the first one standing in our way, huh? I was expecting more than just one.”

“Well, there are plenty of others, but we each have our own areas to guard,” the land snake replied, “But mark my words. You won't get past me, the mighty Dunsparce. Now, which of you has the balls to fight me?”

Torchic frowned and said, “You know there's fourteen of us,” only for Marshal to smirk and say, “You guys go on ahead. I'll handle this poser,” before striking a fighting stance.

Dunsparce smirked and said, “How noble of you. But yes, if I were you, I would do as this boy says. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but Zygarde has switched over to our side and currently, Yveltal and Xerneas are working hard to help him reach adulthood ahead of schedule.”

All went silent as Jackalu groaned, “Oh god, why did I have to be right?” Eiko squeaking, “Alright, we can't risk being here any longer!”

With that in mind, the group nodded and headed through the door, Dunsparce tauntingly shouting, “Hurry along, now! This base takes at least an hour just to run all the way through!” as Marshal frowned and remarked, “You seem awful confident just letting my friends go like that.”

“Oh, please,” the land snake retorted with a snicker, “You already know that I'm not the only one stationed here, and we're all major threats. Though I especially can be quite intimidating.”

While Dunsparce did not look particularly threatening, Marshal knew that there had to be a reason why he was chosen to guard the base's interior by himself. As such, the tan fighter held up his hands defensively, prepared for the worst.

 

While the others were headed toward Yveltal and Xerneas' room, Marshal was more than ready for his fight with Dunsparce. The tan boy cracked his knuckles with a grin and said, “Well, I'm ready when you are.”

The land snake nodded and replied, “That's good to hear. And as I am one of honour, you may have the first strike,” spreading his arms out as Marshal narrowed his eyelids, thinking, 'He's clearly leading me into a trap. Well, unfortunately for him, I can still use this to my advantage.'

With that in mind, he bowed his head and said, “Thank you very much,” before racing toward Dunsparce. And just as it looked like the land snake was going to fight back, the tan boy leapt to the right before sending a roundhouse into his cheek.

Dunsparce's mouth opened wide as the tan fighter proceeded to strike the same spot with his elbow. He then dashed behind him and latched onto his head and neck, a smirk on his face as he said, “You made a big mistake letting me attack first. I've seen more than enough martial arts films to know when an opponent is tricking me. This allows me to be one step ahead.”

Dunsparce groaned and struggled to free himself only for Marshal to leap high into the air and lean backwards, shouting, “SLEEPER HOLD SUPLEX!” ramming the back of his head into the floor.

But just as Marshal was about to release his hold, it seemed as if he had not dealt as much damage to Dunsparce as he figured. This was made clear when the snake ignored all of the pain dealt to him and shifted his tail so it was facing the tan fighter's midsection. The tip then started to spin as he drove it hard into that very spot.

Marshal's eyes widened as he cried out in pain, Dunsparce shouting, “TAIL DENTISTRY!” the tan boy releasing his hold and allowing his body to collapse, thus separating him from the tail long enough to roll to the side and avoid further damage.

He now had a hole in both his karate gi and his flesh as he breathed heavily, Dunsparce smirking and asking, “What? Did you think the drill shape was just decoration?” as Marshal grunted, “Considering how well it blends in with your flesh, yes.”

“Well, that was your first fatal mistake,” Dunsparce remarked with a smirk, “You're quite clever to have seen through my lure-out strategy, but you won't get another chance like that.”

As such, the snake flapped his wings and leapt toward Marshal. While his wings seemed too small to allow him to fly, they did, at the very least, allow him to speed up his attack as he planted his feet hard into the same spot he had pierced, Marshal's eyes widening.

“Oh, come on!” he grunted, “Attacking the open wound!?” before placing his hands together and lifting them up over his head, barking, “BRICK BREAK!”

But just as he sent them toward Dunsparce's forehead, the snake threw his arms upward and blocked the incoming strike with the heels of his hands. He then used this opportunity to ram his skull into Marshal's face before leaping into the air, wrapping his legs around the tan boy's shoulders.

“The hell are you doing now?” Marshal grunted as Dunsparce sighed, “Unfortunately for you, I intend to end this fight as quickly as possible. As such, it only stands to reason that I end your life right here and now.”

The tan boy's eyes widened as he was just about to lift up his arms. But before he could do so, Dunsparce leaned forward and reached his arms out, taking hold of the tan boy's wrists and saying, “Ah-ah-ah! I can't let you escape from this hold!”

The tip of his tail proceeded to spin again as he exclaimed, “TAIL DENTISTRY!” planting it hard into Marshal's chest. His eyes widened as he coughed up blood, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as Dunsparce removed the drill, allowing him to collapse.

He then took a deep breath and smirked, stating, “For so long, many have looked at me with disdain. Back when I was a hero, my victory on Hero Planet was seen as a fluke. My allies never let me fight because they figured I wouldn't be able to handle a villain. No girl ever wanted me because of my odd outward appearance. And even after joining the side of evil, I had to plead Volcanion to let me guard a room! Well, no more! Today, I have truly proven myself worthy!”

He then pulled out a communication device seemingly out of nowhere as he said, “Hey, Volcanion. I got some incredible news for you.”

The dinosaur listened in on him while standing in front of the staircase leading up to Yveltal and Xerneas' quarters. His eyes widened as he said, “Well, that's very good to hear. Well, if you could cut them off on the second floor, that would be great.”

He then listened in some more and grinned, replying, “Well, I am mighty proud of you, Dunsparce. Keep up the great work,” before hanging up and breathing a sigh of relief, thinking, 'Well, if a loser like him can kill one of those heroes, I should have nothing to worry about.'

During this time, the others were currently running down a long hallway as Torchic sighed, “My god, he wasn't kidding, this first floor alone is pretty big.”

“It must be a nightmare for them to live here,” Venipede uttered as Rinko shrugged and remarked, “Hardly matters to us. We can still do this.”

“Still, I hope Marshal's okay,” Meloetta uttered, “I mean, there has to be a reason these villains are guarding the inside as opposed to fighting outside like the others.”

“Hey, we've seen how strong Marshal can be,” Isamu replied with a grin, “I wouldn't worry too much about him. If anything, I'm more concerned for his opponent,” as Torchic nodded and added, “Take it from me. Machop and I barely managed to beat him when he fought alongside Kingdra.”

“Damn, really?” Jackalu asked as Fletchinder sighed, “Going by all the close calls Machop had during the tournament, that doesn't surprise me as much as it probably should.”

The dog stared wide-eyed as Clawitzer said, “She has a point. I mean, how many close calls did Machop have?” as Garbodor laughed nervously and uttered, “To be fair, she probably would have beaten me a lot more easily if she hadn't been afraid of garbage throughout most of our fight.”

“Even so, the amount of punishment she was able to take in while still continuing to fight is astonishing,” Delphox replied, “I caught her match with Slurpuff on TV, and I was impressed. I just can't believe she actually lost to Yveltal so easily.”

Eiko started to tense up as Torchic sighed, “Don't worry. Now that we've seen how she fights, we should be fine. Right, guys?” Vigoroth holding a claw up and replying, “Yeah. You can count on us.”

Eiko gave them all a sweet smile and replied, “Thank you so much. I'm so lucky to have friends like you,” as Isamu nodded.

However, as the group advanced to the next room, Vigoroth, who had currently been in front, found herself caught in a net of spider silk. Everyone stared in stunned silence as Ariados lowered herself from the ceiling, saying, “Well, well, well, looks like I've already caught myself some lunch.”

The others stared as Venipede laughed nervously, saying, “That analogy probably would have worked better if I'd been caught in that,” the spider folding all four of her arms and grunting, “Dammit! You had to spoil my fun, didn't you!?”

“Oh, we're about to spoil it even more,” Delphox retorted as she conjured up a fireball and sent it into the net, burning it up. And since the fox was a master of pyrokinesis, she managed to free the sloth without burning her even a little bit.

Ariados rose an eyebrow as Vigoroth righted herself up, a smirk on her face as she said, “Thanks, Delphox,” as the fox nodded and replied, “No problem.”

She then lit up her hands and added, “You guys go on ahead. I'll take care of this one,” as Ariados implied a smile with her eyes and remarked, “That's fine by me. Of all the heroes in this room, you fascinate me the most.”

Jackalu was about to retort to this when Clawitzer sighed, “Just take this. We have to get to Yveltal and Xerneas' chambers as soon as possible,” the dog nodding before heading toward the room's exit.

But just as Delphox was about to begin the fight, Ariados said, “Hold on. I think we should have this match in an the appropriate playing field,” before walking toward the middle of the area and leaping into the air. Afterwards, she formed what looked like a ring made entirely out of silk, Delphox blinking in confusion.

“Do you honestly think I'm stupid enough to fight on something like that?” she asked as Ariados shook her head and replied, “Don't worry about that. See, I can make my silk a sticky as I want to, and, well, if I were to fight you on a sticky surface, my victory wouldn't exactly feel earned, would it?”

Delphox gazed upon the ring suspiciously and walked over to it, lightly poking the side with her finger. And much to her shock, Ariados had told her the truth as it felt less like a spider web and more like a soft wrestling ring. Needless to say, the fox was at least fine with this arrangement.

With that in mind, she leapt into the air and landed firmly against the canvas, Ariados looking fully confident, and the fox could not help but wonder why. After all, the spider had seen her burn her silk without any problems, so why was she not the least bit intimidated by this? Was it arrogance?

Whatever the case, Delphox was certain she could win as Ariados asked, “So, do you feel ready? I'd hate to start this match too soon,” as the fox smirked and remarked, “That's awfully kind of you, but don't worry. I'm more than ready for this.”

“Perfect,” Ariados replied as she wasted no time firing silk from her mouth toward Delphox. Seeing this, the fox smirked and sent a stream of fire toward it.

However, the spider seemed to see this coming as she twirled the silk around, forming a shield with it that took in the flames. But just as expected, it easily burned up in a matter of seconds. But just as Delphox was about to question this, she noticed Ariados use a string of silk from her abdomen to swing from the ceiling toward her.

“JUNGLE JAB!” she exclaimed as she rammed her horn into Delphox's forehead, a small bit of blood flying out as the fox's eyes and mouth widened. And before she could even process what just happened, Ariados wasted no time shooting more silk from her mouth, wrapping it around the fox and trapping her in place.

Delphox was terrified now as Ariados pulled a small strand toward her, saying, “Believe it or not, I'm actually quite knowledgeable with how your family fights. Your mother, Braixen, and your grandmother, Fennekin, both controlled the powers of fire just like you. But I know the major weakness to your magic, how you need the ability to move your arms, legs or fingers to pull off so much as one spell.”

The fox gritted her teeth as she knew this to be true. Even so, it seemed as if she could not do a thing about it as the spider used the loose strand to lift her up, swinging her head-first into a turnbuckle before reeling her back. And things only got worse when the spider rammed her chin into another pole, swinging her sideways and sending her cheek into a third.

What was even more shocking than the tactic itself was how much this hurt. The turnbuckles were all made out of spider silk, a very soft material, and yet somehow, this felt no different from a normal turnbuckle.

Whatever the reason, this was certainly bad news as Delphox had already taken in a great deal of pain while Ariados had not taken in so much as one hit. Hopefully, the fox would find a way out of this otherwise she would surely suffer the same fate as Marshal.

While this went on, Machop was still unconscious as Zygarde blinked and asked, “Hey, is there a chance she'll wake up?” as Yveltal nodded and replied, “Yes, but the worst that can happen is that she'll try to break out. If anything, it'll give us a nice bit of entertainment, but there's something else we need to focus on.”

“What's that?” the dragon enquired as Xerneas smirked and explained, “Well, we're gonna have you become an adult six months in advance.”

“Wait, you're serious?” Zygarde uttered as the stag nodded, Yveltal stating, “He's right. After all, it was our power that allowed you to become a teenager. And we will use that same power to speed up your ageing process. Unless, of course, you'd rather wait.”

“Oh, no way!” Zygarde retorted with excitement in his eyes, “I wanna be an adult as soon as possible! I'll have the same destructive powers at you, then we can finally take over this miserable planet!”

“That's my boy!” Xerneas exclaimed with a grin before giving the dragon a hug, Yveltal nodding and adding, “You make us proud, son.”

At around this time, Torchic and the others had finally made it to the staircase leading up to the second floor. They then took a deep breath as Vigoroth groaned, “My god, how long did it take to get here? And just think, we only ran into two servants on the first floor.”

Meloetta nodded and squeaked, “Well, we knew this wasn't going to be easy. We'll just have to keep going,” all the while still concerned for Marshal and Delphox. She knew this was all part of the job and they were used to this sort of thing, but she could not help but fear for their safety.

Even so, the group had to carry on as they sprinted up the stairs, Eiko sighing, “I hope there aren't too many floors. My feet are already getting tired,” Isamu groaning, “Me too, but we gotta tough it out.”

However, as soon as the group reached the top of the stairs, their eyes widened when they noticed a certain yellow snake standing right there with his arms folded. He also tapped his foot while grumbling, “Geez, what took you so long? Seriously, I've been bored as hell waiting around here.”

The group stared silently as Torchic pointed at him before turning toward the stairs and then back at him. And before anyone could ask the obvious question, Dunsparce was one step ahead as he smirked and said, “How did I get up here before you, you ask? Well, you see, there are elevators hidden all around this base, special elevators that go in every direction. You know, kinda like the elevator in that one book about the candy factory. The name escapes me, but it's definitely like that.”

Upon hearing this, Eiko wasted no time running toward a wall and feeling for a possible hidden door only for Dunsparce to sigh, “Don't bother looking for them. They're only activated by the palm prints of anyone registered into the system, and in order to be registered, you have to swear your allegiance to Yveltal and Xerneas.”

The pink-haired girl blinked as Isamu sighed, “He means none of us can use the elevators even if we could find them,” Eiko pouting in response. She had really hoped to use this to get to the top floor more quickly.

“But wait, there's something more important going on here,” Sneasel growled, “If he's here right now, then that means-”

“Exactly,” Dunsparce replied with a smirk, “That Marshal looked tough and put up this great, brave front, but man, he was pathetic. He barely put up a fight.”

“I have so much trouble believing that,” Torchic grunted, “Seriously, do you know how long it took Machop and I to knock him out!” as Dunsparce blinked and uttered, “Well, I can believe it might have taken a while to pull that off. Oh, so that's why I was able to beat him so quickly. I took the more logical approach,” before smacking himself on the forehead.

All went silent as the others stared wide-eyed. It took a while for some of them to figure out what he meant, but it soon became clear. This was not like every other failure where the hero was knocked unconscious. Marshal had been killed.

“No,” Meloetta uttered, breathing heavily as Dunsparce grinned and added, “By the way, I see one member of your group is missing. Guess Ariados is probably consuming her flesh as we speak. You did a good job getting past our outside forces, but we on the inside are much more powerful and much more deadly. And hey, if any of you would like to be my next victim, I'm open to any takers.”

He then spun his tail drill threateningly as Vigoroth gritted her teeth and grunted, “Alright, no one kills our friend and gets away with it! Lemme at him!” planting her fist against her palm.

But just as it seemed like she would be the next one to fight the snake, Meloetta rested a hand on her shoulder and squeaked, “No!” the sloth's eyes widening as the green-haired girl added, “I know I usually try to avoid this if I can help it, but I want to help make sure no one else in our team has to die.”

The others were truly aghast as tears rolled down her cheeks. Deep down, she would have rather let the others do this, but this was the first time an enemy had ever killed one of her friends. As such, she felt that she had to teach him a lesson.

Vigoroth was about to protest, but when she saw just how serious the green-haired girl was, she nodded and said, “Alright. Make him suffer,” Meloetta nodding as Eiko, Isamu and the eleven remaining heroes raced onward.

“Do your best!” Venipede exclaimed as Rinko added, “Show him just how amazing you really are!”

Dunsparce folded his arms and watched them leave before turning to Meloetta, saying, “It's funny, I've heard that you're strongly against fighting. It's well known that you are the only hero of Tokyo not to even consider joining the Hero Olympics. Forgive my shock, but I can't believe you of all heroes would volunteer to fight a mighty killer just like that.”

“It's fighting for sport that I'm not interested in,” the green-haired girl retorted with a cold look, “But if it's for the sake of justice, I'll fight to the bitter end, just like Marshal did!”

“I remember when I used to think like that,” Dunsparce sighed before shrugging his shoulders, “So young, so foolish, but hey, I could use another workout. Marshal just wasn't satisfying enough,” Meloetta's anger rising by the second.

As such, she did not even wait for the snake to signal the start of the fight as she whipped her hair toward him. His eyes widened as she bound him in place, standing on one foot and twirling. She then sent him hurdling into the wall, shouting, “PIROUETTE SWING!”

However, much like when he took in Marshal's Sleeper Hold Suplex, Dunsparce easily ignored the pain to his face as he forced himself away from the wall. He then tucked in his legs and started up his drill, shouting, “DENTIST'S MISSILE!”

Luckily, Meloetta seemed to see this coming as she leapt to the side, sending a roundhouse into the snake's waist. He winced in response to this as he took in another kick to the same spot, falling on his side as he rolled away from the green-haired girl. Needless to say, she was already proving herself to be a bigger challenge than he first figured she would be.

While all of this took place, Delphox had taken in yet another blow to the head as she found herself unable to break free from Ariados' silk. However, she knew she could not allow herself to lose this easily as she took a deep breath, saying, “It seems there is one move from my family that you are not familiar with.”

“What?” Ariados uttered as the fox's cheeks inflated. She then aimed her mouth straight at the spider and grunted through clenched teeth, “MYSTICAL FOX FLAMETHROWER!” opening her mouth as a burst of flames shot from within.

Ariados' eyes widened as she took in the blast hard, letting out a loud cry of pain as some of it hit the strand of silk she had been holding the whole time. The fire then spread all the way up to the material trapping Delphox, burning it all thus causing it to melt.

Now that she was free, the fox intended to take full advantage of this as she lit her leg on fire, spinning sideways toward Ariados and shouting, “FALLING WHEEL!” planting her foot hard into her skull.

Unlike when Delphox had used this on Slurpuff, this had a huge effect on the spider as she was now covered in burn marks. Her eyes and feelers were wide with shock as Delphox lit her hand on fire, sending a karate chop into her cheek.

The spider backed up as Delphox coughed up a bit of smoke, sighing while thinking, 'That's why I can't use it often,' before growling, “I'll admit, you almost had me there. I'm impressed that you actually took the time to research my family's magic, but even so, you should have looked further into it. This one oversight has cost you this match.”

Was Delphox correct? Had overcoming this one weakness rendered her opponent helpless or was this only the beginning?

 

After a rough start, it seemed Delphox had finally gotten the upper hand against Ariados. But she would need to be careful if she wanted this to last. She may have possessed a means of getting around the sticky silk, but who was to say the spider did not have more up her sleeve?

If she did have something else she could use, she would need to unleash it soon as Delphox conjured up a ring of flames, saying, “Let's see your spider silk block this.”

She then thrust her hand forward, shouting, “MYSTICAL FIRE!” sending the flames spiralling toward Ariados. However, the spider refused to let herself get burned again as she coughed up enough silk for an entire small web to come out. While this did not last long, it provided enough of a distraction for her to leap to the side.

Seeing this, Delphox ended her assault, but just as she was about to attempt something else, Ariados leapt at her and latched her arms and legs around her. She then smirked and said, “FYI, silk isn't my only form of attack.”

She then opened up her feelers and exclaimed, “VENOM PIERCE!” and leaned her head forward before biting Delphox's neck. Said feelers briefly turned purple as the fox's eyes and mouth widened with shock. And sure enough, she started to feel weak as her eyelids lowered, Ariados releasing her hold with an implied smirk.

With her opponent now distracted, she proceeded to unleash an onslaught of punches into her gut, laughing insanely before saying, “Don't worry too much. The poison itself won't kill you. It fades eventually. No, I have a much more creative method in mind.”

Due to the venom weakening her even more, Delphox was unable to retaliate as all she could do was stand there and take the rapid punches. After succumbing to twenty, she started coughing up blood as Ariados laughed even louder. Needless to say, the fox would not only need to come up with a countermeasure, but she would need the strength to pull it off.

All the while, Meloetta was currently advancing toward Dunsparce, ready to strike him a forth time without giving him a chance to attempt another attack. However, now that the snake knew just how much of a threat she was, there was no way he would allow her to strike him again.

As such, he waited for her to whip her hair toward him as he thought, 'Perfect,' leaping up into the air and saying, “I'll admit, you've been pretty lucky so far, but that's about to run out.”

Meloetta's eyes widened as he started up his tail drill, descending toward her and shouting, “DENTIST'S MISSILE!”

Out of desperation, the green-haired girl held up her hands, very quickly realizing this was a horrible decision. Unfortunately, she was too late as the tail made contact, putting a big hole in her right wrist as she cried out in pain, backing up. And before she could retaliate, Dunsparce smirked and latched his ankles onto her neck. He then flipped her over and pulled her down, ramming her back into the floor and saying, “You're not the only one with fancy skills.”

Before Meloetta could respond, the snake spun his tail once more. Seeing as her head was close enough, he knew that he could easily get a good hit as he exclaimed, “TAIL DENTISTRY!”

But just as it looked like he would surely pierce Meloetta's skull, she remembered something she had learned from watching Machop enough times. With that in mind, she spun her body around, weakening Dunsparce's hold on her and freeing herself. She then sprang to her feet and breathed heavily, terror in her eyes as the snake frowned, rising up as well.

“I knew this wouldn't be easy, but it seems I'll need to knock you out before going in for the kill,” he stated, “Fair enough. I could use the workout.”

Meloetta, meanwhile, felt beyond fortunate that her escape method had worked. Even after seeing Machop use it countless times over the past, she was still uncertain whether or not such a tactic could really help her.

She would certainly need to think about this later, though, as Dunsparce stated, “Just so you know, this drill of mine isn't the only method of attack that I have. Believe you me, I've got plenty of ways to make you vulnerable.”

With that, he started to spin his tail again, but rather than aiming it at Meloetta again, he tilted it downwards and pressed the tip up against the floor. He then spread out his arms and legs, saying, “This is a little something I learned from my opponent on Hero Planet, Hitmontop. In fact, it's the very move that defeated her.”

He then spun like a top and shouted, “TAIL TWISTER BARRAGE!” racing toward Meloetta as the green-haired girl instinctively threw her hair out, wrapping it around him. However, all this did was made her more vulnerable as Dunsparce was spinning too quickly, thus she found herself lifted up and flung into the wall.

Things only got worse as Dunsparce took full advantage of this, ramming into her and buffeting her with an onslaught of punches and kicks. And after delivering thirty strikes, the snake stopped spinning as he said, “I can't afford to use that for too long otherwise it makes me dizzy. Contrary to my design, these eyes aren't really closed,” before turning toward what seemed like nothing and grinning.

With that in mind, he proceeded to take hold of Meloetta's shoulders before reeling his head back. He then sent it forward, ramming his skull hard into the green-haired girl's forehead as she groaned from the pain.

It seemed Dunsparce had even more in store as he once again rested his tail against the floor, wrapping his arms and legs around Meloetta. He then started spinning his tail thus causing himself to rotate, lifting his opponent high enough for her head to be above his. And with that, he used his feet to propel himself high into the air before flipping one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, his body still spinning.

“DENTIST'S SUPLEX!” the snake exclaimed as he rammed Meloetta's skull hard against the floor, her eyes and mouth wide open as she coughed up blood. And to make matters worse, the two were still spinning as a result of the momentum his tail had built up. As such, the green-haired girl's head scraped against the material thus adding to the pain.

After a few seconds, the spinning came to a halt as Dunsparce released his hold and leapt away from Meloetta. He had the biggest smile on his face as he laughed triumphantly, shouting, “OH MAN, THAT FELT AMAZING! I wanted to end this as quickly as possible, but finally getting to use some of these techniques is kind of fun! I wasn't even sure if that last one would really work, but now I know!”

Meloetta's body twitched as she thought, 'No! I can't lose!' slowly pushing herself back to her feet and breathing heavily, 'If I lose, he'll just seek out the others and try to kill them too! I can't lose another friend, not if I can help it!'

But despite the fact that she was standing, it was clear that the damage Dunsparce had dealt was far worse than what she had done earlier, and the snake knew this as well. Needless to say, Meloetta would need to be more careful from this point on. After all, if she failed, she would lose a lot more than just the match.

Meanwhile, Torchic and the others were still running down the halls as Vigoroth had a look of concern, Venipede asking, “You worried about Meloetta?”

“Kind of,” the sloth sighed, “I know she can handle herself fine, but even so, this is the first opponent she's had who actually intends on killing her. And lord knows how she rarely ever fights.”

“I wouldn't worry too much,” Rinko replied, “I know Meloetta's like a little sister to you, but you've seen her in action plenty of times. Heck, she's the reason you two managed to defeat Cranidos and Shieldon, no offence.”

“Hey, I'm not gonna argue with that,” Vigoroth replied with a smirk, “I would have died if she hadn't stepped in when she did. I wouldn't mind fighting alongside her again. We make an awesome team.”

At that moment, the group entered another room, though this was not quite like the others. While the other rooms were not that much different from the hallways, save for the amount of space, this one was full of plant life. The floor was made of grass and there was a long patch of flowers on each side.

Eiko looked around and said, “Well, this is pleasant,” when suddenly, a blue spherical cotton weed with beady red eyes and small feet perked up from one of the flower patches and said, “Why, thank you. I worked very hard on this.”

This was certainly a strange being to behold. Her hands were big cotton balls that almost matched her body's size, another one sticking up out of her head.

Torchic frowned, the others getting ready for combat when the weed giggled and said, “Don't worry, I'm not gonna fight you,” the heroes staring in confusion as she added, “The thing is, I'm not really a fighter in this facility. See, something people don't know is that Yveltal and Xerneas really like flowers, so I manage the garden with my partner.”

“Your partner?” Eiko uttered when Isamu turned and noticed a humanoid sunflower stand up from the other patch, saying, “Hi! I'm Sunflora!”

“And I am Jumpluff,” the cotton weed added with a light bow, “Pleased to meet you all. You must be exhausted. Would you like some herbal tea?”

All went silent until Clawitzer sighed, “Do think we're stupid or something?” as Jackalu blinked and uttered, “What do you mean? Is there no tea?”

“What she means is that they're obviously trying to trick us,” Isamu retorted, “It's the oldest trick in the book. Offer tea to the enemy and put poison in it, right?” Jumpluff blinking and replying, “Actually, that sounds much more practical than what we had in mind.”

“So, you were still trying to trick us anyway!” Gallador retorted as Sunflora shrugged and replied, “Yeah, you got us. But it hardly matters anyway. You're all standing in the right spots.”

“Wait, what?” Torchic uttered when suddenly, the ground started to vibrate as Sneasel snapped, “EVERYBODY, JUMP TO THE SIDE!”

And just as predicted, large vines sprouted up from under the gravel beneath the grass. But while most of the group managed to avoid being caught, Rinko and Venipede found themselves bound in place as the brunette growled, “DAMMIT! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!”

“Don't worry!” Torchic exclaimed, “I got this!” before lighting her talon on fire and sending it into the plant holding Rinko. However, it seemed to have no effect as Jumpluff giggled, “Don't bother. Our special vines are invincible, meaning not even pruning sheers can cut through them.”

As if that was not enough, the other vines that rose up formed a ring as Sunflora said, “We will gladly free your friends, but only if two of you can best us in combat,” Venipede struggling as Rinko grunted, “Dammit! Guys, don't worry about us! Just go on ahead!”

“No way,” Gallador retorted as he folded his arms, “I volunteer to be the first fighter. There's no way I'm gonna allow another one of my cousin's friends to die.”

“Well, if you're gonna take them, then count me in,” Garbodor replied with a grin as the others stared, Fletchinder folding her arms and sighing, “Dammit. I wanted to fight them.”

“I would have loved to help out, too, but yeah, it's probably best we don't stand around talking about this,” Sneasel replied as Gigalith gave the white boy and his trash heap ally a thumb up.

Torchic nodded and asked, “Are you sure you're okay with us going ahead?” as Rinko retorted, “We're talking about the fate of the world here! I think that's more important!”

“She's right,” Venipede added, “Besides, I trust these two to save us. You guys go on ahead. The more of us who are able to fight Yveltal and Xerneas, the better.”

“Alright,” the chicken said with a grin, “Just hang in there. I trust Gallador and Garbodor as well,” Vigoroth nodding as the remaining nine took off from the area, Eiko squeaking, “Be careful!”

With all said and done, Jumpluff and Sunflora leapt into the ring as Gallador and Garbodor followed suit. Though they knew they would have to be careful. While their opponents may have looked weak, there had to be a reason they were guarding the base's interior.

During this time, Ariados was currently hanging from a thin string of silk as she swung toward Delphox with her arms crossed. Once close enough, she made them glow purple before exclaiming, “CROSS POISON!” throwing them out in an X formation and striking the fox hard in the chest.

Delphox coughed up blood as she backed up, resting against the ropes and breathing heavily. With the spider's venom inside of her, she could barely focus right now as she took a four-armed punch to the face.

“I have to admit, I was really expecting more of a challenge,” Ariados said tauntingly with her arms against her hips, “Come on, aren't you gonna try and hit me?”

She then moved her cheek closer as the fox gritted her teeth, lifting up her hand and lighting it on fire. But as she attempted a palm punch, she wound up moving too slowly as Ariados shifted her head back in time to dodge it, lifting up her arms, taking hold of the incoming wrist with her upper arms and wrapping the lower ones around Delphox's midsection.

“You don't look so good,” Ariados cooed, “Here, I'll help set you up for a nice, long nap,” before leaping high into the air and leaning backward, shouting, “WRIST LOCK SUPLEX!” planting the fox's skull into the canvas.

Unlike the turnbuckle, though, the web mat was actually quite soft. As such, this did not deal quite as much damage as it could have, but it still wound up dealing damage. But it went even further as the silk sunk inward, Ariados releasing her hold on Delphox thus allowing her to fly high into the air as if she had just made contact with a trampoline.

Ariados knelt down and unleashed silk from her abdomen, wrapping it around Delphox's leg. She then implied a smirk and swung her back into the nearest turnbuckle, shouting, “SPIDER SILK BACKBREAKER!” the fox coughing up blood once more.

However, seeing as her eyes were still open, Ariados implied a frown and said, “You've got a strong spirit, but that won't help you,” before swinging her sideways into another turnbuckle, adding, “Well, look at that. Despite all your best efforts, you're in the exact same spot you were before.”

After Delphox took in two more hits, she gritted her teeth and thought, 'No! I can't let her win! She says this poison won't kill me, but it might as well! I can barely move right now!'

She then looked down, taking a fifth strike as her mind added, 'Unlike before, I can actually move the rest of my body. I need to take advantage of that.'

With that in mind, she focused as hard as she could as a small flame shot from her free foot. Unfortunately, it did not go beyond that as it seemed just attempting such a thing weakened her too much. As such, her eyes closed as she lost all consciousness, taking one last strike to her cheek as Ariados noticed this. Thus she released her hold on the silk and allowed the fox's body to collapse.

“Well, that took a lot more work than previously planned, but at least it's finally over,” Ariados said with an implied smile as she went down on all sixes and crawled over to Delphox. She then opened up her feelers and said, “By the way, I wasn't joking when I said that sloth could have potentially been my next meal. Unlike regular spiders, I eat anything that falls into my trap, and that includes foxes.”

But just as it looked like she was going to use her feelers to cut Delphox's neck, her eyes widened when the fox's wrists caught flame. She then sent them hard into the spider's gut as she coughed up green blood, flying into the air. As if that was not enough, Delphox proceeded to rise to her feet, saying in a calm tone, “Fox Fire Rocket.”

With that, flames shot from her feet as she flew toward the airborne spider with her arms crossed. With Ariados too distracted, she was unable to retaliate as she took the blow hard to her chest, coughing up even more blood as Delphox spread her arms out, latching onto the spider's wrists. And with that, she leaned backwards and flew toward the turnbuckle, saying, “Fox Fire Cross Drop,” the back of Ariados' neck making contact.

As the fox released her hold and distanced herself, Ariados righted herself up and breathed heavily, a look of terror in her eyes. All the while, she stared at Delphox and thought, 'No. This makes no sense. The poison shouldn't have worn off yet.'

It was then that she noticed something even more confusing. Delphox's eyes were still closed, meaning she should not have been conscious right now.

However, it seemed even Delphox did not understand this as she thought, 'What's going on? I'm fast asleep right now and yet not only can I see in front of me, but Ariados' poison isn't doing a thing.'

It was then that she remembered something Braixen had taught her two years ago. It was during a training exercise in which the older fox demonstrated meditation, showing that there was more to it than just sitting cross-legged with your eyes closed.

“You have to clear your mind and forget about whatever is ailing you,” she explained as Delphox asked, “That's all well and good, but how would that help me in a fight?”

“Oh, believe you me,” Braixen replied with a light smile, “In the darkest of times, a clear mind will save your life. When you are unable to focus on pain and anguish, you will be able to unleash your greatest potential.”

Delphox's mouth hung open as she nodded and stopped thinking. By clearing her head, she could no longer focus on the poison effecting her or any of the pain she had succumbed up to this point. It seemed that she would have no problem winning this match.

Ariados narrowed her eyelids as she refused to accept this. As such, she grunted, “Let's see you strike me again when you can't use any fire magic whatsoever!”

With that in mind, she proceeded to unleash her silk before the fox could do anything else. And much like she had done at the start of the match, she used it to bind her entire torso in place. But to make sure she could not use her flamethrower technique again, the spider spat a muzzle made of silk onto her mouth, saying, “There. Even if you can fight back now, it won't make a difference.”

She then proceeded to swing the fox's cheek into the turnbuckle. It seemed that even in her calm state, Delphox could not do a thing now that even her mouth was useless.

“I have to admit, you've surprised me a lot during this match,” Ariados said with an implied smirk, “Unfortunately for you, I adapt to the abilities of every enemy I face. You've demonstrated more than enough of yours for me to win this fight.”

As such, she proceeded to send Delphox into the turnbuckles four more times. Thus she could no longer remain asleep as she slowly opened her eyes, her head throbbing as she breathed heavily through her nose.

'Nein,' she thought, 'I can't let it end like this. There has to be something else, something I haven't tried before. Maybe there's a technique that's never been discovered.'

She could not help but feel mad at herself now as she took in another hit to her cheek, smoke coming out of her ears. However, she had just enough strength to notice this, her eyes widening as she thought, 'Oh my god! I can shoot fire from my ears? I didn't know that.'

With that in mind, she focused the hardest she could as suddenly, thin fiery arms emerged from those very parts as Ariados' eyes widened. And before she could react, the flames were lowered as they pressed up against the silk covering the fox's torso. With that, the fire travelled all the way around it, heading down the strand. And since the spider was too spellbound to respond, she failed to notice this as the fire reached the tips of her arms, burning them as she cried out in pain, releasing her hold on the material.

After having freed herself, Delphox proceeded to light her finger on fire, burning off the silk covering her mouth. She then took many deep breaths, now able to ignore the poison as she marched over to Ariados, her ear flames cracking their knuckles.

“No,” the spider uttered, shaking her head as she spat out more silk only for the fiery hands to grab onto them, burning them to a crisp.

“I'll admit, you truly proved yourself to be an incredible opponent,” Delphox grunted, “But as you can see, I'm really strong as well.”

She then had the fiery hands take hold of Ariados' arms as she cried out in agonizing pain. The fox then lifted her up before flipping her upside-down, sending her skull into the top of the turnbuckle and barking, “FOX FIRE PILEDRIVER!”

Ariados coughed up blood as her eyes rolled to the back of her skull. Thus Delphox retracted her flames as the spider lay there, not moving an inch.

The fox breathed a sigh of relief and grinned, saying, “Well, I did it. Guess I may as well join the others,” only for the poison to still effect her as she winced, leaning down on one knee. She then took a deep breath and sighed, “Or maybe I should rest. I'm sure the others can handle the rest, anyway,” a light smile on her face.

But while things had turned out well for Delphox, how would the others fair? Would Meloetta be able to regain the advantage she had lost? Would Gallador and Garbodor defeat Jumpluff and Sunflora?

 

While Delphox had managed to win her match, Meloetta was still having trouble as Dunsparce spun toward her with his arms and legs out, shouting, “TAIL TWISTER BARRAGE!”

Before she could even respond, she would up taking the strike to her right side as she struggled to stay up. But before she could regain her balance, Dunsparce turned around and hit her left side, causing her to spin briefly as she winced from the pain, breathing heavily and looking for a way around this.

Dunsparce continued his assault as the green-haired girl took a deep breath, attempting to dodge to the side. Unfortunately, the snake was too fast as he smirked, opening up his arm and taking hold of her ankle. He continued to spin her around with him and flung her head-first into the wall, his spinning coming to a halt as he could not afford to have the attack last too long.

Meloetta groaned and fell on her chin, twitching as she slowly pushed herself back to her feet. This was terrible. She had started the fight so strong and now that Dunsparce had switched to this new tactic, she was practically helpless.

The snake grinned and folded his arms, saying, “You know, I might actually spare your life if you just forfeit and admit that I'm the better fighter. Heck, why not just join us? After all, anyone who serves Yveltal and Xerneas won't have to take orders from them when they enslave humanity.”

The green-haired girl bit her lower lip before retorting, “That makes no sense!” Dunsparce staring as she added, “Think about it! How are you actually free if you're still serving them!?” the snake sighing, “Such a typical answer. I guess I can't expect everyone to understand.”

Though deep down, he did not have an actual answer to this question. A part of him was debating whether or not his opponent was right.

But just as it seemed like he might end up switching sides, a grin crossed his face as he said, “I'll admit, though, that you do raise a good point, but here's the difference between me and all the other servants. I volunteered, meaning I'm actually happy to do this and will even get good treatment after Yveltal and Xerneas take over. That is what makes me and all the other soldiers here different from those who are doomed to be forced into servitude. Thus I feel that I have made the right choice.”

Meloetta bit her lower lip, now truly fearing for her life. She had really hoped that he would change his mind after hearing that, but she could not let this get her down. Not only would losing endanger her friends, but she would also lose her life.

With that in mind, she waited as Dunsparce started up his tail drill again, saying, “A few more good hits should be enough to knock you out. Then I can pierce your flesh,” placing the tip against the floor, feeling that he had allowed himself enough time to avoid getting dizzy.

“TAIL TWISTER BARRAGE!” he exclaimed as he headed toward the green-haired girl only for her to take a deep breath and think, 'There's only one option left. Please let this work,' before lifting up her arms and a single leg, twirling toward him.

Soon enough, both fighters collided with one-another, Meloetta's foot and hand making contact with the snake's. Unfortunately, since he was physically stronger, she was overpowered as she cried out in pain, leaving herself open for another strike, coughing up blood as her arm was now in extreme pain.

But as the snake turned around and headed toward her again, she noticed she was mere inches away from the wall behind her, took a deep breath and thought, 'No. There is something I can do. Though I probably shouldn't use my hyper voice. Hopefully, this will work this time.'

With that in mind, she waited for Dunsparce to close in on her before leaping gracefully to the side. Luckily, she had timed this much better as the snake missed her and ran into the wall, his teeth gritted as his body shook. As if that was not bad enough for him, since he was distracted, he continued to spin subconsciously as his eyelids defied logic and started to swirl.

It was then that his spinning came to a halt as he struggled to stand upright. Meloetta saw a perfect opportunity as she thought, 'Good. I finally have him,' before leaping at him and planting her feet hard into his gut, knocking him on his back.

She then latched her hair onto him and hurled him high into the air, leaping up over him and pressing her legs together. She also cupped her hands over her head and spun while descending into his midsection, squeaking, “BALLERINA BOMB!” sending him crashing hard into the floor.

As Dunsparce lay there, his body twitching, Meloetta leapt off of him and took a deep breath, thinking, 'Wow, I just came up with that. That was really effective.'

She then put on a more serious look and cupped her hands together, her mind adding, 'Either way, you've been avenged, Marshal. Hopefully Dunsparce will learn his lesson and come around, but at least for the time being, he can't threaten anyone.'

However, her train of thought came to an end, her eyes widening when the snake slowly but surely pushed himself back up. He breathed heavily and stared at the green-haired girl before smirking and saying, “Wow, that was impressive.”

Meloetta stood there silently and shook her head, the snake adding, “I never knew someone as delicate as you could pull off such an amazing tactic. But even so, it'll take a lot more than that to defeat me, the mighty Dunsparce.”

The green-haired girl could still not believe it. Even though she had not dealt a lot of hits to Dunsparce, she still wished that last attack could have been enough. With how surprising he had been so far, she could only imagine what else he had in store.

While all of this happened, Jumpluff and Sunflora were more than ready for their fight as the cotton weed leapt atop the sunflower's arms. She was then propelled into the air as she descended toward Gallador only for the white boy to smirk and say, “Too easy.”

With that, he proceeded to cross his arms in front of his head, Garbodor grinning as he raced toward Sunflora with his fists at the ready. Needless to say, Rinko and Venipede felt safe seeing both heroes fighting more logically than the villains.

But just as Jumpluff was about to fall into Gallador's countermeasure, she flapped her arms up and down, using her cotton to slow down her descent. She then proceeded to fire small seeds from her mouth into Gallador's arm blades, small roots coming out and planting themselves into him.

Gallador's eyes widened as Jumpluff exclaimed, “WORRY SEED!” the white boy trembling as he uttered, “OH GOD, THIS MIGHT NOT WORK!” lowering his arms and attempting to back away from Jumpluff's landing point. However, in his state of panic, he was unable to focus and thus tripped and fell on his back, Jumpluff taking full advantage of this and planting her feet into his gut.

All the while, Garbodor sent a punch toward Sunflora's face only for the sunflower to tilt his head sideways. His pedals then sharpened and shone like blades as he spun his head around, shouting, “SUNFLOWER BUZZ SAW!”

Garbodor's eyes widened as he took a big cut to his hand, crying out in pain as a mix of oil and blood flew out. Seeing this, Venipede and Rinko were terrified, hoping the two heroes could turn this around. After all, both had proven themselves more than capable of getting out of scrapes like this.

And while Garbodor was able to ignore the pain to his hand after a few seconds, he noticed Gallador trembling and holding up his arms defensively while Jumpluff sent a series of punches toward him. Though for some odd reason, when one managed to connect with his face, it dealt considerable pain as the white boy was already coughing up blood. But how could cotton be so powerful?

Before the trash heap could contemplate what was going on, his eyes widened as Sunflora shone a bright light from his mouth onto his leafy arms, causing them to expand in size. He then wrapped them around Garbodor from behind and said, “You know you shouldn't turn your back to the enemy, right?”

As if that was not shocking enough, Sunflora seemed to be a lot stronger than his build implied as he lifted the trash heap up and leaned backward, planting the back of his head into the canvas. And while this went on, Gallador still looked terrified out of his mind while allowing himself to take in more punches from Jumpluff, the cotton weed laughing as if she was drunk.

“What the hell did you do to him!?” Rinko barked as Jumpluff replied, “I'd appreciate it if you watched your language, but I'll tell you anyway. Those seeds I planted into his arm are my worry seeds. The roots send a signal throughout the body of whoever they're attached to that causes them to become paranoid, only thinking about bad outcomes thus preventing them from focusing on anything that can give them a good outcome.”

Upon hearing this, Venipede implied a frown with his eyes and snapped, “Come on, Gallador! You're so much better than this! You don't strike me as the kind to get scared!” the white boy retorting, “You wouldn't understand!” as tears came from his eyes, Jumpluff delivering her twentieth punch to his face as he coughed up blood.

Garbodor wanted so badly to help his ally right now, but with Sunflora in his way, that would be difficult. As such, he pointed his fingers over the sunflower and shouted, “GUNK SHOT!” firing three mounds of garbage toward the cotton weed.

However, it seemed that Sunflora would not allow him to do that as he leapt up in front of the garbage, his head expanding in side. He then proceeded to spin it like a pinwheel, shouting, “FLOWER SHIELD!” creating just enough momentum for the garbage to bounce off of him and hit Garbodor in the face.

Venipede and Rinko could not believe just how easy this all seemed for Jumpluff and Sunflora. Neither villain had taken in so much as a hit yet they had already delivered plenty of attacks of their own and even managed to draw blood.

However, Garbodor could not stand this anymore as he gritted his teeth, growling, “Alright, that's it! I was hoping to save this, but I have no choice! BELCH!”

With that, he unleashed a loud burp as a cloud of gas headed toward Sunflora. This time, the sunflower was unable to retaliate as he held onto his neck, coughing and gagging while the heap proceeded to lift him up, rolling him into a ball.

Venipede and Rinko cheered as Garbodor exclaimed, “RECYCLE BOMB!” hurling Sunflora into Jumpluff's back. The cotton weed's eyes widened as Gallador saw her flying toward him, shouting, “NO, GO AWAY!” swinging his arm around and sending a barrage of palm punches into her face.

With that, both plants backed away as Garbodor sighed, “Forgive me for this, buddy, but this has to be done,” before shouting, “BELCH!” and unleashing another monster burp, the gas covering Gallador thus causing the roots manipulating his mind to wilt.

Once they fell off of him, Venipede breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Thank god. I was wondering if there really was a way to get rid of those roots,” as Rinko nodded and replied, “That was a little unorthodox, but you can't argue with results.”

Gallador breathed heavily and gagged as he retorted, “DUDE, WHAT THE HELL!?” Garbodor about to explain things. However, it seemed the white boy realized what was up when he looked down at the roots that once controlled him and took a deep breath, saying, “Thanks.”

“Any time, buddy,” Garbodor replied with a grin as the two pounded their fists, Jumpluff frowning with her cheeks inflated as she grunted, “How dare you kill my beautiful, beautiful plants!? I'm gonna make you pay!”

“You mean we're gonna make him pay,” Sunflora remarked as the cotton weed nodded and replied, “Damn straight, darling.”

All went silent until Venipede uttered, “Huh, that came out of left field,” as Rinko nodded and said, “I was certain they were just really good friends,” the plants grinning as if having their relationship acknowledged by the enemy was something to be proud of.

Either way, Garbodor and Gallador would not allow them to do any more as the white boy leapt atop his partner's shoulder. He then spread his arms out and asked, “You ready for this?” Garbodor nodding and replying, “You'd better believe it,” following suit.

He then leapt a small ways off the ground as he and Gallador started to spin, shouting, “JUNK COPTER!” heading toward the plants as Garbodor's fists hit them hard in the face. He then lowered said parts thus clipping their feet and causing them to fly into the air, allowing each to take in a slash to the cheek from Gallador.

But just as it seemed like the beating could only get worse, Sunflora tilted his head sideways and spun it once again, shouting, “SUNFLOWER BUZZ SAW!” Garbodor and Gallador's spinning coming to a halt as the flower head proved too much for even the white boy.

As a result, he found himself forced off of Garbodor's shoulders as Jumpluff took hold of Sunflora's ankles, saying, “Come on, let's show them our teamwork.”

“Hell yeah!” the sunflower replied with a big grin as his head continued to spin, the cotton weed lifting him up before swinging him downward, said head colliding with Garbodor's. Thus his trash bag was cut open as the plants shouted, “SUNFLOWER WEED WHACKER!”

Venipede and Rinko could not believe their eyes as this proved just enough to knock Garbodor unconscious, his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell backwards. Gallador stared at this in horror, anger taking over as he spat, “YOU ASSHOLES!”

He then charged at them with his arms folded, ready to unleash his father's infamous Psycho Cut. But just as he was about to do so, Jumpluff waved her arms around, small bits of cotton flying toward Gallador as she said, “Cotton Spore.”

Gallador's eyes widened as he felt his speed drop significantly. With that, Sunflora held out his arms as Jumpluff leap up onto them, narrowing her eyelids as she examined the incoming white boy.

“Now,” she said as Sunflora nodded, both exclaiming, “COTTON WEED CANNONBALL!”

With that, Jumpluff was launched forward as her forehead made contact with Gallador's. The white boy coughed up blood and fell hard on his back, his head tilted sideways and his arms spread out.

Venipede blinked as Rinko snapped, “Hey, come on! Surely, you can get up from that, right!?”

However, when Gallador could not even move, Jumpluff smirked and said, “I hate to break it to you, but your saviours just lost. I'll give them props for getting the upper hand against us, but that's about it. Guess you two will just have to settle for sitting there while we finish them off.”

“HOLD IT!” Venipede snapped as the plants turned to him, Rinko equally surprised as he narrowed his eyelids, grunting, “You're not even gonna try and fight us!? You two are goddamn cowards!”

“Wait, what!?” Sunflora retorted with irritation as the centipede added, “Think about it! If you manage to defeat us as well, you only end up looking more impressive, but because you'd rather resort to the cheap tactic of having us trapped therefor unable to fight you, you just come off as pathetic wimps who can't handle a real challenge. If you're so amazing, you should be able to win two fights in a row.”

Rinko had to admit, she was impressed. The once scared and wimpy Venipede was currently taunting the enemies into fighting him.

But most of all, it seemed to work as Sunflora blinked and uttered, “I have to admit, he actually has a point there. Imagine how proud Yveltal and Xerneas will be knowing we defeated and killed four heroes instead of just two.”

“Yeah,” Jumpluff replied with a big smile as she walked over to the vines binding the two heroes and stroked them softly. This caused them to vibrate before loosening their hold on Venipede and Rinko, allowing them to leap into the ring.

“As you can see, your friend went about saving you the wrong way,” Jumpluff explained, “All you have to do is show these plants love and affection and they'll stop being so aggressive.”

Venipede narrowed his eyelids and asked, “Why are you two on the side of evil again? You seem way too good for this sort of thing,” only for Sunflora to shrug and remark, “We just don't wanna be on Yveltal and Xerneas' bad side when they inevitably take over the world. We love each other too much. If we turned against them, they'd separate us.”

The plants then shared a hug as Rinko blinked and sighed, “Great, now I kinda feel bad about having to beat them up,” only for Venipede to pat her on the shoulder and reply, “Don't forget, unlike them, we won't resort to killing. We'll just knock them out and leave it at that.”

The brunette nodded as she said, “But first,” walking over to Gallador and lifting him up by the shoulders, dragging him toward the edge of the ring. Venipede nodded and did the same for Garbodor seeing as his physical strength was higher than Rinko's.

Once their unconscious comrades were out of harm's way, the two were ready as Sunflora and Jumpluff held up fighting stances, the cotton weed saying, “Don't think we're gonna be so easy just because we've taken in a bit of damage. As you've already seen, we are quite the force to be reckoned with.”

During this time, Dunsparce circled Meloetta with a smirk as she held up her arms defensively. While she had found a way around his spinning technique, she had no idea what else he could possibly use.

But before they could continue, she had to know one thing as she asked, “Hey, Dunsparce, time out,” making a T with her hands as the snake blinked and uttered, “Why the hell would I do that?”

“I'm curious about something,” the green-haired girl replied, “Why do you keep putting the word dentist in the names of your drill-based attacks?”

The snake blinked before remarking, “Are you kidding me!? Have you ever had a dentist try to drill your teeth!? My pearly whites may be fine now, but way back when, they were dirty as hell! I'm telling you, that shit's painful!”

He then clutched onto his cheeks and uttered, “In fact, one of my very first victims after I turned to the side of evil was my family's dentist. I'm not even kidding. I took a flight back to my hometown just so I could kill the woman who made me suffer for five years of my life!”

He remembered that time when he stepped into her office, pinned her to the table and planted his tail into her mouth, drilling open the back of her head like a killer in a horror movie. He let out maniacal laughter just thinking about it, Meloetta staring wide-eyed, feeling like she was going to vomit.

“As you can see, it is way too late for me to redeem myself, and I love it!” the snake exclaimed as he leapt toward the green-haired girl, latching his legs to her shoulders and leaning forward, grabbing hold of her wrists and forcing her arms back as her eyes widened.

He then started up his tail and said, “By the way, in case you're wondering, I actually based this particular manoeuvre off of how it felt sitting in that chair while that bitch used her drill on me! This is payback!” starting up his tail drill as Meloetta bit her lower lip, her entire body trembling.

“TAIL DENTISTRY!” the snake exclaimed, but just as he was about to finish Meloetta off for good, she exclaimed, “HYPER VOICE!” unleashing an enchanting but ultra-loud song from her mouth, big sound waves coming out.

Dunsparce's eyes actually widened for the first time in his life as he gritted his teeth, trying his hardest to hold on while cuts formed all over his body. However, he was ultimately too weak to hold on any longer as he let go, flying high into the air until his back made contact with the roof, putting a tiny crack in it.

And as he started to fall, Meloetta realized she could not allow someone so crazy to rise to his feet again. As such, she leapt high into the air with her arms up, catching him midway and shouting, “SWAN LEAP FINALE!”

She then tilted her body forward, aiming Dunsparce's face toward the floor as he soon made contact with it. His eyes closed up once more as Meloetta released her hold, allowing him to collapse and breathing heavily. But unlike before, she watched him closely to make sure he would not rise to his feet again. She could not risk dropping her guard, not for a second.

She tensed up when Dunsparce slowly pushed himself up, grunting, “You monster!” only to cough up blood and pass out, Meloetta breathed a sigh of relief. At the very least, he could no longer take any lives, but even so, she really hoped he would one day change his mind and try to return to the side of good. If anything, his former allies would be fortunate to have someone like him fight alongside them.

But while Delphox and Meloetta had defeated their opponents, would the others be so fortunate? After all, Jumpluff and Sunflora had already proven themselves far stronger than they looked while Volcanion had five more soldiers standing guard. Needless to say, this was far from over.

 

After seeing how easily Jumpluff and Sunflora defeated Gallador and Garbodor, Venipede was a tad nervous. But even so, he had mustered up the courage to challenge the plants and he was once again fighting alongside Rinko, only this time the conditions seemed more fair. After all, they were not high above a large body of water again.

However, it seemed that they might still need to be careful as Sunflora grinned and exclaimed, “Hey, Jumpluff, I just thought of the greatest idea ever!” the cotton weed squealing, “Oh, what did you have in mind!?”

“Well, you know those special seeds of yours?” the sunflower enquired as she nodded and said, “Well, naturally,” Rinko groaning, “Do I even wanna know what these do?”

“I was thinking maybe we could feed them to our lovely flowers,” Sunflora explained as Jumpluff seemed to love the idea, jumping up and down and clapping her hands with glee.

And sure enough, Rinko's fears were completely justified as the cotton weed leapt up and spun around while shooting seeds from her mouth into the flowers beside the ring. Seconds after they made contact, the heads of the flowers shifted into what one would expect to see on a Venus flytrap. Worst of all was that it looked as if they were trying to uproot themselves so they could run into the ring and feast upon Venipede and Rinko.

The only upside was that Garbodor and Gallador were resting on one of the two sides that the flower patches were not covering. As such, they were perfectly safe from being eaten for the time being.

“Well, this should make things a lot more interesting, wouldn't you agree?” Sunflora asked as Jumpluff nodded and replied, “Oh yes. I am so glad you came up with this.”

Venipede gulped as he uttered, “Okay, this is fine. We just have to stay in the ring at all times,” as Rinko sighed, “Don't worry. It's like the others always told you. You're more badass than you give yourself credit for. I know we can do this.”

The centipede took a deep breath and nodded before striking a fighting pose along with the brunette. And of course, Sunflora and Jumpluff were ready as well. While they had taken in damage from Gallador and Garbodor earlier, they still felt that they did not need any rest to prepare themselves for this match.

As such, Rinko and Venipede stood their ground as Sunflora leapt atop the tuft on Jumpluff's head. The cotton weed then proceeded to lean it back as the sunflower tilted his head sideways, spinning it as the two shouted, “SUNFLOWER FRISBEE!”

Sunflora was launched forward as Rinko and Venipede dodged to the side. However, it seemed this was exactly what the plants had hoped for as the Sunflower stopped spinning and released two rays of light from his mouth, once again growing his arms as he wrapped them around the heroes.

Both struggled to free themselves, but Sunflora's grip was surprisingly strong as he swung them around, sending Rinko flying into the turnbuckle. And before she could even respond, Venipede was flung into her as she grunted in pain, the centipede groaning, “Sorry.”

Things only got worse when Jumpluff raced toward him with her arms and head cotton stretched back. And once she was close enough, she sent all three cotton balls into Venipede's gut.

Just like when she punched Gallador, her cotton was shockingly strong. But Venipede refused to let this get to him as he noticed more punches coming his way, crossing four of his arms and blocking the incoming strikes. And while this still caused him pain, it was not as bad as he took full advantage of this, using his two free arms to take hold of Jumpluff's wrists.

Her eyes widened as she tried to pry her arms out, pulling Venipede forward as he said, “Now, Rinko,” the Brunette nodding with a smirk and leaping over his head. But just as it looked like she was about to plant a kick into the cotton weed's skull, Sunflora leapt at her with his head spinning and barked, “As if I'd let you do that! SUNFLOWER BUZZ SAW!”

Before Rinko could even retaliate, she took the sharpened petals to her feet. The souls of her shoes were ripped open while cuts formed on her flesh, the brunette crying out in pain as she fell on her back.

“Are you okay!?” Venipede spat only for Jumpluff to take full advantage of this, sending her top cotton ball downward and into his skull. His eyes started to spin as a result while the cotton weed took full advantage of his grip on her, leaping into the air and leaning backwards before planting his head into the canvas.

As if that was not enough, Sunflora proceeded to take hold of Rinko's ankles, lifting her up and swinging her around before flinging her into the turnbuckle with a giant swing. With that, the two plants skipped happily over to one-another and shared their equivalent of a high five, big smiles on their faces.

Rinko groaned and rubbed the back of her head, Venipede slowly recovering and uttering, “Are you okay?” the brunette nodding and replying, “Don't worry about me. I can tough this out. But goddamn, I can see why these two managed to defeat Gallador and Garbodor as easily as they did. They look so weak and yet they pack a serious punch.”

“Not to mention I think there's something else under those cotton balls of Jumpluff's,” Venipede uttered, “Seriously, when she hit me earlier, it was like being struck by cannonballs. I've faced tough opponents before, but never like this.”

“But still,” Rinko replied with a grin, “We can beat them, right? After all, we defeated Carnivine and Dusclops despite the odds constantly being stacked against us. Alone, we're already awesome, but together, we're a match made in heaven.”

Venipede nodded with an implied smile as Sunflora blinked and said, “Oh yeah, we haven't actually beaten them yet,” Jumpluff nodding and adding, “Well, we've already gotten a good start. Let's see how much more punishment they can take.”

Meanwhile, the others were close to the staircase that led to the third floor, Torchic taking a deep breath and stopping as she said, “You know what? I think it might be a good idea to take a break. Not for too long, but just enough so we won't be out of breath the next time a villain shows up.”

“Oh, praise the lord!” Jackalu exclaimed with a big smile, sitting down just like a normal dog would as Clawitzer rolled her eyes and sighed, “Still, Torchic's got a point. If we run non-stop, by the time we get to Xerneas and Yveltal, we won't have the strength to fight them.”

“Not me,” Fletchinder remarked with a smirk, “I'm too badass,” Vigoroth nodding and replying, “Well, I have much more energy than your typical sloth, but we can't risk having another one of us die.”

Eiko bit her lower lip, Isamu patting her on the shoulder and sighing. As much as the group would have rather not let Marshal's death lower their spirits, it was certainly hard to ignore. But deep down, they knew the sloth was right. If the heroes could not stand up to the rest of the villains, they would surely suffer the same fate.

However, their eyes widened when they heard what sounded like a large bell chiming. And when they looked up, it seemed that their suspicions were correct. Such an object was indeed hanging from the ceiling, but this was no ordinary bell.

This was made clear when it called out in a male voice, “Oh, I'm sorry! Did I startle you!? My word, I really need to brush up on my entrances!”

The group stared in stunned silence as the bell lifted up an arm, detaching himself from a hook that was attached to a chain. He then fell hard against the floor and grinned, saying, “A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Bronzong,” before bowing as best as he could.

Bronzong's body was greenish-blue and while he was a bell, he also resembled a totem pole. His body was as hollow as one would expect as he had two round, red eyes with greenish-blue pupils near the bottom of his body. His mouth was located between the eyes as opposed to below them and was shaped like a perfect rectangle with only one set of square teeth. His arms were attached to his ears and were also rectangular. And like any bell, his crown had a small hole in the middle of it, which he had used to hang himself high above the floor.

The group continued to stare until Sneasel uttered, “How did you get all the way up there?” as Bronzong chuckled and floated into the air, saying, “Oh, I have the ability to hover. Sorry, were you expecting a more complex answer?”

The heroes all looked at one-another as Eiko sighed, “Well, at least he seems more civil than the others,” Bronzong nodding and replying, “Why, thank you for noticing. As much as I like fighting alongside my allies, they can be pretty brash and vulgar. But even so, I do not wish to be a tool of Yveltal and Xerneas when they enslave humanity, so I grin and bare it all the same.”

Upon hearing that, the heroes all rose up their arms defensively only for Bronzong to sigh, “Oh, don't worry, I have no intention of fighting any of you yet. I could not help but overhear just how tired all of you were, so allow me to offer you some soothing tea.”

With that, he reached under the hole in his bottom and pulled out a bag that had been tied to his clapper. Inside was a small tea set with the liquid already having been made, Jackalu excited to try it while the other glares suspiciously at the bell.

“Oh, let me guess, those ruffians, Jumpluff and Sunflora offered you tea as well, didn't they?” Bronzong asked the heroes stared wide-eyed and nodded, the bell adding, “You were right to refuse that if you did. They have no respect for such a remarkable beverage. I mean, this is supposed to be the healthiest drink out there, and to do something as vulgar as poison it, it's simply too much to bear.”

As he poured each person a cup, the others surprised that he even had that many in the first place, he added, “In fact, this is part of the reason I rather enjoy living in Japan. They love tea just as much as my old cohorts in jolly old England.”

Eiko picked up her cup and sniffed it, saying, “It smells wonderful,” as Isamu did the same, nodding and saying, “Yeah. This is a nice change of pace.”

“It's a kind of a shame one of us is gonna have to fight you after this,” Sneasel said with a grin as Bronzong sighed, “Alas, that is true. I'd love to give up my allegiance to Yveltal and Xerneas and just let you all waltz off toward their quarters, but I cannot break my code.”

“Well, for now, we'll just enjoy this nice little break,” Torchic said with a grin as Fletchinder shrugged and uttered, “Well, as long as it's free.”

But as the group consumed their tea, their eyelids started to feel heavy as Jackalu yawned and uttered, “Well, I think I used more energy than expected. I think I'll take a little nap,” before toppling over onto his side and falling asleep, his foot twitching.

“Hey, we're just taking a little rest,” Clawitzer remarked before yawning, “Try to stay a-”

She then passed out as Torchic groaned, “I think I'll doze off for a bit too,” the others following suit. Bronzong grinned at the sight of this before noticing Gigalith still sitting there with a look of anger on his face, the bell blinking and uttering, “Um... why are you still awake?”

The golem pointed at his face as the bell nodded and said, “Oh, you don't have a mouth. I see,” Gigalith wasting no time rising to his feet and sending a hard punch into Bronzong, causing him to back up slightly.

He shook his head with a smirk on his face, saying, “Oh well. If that's truly the best you can do, then this hardly matters to me. Once I take you down, you'll all be easy pickings.”

With that, the bell proceeded to fly toward Gigalith only for the golem to fold his arms. But while he had managed to block the incoming strike, due to Bronzong's steel body, this still dealt quite a bit of pain to him. But even so, there was no way he would allow himself to lose. After all, doing so would result in the death of not only him but his allies.

While things had started off heavily against Rinko and Venipede, there was no way they would lose. As such, the two waited as Sunflora took hold of Jumpluff, launching her toward Rinko as both plants exclaimed, “COTTON WEED CANNONBALL!”

But just as Jumpluff was about to make contact, Rinko smirked and said, “Too easy,” before swinging her arm sideways and shouting, “ARM SCHWERT!”

She had timed this perfectly as the cotton weed took the blow to her gut, her eyes wide open as she fell on her back. Even Sunflora could not believe his eyes. It was not so much the fact that Rinko had successfully blocked the move, but that a human was able to deal this much damage with what appeared to be an ordinary karate chop.

Seeing the sunflower distracted gave Venipede the perfect opportunity as he rolled up into a ball and sped toward him, his shoulder blades forming as he exclaimed, “CENTIPEDE STEAMROLLER!”

Sunflora gasped and attempted to dodge only for Rinko to leap at him, moving slightly faster than her boyfriend and sending a hard kick into his skull. This distracted him just long enough for Venipede to put a big cut on each of his arms, a mixture of water and blood flying out as the centipede's body only added to the damage when it made contact with his gut.

And with both plants down, Rinko somersaulted over to Jumpluff and took hold of the cotton string atop her head, hurling her into the turnbuckle while Venipede flipped Sunflora onto his belly, shouting, “CENTIPEDE BACKBREAKER!” wrapping his arms and legs around him and bending his back.

He and Rinko grinned at one-another, glad to have finally gotten the upper hand. But just as the brunette was ready to deal more damage to Jumpluff, she was caught off guard when the cotton weed quickly recovered and turned toward her, shooting a seed into her chest.

“WORRY SEED!” she exclaimed as roots emerged from it, shifting over Rinko's shoulders and around her waist, planting themselves into her back as if she wearing a chest strap.

At that moment, she started to panic as Jumpluff smirked and asked, “Hey, Sunflora, do you need help?” the sunflower replying, “Oh, don't worry about me. I can easily get out of this.”

“Wait, what?” Venipede remarked as Sunflora spun his head, barking, “SUNFLOWER BUZZ SAW!” putting a cut in the centipede's chin.

In response, Venipede cried out in pain as he released his hold on the sunflower. Sunflora took full advantage of this as he spun around, smacking the centipede in the cheek before wrapping his arms around him. And with Venipede too distracted to retaliate, Sunflora lifted him up and leaned backward, planting the back of his neck into the canvas.

As if that was not bad enough, Rinko was too scared to help out while Jumpluff slowly advanced towards her. The brunette backed away slowly as the cotton weed beamed and said, “Boo.”

Rinko cried out in terror as she ran toward the ropes and climbed on top of them, Venipede's eyes widening as he spat, “RINKO, NO!” only for Sunflora to leap onto his back and pull on his chin, saying, “Let's see how you like it.”

And sure enough, once the brunette saw the various flytraps ready to feast upon her flesh, she took multiple breaths and was just about to leap off the ropes. However, it was too late as Jumpluff leapt toward her, ramming into her back thus forcing her to fall forward into the patch of land.

“NO!” Venipede cried out out, ignoring the pain being applied to his back as Rinko cried out in agonizing pain, the flytraps nipping away at her flesh, her clothes starting to tare. She had not lost any flesh yet, but if this kept up, that would likely happen. And to make matters worse, she could not bring herself to attempt an escape as Jumpluff was now standing atop the ropes, giving her a murderous look as if to imply that if the brunette returned, she would have to deal with worse.

Seeing this, Venipede fumed and spat, “ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT!” before focusing as hard as he could. And after a few second, he managed to force his back upward thus shoving Sunflora off of him. But just as it seemed like he would get a chance to save Rinko, Jumpluff wasted no time sending bits of cotton toward him, shouting, “COTTON SPORE!”

And sure enough, the centipede's speed was reduced greatly as he groaned, “No,” trying his hardest to race forward only for Sunflora to tilt his head sideways, spinning it while shouting, “SUNFLOWER BUZZ SAW!” sending it into Venipede's back and cutting it open.

He fell forward once again as Sunflora expanded his head, leaning it back and shouting, “SUNFLOWER FLYSWATTER!” allowing his body to fall forward as his head hit the back of Venipede's hard, causing him to cough up a bit of green blood.

As if that was not bad enough, Rinko continued to suffer as a small bit of her shoulder had been bitten off and swallowed by one of the flytraps. A bit had also been taken from her legs along with her arms. It also did not help that her sports outfit had been torn slightly as well.

Venipede could see this as he scowled and snapped, “RINKO, COME ON!” the brunette's eyes widening as he added, “I know you're being manipulated right now, but come on, even with that seed in you, I know you're better than this! You taught me to stand up for myself and overcome my fear of fighting! You shaped me into a hero! If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have been able to beat you in a fair fight! I refuse to believe someone like you would be scared, mind control or not!”

The brunette took a deep breath, suddenly able to ignore all the pain that had been dealt to her as she gritted her teeth and spat, “YOU'RE RIGHT!” propelling herself toward Jumpluff. The cotton weed's eyes widened as the brunette planted her feet hard into her face, causing her to fall on her back while breathing heavily.

Before Sunflora could respond, Rinko leapt toward him and sent a roundhouse into his neck, causing him to release his hold on Venipede and fall on his side. The centipede's eyes sparkled as the brunette gave him a sweet smile and held out her hand, saying, “Danke schoen.”

Venipede took hold of said part as she helped him up, Sunflora and Jumpluff rising to their feet with slight fear in their expressions. They could not believe what they were seeing. Rinko still had the roots digging into her flesh and yet despite that, she was fully focused on the match.

“Are you alright?” Venipede asked with a sigh of relief, “I thought for sure you were gonna die back there. Look at all that skin they took,” as Rinko snickered and replied, “It'll take a lot more than that to kill me. I may be a human, but I have the strength of one of you guys. Besides, these wounds only serve to make me look more badass, wouldn't you agree?”

The centipede nodded before uttering, “By the way, you might need a change of wardrobe. Your outfit's seen better days," Rinko looking down at her ripped clothes and laughing nervously.

But before she could think about this further, the villains' fear left them as Jumpluff growled, “I have no idea how in the hell you're able to resist the roots of my worry seed, but it hardly matters! Even if your courage has returned, you've taken in far too much damage!”

Sunflora nodded and said, “Come on, let's finish this, honey,” the cotton weed nodding with a grin, Rinko realizing she might have to hold off on covering herself up.

Jumpluff launched herself toward Venipede, Sunflora leaping toward Rinko. However, both heroes were prepared as Rinko rushed at the sunflower, wrapping her arms around him and leaping into the air. She then rested him atop her shoulder and leaned backwards, shouting, “FLYING HAMMER!” planting the back of his head into the canvas.

Strangely enough, after she did this, more roots emerged from the worry seed, wrapping themselves around her and planting themselves into her back. However, rather than upping their strength, all they really did was shift in front of her top, more roots forming from her hips and creating a speedo outside of her bottoms. It was as if the roots had chosen to become a new sports outfit for her. And while this hardly mattered during a fight with a villain, it was still refreshing to have some clothes that were not ripped, as unconventional as they were.

Venipede waited for Jumpluff to get close before leaping into the air and flipping vertically, ramming his tail into her shoulder. This distracted her long enough for him to wrap four of his arms around, leaping into the air and leaning backward, slamming her top cotton ball into the surface.

While this did not hurt the cotton weed as much as it should have, it caused the entire ball to collapse, revealing a hand with an iron gauntlet underneath. When Venipede released his hold on her and leapt away, he saw this as his eyes widened.

“No wonder your punches are so strong!” he spat, Jumpluff nodding with a smirk as she remarked, “That's right! You didn't think my hands were actually cotton balls, did you!? How would I be able to lift things if that was the case!?”

With that, the cotton weed proceeded to shake all of her cotton off, revealing her other hands. And just like the one on her head, she had an iron gauntlet for each one.

As if that was not enough, Sunflora had already recovered from Rinko's move as he smiled wickedly, saying, “You need to try better than that to defeat one of us,” the brunette frowning as she struck a fighting pose.

While she and Venipede had certainly turned things around, this fight was far from over. Not only that, but Gigalith had to deal with Bronzong. Could they possibly finish what they started or were they just delaying the inevitable?

 

While Rinko and Venipede's match had gone on, Gigalith and Bronzong were in the midst of their own fight. Their hands were currently locked as each was trying to overpower the other. Though currently, the bell seemed to be dominating as Gigalith's knees bent backwards, his body about to make contact with the floor.

“I have to say, for a golem, you're not all that impressive,” Bronzong said with a grin, “In fact, I'm actually quite underwhelmed.”

However, it seemed as if Gigalith had wanted him to do this as once his back made contact with the surface, he lifted up his feet and sent them into the area just above the bell's eyes. This sent him into the air as the golem propelled himself up, wrapping his legs around his crown and his arms around his midsection.

Bronzong's eyes widened, and if he knew how rare it was for the golem to use moves like this, he would have been even more shocked. Even so, there was little he could do as the two descended.

But just as they were about to make contact, his shock was replaced by smug confidence as he smirked and said, “I'll admit, I'm kind of impressed you managed to fight back, but it hardly matters. My crown is invincible, so this won't deal any pain to me whatsoever!”

He soon realized just how stupid it was to reveal this information as right before they made contact, Gigalith used all his might to flip him ninety degrees. As such, the bell's back hit the floor as opposed to his crown, a look of pain on his face.

It did not end there as Gigalith spread out his legs, mounting himself on top of Bronzong and sending a slew of punches into his forehead. However, the bell refused to let him continue as he sent his arms inward, clapping them against the next arm that came toward him.

Since Gigalith's arms and legs were so thin, this wound up dealing a lot more pain that it would have to any other part. As such, he hesitated just long enough for Bronzong to shift his arms backward, using them to propel his lower body up and fling the golem off of him, the back of his head hitting the floor.

Bronzong proceeded to right himself up with a smirk on his face as he said, “While I have to admit that was slightly impressive, you're still going to lose this match,” hovering over the golem whose body had just collapsed, “Why? Because stone is weaker than metal.”

With that, he proceeded to descend, shouting, “HEAVY SLAM!” and landing on top of the golem, causing him even more pain. And things only got worse when the bell rose up again, Gigalith trying his hardest to move out of the way. Unfortunately, he was feeling a tad too weak as he took another blow to his torso, his eyes widening.

But when Bronzong floated up to use his Heavy Slam a third time, Gigalith narrowed his eyelids as he refused to let himself take in more damage. Thus when he saw his opponent coming, he lifted up his arms and took hold of his bell lips. The golem then rose to his feet and sent his arms downward, slamming Bronzong's back into the floor.

He refused to allow the bell to rise again as he leapt into the air, spreading his legs out. Bronzong's eyes widened in panic as the golem landed on top of him. And despite his metal exterior, this caused him immense pain.

'I can't believe it!' the bell thought with his eyes wide with fear, 'Even with my superior strength, he's still managed to outdo me! I need some way to not only get the advantage back but keep it! But how can I-'

He then turned one eye over to one of Gigalith's unconscious friends, specifically Sneasel. While he did not know of their connection, gazing upon her still gave him an idea as a big grin formed on his face as if the pain was meaningless to him now.

First, the bell would need to get Gigalith off of him. As such, he reached under the hole in his bottom and used it to force his clapper to rock and forth. This caused a loud gong to emit from him, though this one was different from earlier as he exclaimed, “METAL SOUND!”

A light-grey beam shot from the hole and hit the wall. It then bounced off as Bronzong explained, “By the way, this attack only effects living beings.”

This was proven when the beam hit Gigalith hard in the back, the golem's eyes wide with shock. Thus he found himself flying forward as Bronzong righted himself up, reaching for his clapper again. This time, he pulled out a rope as Gigalith started to recover, rubbing his forehead and making a light groaning sound.

“By the way, while I may be a gentleman outside of combat, I am not afraid to resort to underhanded tactics,” Bronzong stated, “That includes sneaking weapons into a match.”

With that in mind, he wasted no time lifting up Sneasel. Gigalith's eyes widened with terror as he tucked her under his hole and up against his clapper. He then used the rope to expertly bind her up against it, his eyelids closed tight.

As it so happened, his eyes were wide enough to take up more than just the outside of his body. Thus when he rolled them back, he was able to see his insides and tie up Sneasel with ease.

Once he returned his eyes to their correct position, he had a big grin on his face as he said, “I wouldn't recommend hitting me, my rocky friend. You might just end up bringing harm to your ally,” Gigalith trembling in horror. Even before Bronzong explained this, he already knew this to be true.

Meanwhile, despite things finally having taken a turn for the better with Venipede and Rinko, it seemed Jumpluff and Sunflora still had plenty of fight in them. As if that was not enough, the source of the cotton weed's high physical strength had been exposed, only making her look more intimidating.

“I've gotta hand it to you,” Jumpluff stated with a smirk, “You've actually done a fairly good job staying alive. But admit it, if it hadn't been for your girlfriend, you would have lost too.”

“Well, this is a team match,” Venipede remarked as the cotton weed stared silently, uttering, “That's actually a good point.”

She then cleared her throat and stated, “Either way, a few lucky shots won't win you this match! Now that my metallic gloves have been revealed, I'm gonna use them to defeat you, granted my honey doesn't need my help.”

Sunflora gave her a sweet smile and replied, “Don't worry about me. This human may have caught me off guard, but there's no way in hell she'll get the better of me,” Rinko narrowing her eyelids and retorting, “Let's see you perform well against me now that Jumpluff's worry seed has no effect on me.”

“Oh, you haven't even seen all that I have to offer,” Sunflora retorted as he shot beams of light from his mouth, this time growing his legs. As such, he leapt into the air and tilted his head sideways, wrapping the very parts he had grown around each other to form what looked like a screw.

“SUNFLOWER SCREWDRIVER!” he exclaimed as he spun his head, this time releasing air from his mouth thus creating a small twister. This allowed his entire body to spin along with his head as he descended toward Rinko.

Due to the increased speed caused by the twister, Rinko had little time to dodge as she took his feet to her gut. Since he had not made his body completely pointy, this had not put a hole in her, but it still hurt as she coughed up blood and fell on her back, Sunflora continuing to scrape his feet against her flesh with a wicked smile on her face.

All the while, Jumpluff was sending a barrage of punches at Venipede with all three of her hands, shouting, “THREE-ARMED RAPID FIRE!” the centipede using all six of his arms to defend himself.

While blocking the incoming punches was easy enough for him, due to the fact that Jumpluff was wearing gauntlets, it still hurt him. After enough hits, his arms started to come open as small bits of blood squirted out. And soon enough, this caused him to drop his guard as the cotton weed used the hand atop her head to punch him in the face, resulting in him coughing up the substance.

Things only got worse when Jumpluff took hold of two of his arms and his face. She then leapt into the air and leaned backward, barking, “THREE-ARMED SUPLEX!” planting his skull hard into the canvas thus drawing more blood.

But just as it seemed like neither hero stood a chance anymore, Sunflora's eyes widened as even Rinko could not believe what happened. More roots sprouted from her, only these ones emerged from her belly button and bound themselves to the sunflower's legs. This stopped him from spinning as he started to panic.

“What the hell's going on!?” he spat as Jumpluff turned her attention away from Venipede, letting out a gasp of horror as she thought, 'How is this happening!? The whole point of the worry seed is to inconvenience the target, not benefit them! Why is it doing this!?'

Whatever the case, Rinko decided not to question this as she smirked, seeing an opportunity. Jumpluff refused to let her take advantage of this as she charged toward her with all three fists raised. However, the brunette saw this coming as she rose to her feet and turned around, Sunflora's panic rising as he spat, “WAIT, HONEY, STOP!”

But it was too late as the cotton weed sent her lower fists into his gut and her upper fist into his head. As such, Sunflora's face was now stuck with the same expression as the roots released their hold on him, Rinko resting him on her shoulder once more and flying back with him. She then leaned backwards and exclaimed, “FLYING HAMMER!” planting the back of his head into the canvas, this time knocking him out for good as he coughed up a mixture of water and blood.

Jumpluff's eyes and mouth widened with terror as she spat, “OH MY GOD, I AM SO SORRY, HONEY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!” before gritting her teeth at Rinko and growling, “You are going to pay for that, you stupid bitch!”

But just as she was ready to unleash another onslaught of punches, Venipede had used this time to recover. Thus he charged at her with his antennae glowing green and barked, “VENOSHOCK!” planting both parts into the cotton weed's shoulders.

She let out a loud cry of pain as his antennae had gone right through her flesh. He lifted her up and said, “Come on, Rinko, let's finish her off together,” the brunette nodding and replying, “You bet.”

With that, she leapt up toward Jumpluff and latched her legs around her midsection, forcing her back as she and Venipede exclaimed, “VENOSHOCK SUPLEX!” planting her back into the canvas as she coughed up blood, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.

All went silent as the heroes gazed down upon their opponents. However, after a while, it truly seemed like neither plant was going to move, thus their defeat was official. As such, the lovers breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief and took a seat.

“Well, that was probably our hardest battle yet, but we did it,” Venipede said with an implied smiled as Rinko nodded, looking down and saying, “Though I'm kinda surprised the roots are still here.”

“Well, don't forget,” the centipede replied, “Gallador needed Garbodor's gas to get rid of his. I don't think just defeating her will do the trick.”

The brunette shrugged and said, “Oh well. It hardly matters anyway. These roots actually saved my life. I don't know why they're working for me, but I actually have the powers of one of you guys now. That's awesome.”

Venipede added, “At the very least, they make for some decent clothing, right?” the brunette nodding before sighing, “But seriously, thanks for the pep talk. Lord knows what would have happened to me if I'd stayed in that patch of flytraps.”

She then scowled at the plants as they all whimpered in terror after seeing their 'mother' so badly beaten. Venipede implied a smile and patted her on the shoulder, saying, “Don't forget, we're in this together. I couldn't just sit back and allow you to let yourself die,” the two sharing a kiss.

“Still, I wish that fight hadn't taken so much out of me,” Rinko groaned, “I'd love to catch up with the others and help them out,” Venipede shrugging and replying, “Well, don't forget, we're not the only badasses in this group. I'm sure they can handle themselves.”

The brunette nodded and rested her head on the centipede's shoulder, both deciding to sit there for the time being. After all, the fight had been tough and they were exhausted.

Gigalith, however, did not have such good fortune as he had no choice but to stand still while Bronzong delivered a series of palm punches to his face. He had a big grin as he tauntingly exclaimed, “What's wrong, old bean!? Did you forget how to throw a punch!?”

The golem wanted so badly to fight back, but he could not run the risk of harming Sneasel. After all, the two had been best friends since long before they joined Tentacruel's posse. And after taking in the twentieth punch, the golem remembered their first meeting like it was yesterday.

Way back in Gigalith's hometown, Edmonton, he had always been a victim of bullying. While his build would have normally warded off people like this, the sad fact was that he was a pushover and everyone knew it.

One fine day, Sneasel had moved into town from Denmark and wound up in the same class as him in elementary school. Unlike the golem, however, she was tough and would use her claws to make sure no one ever messed with her.

After he first day, she was ready to head home when she noticed Gigalith being led somewhere with a beaver named Bidoof and the lynx, Luxio. As it so happened, these two were the biggest bullies in school, and while Sneasel did not know this, she was certainly suspicious.

She followed as quietly as she could before noticing them head all the way to the basketball court in the back. At that moment, Bidoof bit into Gigalith's arm while Luxio spun the star on the back of her tail like a shuriken, striking the golem repeatedly with it.

Before things could get worse, Sneasel sped into the scene and leapt toward the beaver, sending a flying kick into his face. Luxio was just about to respond only for the cat to deliver a hard punch to her forehead. And since her claws were sticking out when she did so, it dealt significantly more damage than a normal punch would have.

“Alright, what did my friend here do to piss you off so much!?” Sneasel snapped with a look of frustration, “Let me guess! He didn't do a thing and you just get some kind of satisfaction out of whaling on someone bigger than you who's too much of a wimp to fight back!”

Bidoof smirked and remarked, “What's it to you?” Luxio nodding and growling, “Stay out of our business, punk!”

Sneasel let out a sigh and turned to Gigalith, saying, “Today's the day you learn to stand up for yourself,” the golem blinking as she added, “There's not much time. I may be skilled, but not even I can stand up to two super beings at once by myself.”

Gigalith's eyes widened as Luxio leapt at Sneasel from behind with electricity coming from her fangs. Seeing this, he wasted no time reaching his arm around the cat thus taking the bite himself. And due to his strong forearms, this hardly dealt any pain to him as he lifted his arm up, sending it downward and slamming the lynx into the pavement.

Bidoof trembled and was about to flee for his life only for Sneasel to leap at him, wrapping her arms and legs around him. She then propelled herself high into the air before spinning around and shouting, “YARN BALL!” planting his skull into the cement.

This was just enough to knock them out cold, and since this had happened after school hours, neither got in trouble for it for the time being. Gigalith could not believe what he had just done, but Sneasel reassured him that this was the right thing to do. After all, Bidoof and Luxio had to be taught a lesson.

That was the moment where a big friendship blossomed between the two and it had lasted all these years. Gigalith would always do whatever Sneasel wanted as she had taught him to fight back whenever someone picked on him.

Unfortunately, because of this, the golem could not bring himself to harm the cat. Thus he saw little choice but to stand there and allow Bronzong to send more palm punches into him, though after a few seconds, he took a deep breath and said, “You know, this is rather underwhelming. I think I'll finish you off with something more advanced.”

With that, the bell latched onto the golem's shoulders and reeled himself backward. He then smirked and sent his lower body into Gigalith's knees, causing him even more pain.

Things only got worse when Bronzong lifted Gigalith high above his head, placing his back against his crown. He also wrapped one arm around one of the golem's legs and the other around his neck, pulling tightly and shouting, “BELL TOWER CLUTCH!”

Gigalith's eyes were wide as he let down light tears. Right now, he felt like he had let everyone down. He was the only one who could fight Bronzong and yet here he was on the receiving end of a submission hold.

Seeing the tears falling before him, Bronzong let out a sigh and said, “Don't feel too bad, good sir. You have a good reason not to fight back. I'm sure if I had played fair, you would have bested me by now.”

But just as all seemed lost, Sneasel let out a yawn as her eyes opened. However, they quickly widened as she found herself tied up in a dark space, uttering, “What the hell?”

Upon hearing this, Bronzong and Gigalith's eyes widened as the bell tried rocking back and forth in a vein attempt to tire her out. However, all this did was make her more alert as she spat, “HEY, CAN ANYONE HEAR ME!? WHERE AM I!?”

Bronzong's body vibrated thus causing him to loosen his hold on Gigalith. And after dropping the golem, he held onto his sides and uttered, “Can you please keep it down, madam?”

“Bronzong?” Sneasel uttered, “Where are you?” before noticing red spheres that resembled his eyes. She also turned her head just enough to see that she was tied to his clapper as she spat, “WHAT THE HELL!? AM I INSIDE OF YOU!?”

This caused the bell to shake all over as he took a deep breath, sighing, “Yes, okay, you are, indeed, tucked inside of my hollow self, okay? Technically, you're not in my bloodstream or belly if you will, but yes, in a matter of speaking, you're inside of me.”

Gigalith tensed up as Sneasel groaned, “Oh, that's right. We all felt extremely tired after taking a sip of your tea,” before hissing, “So help me god! Once I free myself, you're gonna pay!”

Bronzong tried his best not to let her yelling get to him a third time as he smirked, saying, “Don't bother. That rope is tougher than you think, and unless you can move those claws of yours, you won't free yourself. But don't take it too personally. I just needed you as a bartering chip to lower that rocky guy's guard.”

“Wait, rocky guy?” Sneasel remarked, “You mean Gigalith,” the golem stomping his foot a few times against the floor to show that he was, indeed, conscious right now, the cat gasping, “Of course! You can't eat or drink anything! That means you've been fighting Bronzong this whole time, haven't you?”

“Indeed, he has,” the bell replied, “But now that you've been tied up, he can't bring harm to me without bringing harm to you. That's what I meant when I said I needed you as a bartering chip, you see.”

“You asshole!” Sneasel growled as Bronzong sighed, “Such fowl language,” only for Sneasel to bark, “Hey, Gigalith, you can still hear me, right!?”

The golem nodded and tapped his foot against the floor to let her know he could hear. As such, the cat let out a deep breath and said, “Look, man, you've known me long enough. You know that I can handle pain. If you let this oversized tower ornament win, he'll most likely kill everyone else in their sleep. Right now, I think the lives of our friends and the fate of the world itself are much more important than my health, don't you?”

Gigalith's eyes widened as Bronzong sighed, “Did you really have to compare me to an ornament?” the cat adding, “If anything, I would be more insulted if you held back than if you went all-out! I can take the heat! So for the love of god, don't allow this guy to win! Got it!?”

It took a few seconds for Sneasel's words to sink in, but ultimately, Gigalith realized she was right. As such, he put on a more serious look and raced toward Bronzong, striking his forehead with a clothesline. This caused the bell to fall on his back as the golem leapt into the air and sent his leg hard into his midsection.

Sneasel took in some slight pain from this as the bell's clapper swung around thus sending her belly into his body. But even so, she refused to let her friend know how much this hurt and thus she toughed it out, saying, “That's right. Keep it up.”

With that, the golem lifted up Bronzong as the bell gasped, “Hold it, old bean! Think about what you're doing, how much this will hurt your friend!”

“Finish him!” Sneasel exclaimed as the golem nodded and fell backwards, planting Bronzong's back into the canvas. This seemed to be just enough as he closed his eyes, his movement coming to a halt.

With all said and done, Gigalith rose to his feet and wasted no time reaching under the bell, untying Sneasel. The cat smirked as she had a couple of light bruises on her, but nothing too serious. As such, she slugged the golem on the arm and said, “Good job, big guy.”

All that remained was to wake up the others, and Gigalith did so by lifting up the unconscious Bronzong and rocking him back and forth. This caused him to ring loud enough to wake the others, though it took half-a-minute for it to work entirely.

“I'm up!” Vigoroth exclaimed as Eiko rubbed her eyes, yawning and groaning, “Why did we fall asleep?”

However, all became clear when they saw Bronzong not moving and being handled by Gigalith, Fletchinder sighing, “I can't believe I fell for that,” Clawitzer groaning, “You're not alone.”

During this time, Zygarde was fast asleep on a bed as Yveltal rubbed her claws lightly against his skin. This caused him to light up as Xerneas asked, “So, how long is this supposed to take again?”

“We'll need at least a few more hours,” the bird replied with a sigh, “I really hope Volcanion's soldiers have at least managed to keep the other heroes at bay. I wish we had windows. At least then we could see what's going on outside.”

Either way, with Zygarde coming close to adulthood, the heroes would have to hurry. After all, time was ticking and there were still five more villains to get through before they could even hope to face Yveltal and Xerneas.