Earth's Protectors

With the final match finally over with, Lucario and Clauncher were loaded up onto stretchers as Machoke still could not believe what he had seen. Sure, Lucario had lost to Missingno in the Reverse World, but he had also managed to defeat his partner, Absol, beforehand. Even when Talonflame was knocked out, he kept going, and yet not even he had been able to get up from the Demonic Angels' devastating finisher.

As the two were carried out of the area, Machoke trembled and uttered, "Oh god, those two are scary," Aipom nodding and saying, "Yeah, that Hoopa is especially unpredictable. You may have to pay close attention to him."

"I wouldn't worry if I were you," Talonflame remarked with his teeth gritted, "I'm gonna make sure that punk pays for what he did to my buddy," planting his fist against his palm as Scyther nodded and replied, "Ja, we promise to win this one."

And once the Demonic Angels exited the ring, Nori stated, "Well, that concludes round one of the Ultimate World Team Tournament, folks. As such, the heroes will have two days to prepare themselves for round two. I'm sure many of you don't wanna be late as the chairman will face off against the former champion's son in the first round, so be sure to show up at ten in the morning."

Hawlucha approached Machoke and grinned, saying, "Hey, we need to prepare for our next match, si?" Machoke nodding and replying, "Oh yeah. Beedrill's probably gonna try his best to get back at me for beating him on Hero Planet."

But of course, no one knew the truth as those posing as Beedrill and Butterfree flew out of their seats, nodding at one-another. They had a plan to make sure Machoke would lose his match against them for sure, but just what was it?

And of course, there were also two matters Masquerain planned to solve, the issue with Smeargle and exposing Hoopa and Diancie for the cheaters they were. She would need solid proof, but she fully intended to let the staff know what was going on.

With that in mind, the butterfly rose from her seat and exited the area, Hoopa glancing over at her and nudging Diancie's side. The sylph turned to him as he pointed at Masquerain. He could just tell what she was up to as Diancie nodded, the two following her but also keeping their distance so she would not notice.

All the while, Hawlucha and Machoke were headed down the hall as the two grinned at one-another, the two raising their hands and clasping them together, Hawlucha asking, "So, first thing in the morning?" Machoke nodding and replying, "You got it, partner."

Aipom gave the two a light smile, really happy to see Machoke taking this as seriously as he was. And with that, the duo went their separate ways, Machoke exiting the stadium with Aipom while Hawlucha headed off to rejoin his family. After all, both needed to rest up before they could start training again.

However, with the first round out of the way, Gallade and Hitmonchan wasted no time heading to the hospital to check up on Gardevoir. After all, they were no longer competing and as such, they felt like they may as well use this chance the best they could. And of course, Scyther and her friends headed off to ready themselves as well. All four were to compete in the next round and this was certainly exciting for them.

Luckily, Hawlucha knew where to go to find his family as they had told him where to meet up with them. But just as he was about to do so, a familiar wasp approached him from behind and tapped him on the shoulder.

The parrot turned and said, "Hola, Senior Beedrill," the wasp nodding and replying, "Yeah, hola yourself. I have something I'd like you to help me find. I figure just 'cause we're competing in the next round doesn't mean we can't help each-other out, right?"

"Si, I agree," Hawlucha replied with a grin before asking, "Do you think it would take a long time?"

"Maybe," 'Beedrill' replied, "It's pretty small, so it will be hard to find," the parrot nodding and pulling out his cellphone, saying, "Gracias. That's all I need to know," sending Isabel a text to let her know that he would be held up and the family could leave the stadium without him if they wanted to.

With all said and done, the wasp led him to an area where only 'Butterfree' was. And once there, Hawlucha smiled and said, "Bien, you got your partner to help us out."

"Yeah, she's gonna help, alright," 'Beedrill' said as he wrapped his arms around the parrot's neck, "Help me give you a considerable beating."

"Que?" the parrot uttered, his eyes wide with shock as 'Butterfree' smirked and said, "By the way, Hawlucha, we're not really Beedrill and Butterfree."

Hawlucha could not believe what he had just heard as the wasp holding him implied a smirk and said, "That's right. We believe that you and Machoke work a little too well together. But here's the thing. We would absolutely love to wipe the floor with that kid and possibly even win this tournament."

"We simply can't have you get in the way of that, now, can we?" 'Butterfree' added, "Luckily for him, fighters are allowed to fight by themselves if they and their teammate made it through the first round, but not even he could possibly stand up to the two of us."

However, all this did was anger Hawlucha as he gritted his teeth, placing a firm grip against the 'Beedrill's' arms, exclaiming, "NO!" before overpowering the wasp and hurling him into his ally. Then before the two could recover, he leapt at them with his arms spread out, shouting, "FLYING PRESS!" his body slammed hard into them.

Both opponents' eyes widened as they seemed to pass out, Hawlucha dusting off his hands and saying, "You two may have gotten the drop on me, but you are nowhere near as tough as the real Beedrill and Butterfree, I can tell you that much."

But just as he was about to head off and find out where the real chairman and his partner had gone, 'Beedrill' slowly rose to his feet and whispered, "Now," 'Butterfree' nodding as the wasp flew toward Hawlucha's back.

'Butterfree' proceeded to plant her legs up against his as 'Beedrill' held his stingers out, the two spinning like a drill and shouting, "TWIN NEEDLE SCREWDRIVER!" the stingers flying hard into the parrot's back as he cried out in pain, blood flying from that very spot.

"I'm surprised the actual fighters couldn't come up with this themselves," 'Beedrill' said with an implied grin as 'Butterfree' nodded and replied, "Yeah, this is awesome."

Soon enough, this shockingly proved too much to bare as soon enough, a big hole was put in Hawlucha's midsection, though much like when Diancie and Hoopa did the same thing to Lucario, they made the hole just small enough so Hawlucha would remain alive. After all, if the parrot died, Machoke and his friends could very well give up on the tournament to hold a funeral for him.

As much as these two imposters wanted to win, they did not wish to win by default. Though whether or not Machoke would have the courage to face them alone was a whole other deal that the two seemed to overlook.

Suddenly, a voice entered the area, exclaiming, "Is someone there!?" the two winking at one-another as 'Beedrill' knelt down to Hawlucha with a look of concern on his face, 'Butterfree' clearing her throat before asking, "Is he going to be okay?" a staff member entering the area and gasping.

He then ran over and asked, "Mister Chairman, what's going on here?" 'Beedrill' replying, "We found this boy unconscious. It looks like he might have been attacked."

"Right, I'll call for an ambulance right away," the staff member replied with a nod before pulling out his cellphone and doing just that.

This could not have been more perfect. 'Beedrill' and 'Butterfree' had applied more than enough force to guarantee Hawlucha would be stuck in the hospital until at least the start of round two and they were almost certain Machoke would want to at least honour him by fighting them, even if he had no choice but to do it alone.

And soon enough, Hawlucha was carried out on a stretcher, still out like a light. As it just so happened, his family had decided to stay and wait for him to exit the stadium, so they were right by the entrance to see this very sight and needless to say, all three humans panicked upon seeing this.

"Hermano!" Isabel cried as she ran over, Lea following suit and asking, "What happened? Is he okay?"

Hawlucha's mother stared wide-eyed at this, one of the men taking him to the ambulance, sighing, "We believe he was attacked by someone. No one knows who it was, but whatever they did, they certainly pulled a number on him."

Isabel nodded and said nothing else, a look of both fury and sadness on her face as the mother sighed, "At least he's still alive. That's the important thing."

During this time, Masquerain was headed to the hotel she and Florges were staying at. She had everything planned out for the next two days. Not only would she find evidence proving that Hoopa and Diancie were cheaters but come round two, she would confront Smeargle and give him a piece of her mind.

But just as she got close to the building, she noticed a familiar hand appear right in front of her face, her eyes widening as it balled up into a fist, striking her hard and knocking her on her back. And sure enough, it returned to its owner, namely Hoopa, who smirked and tauntingly asked, "Oh, sorry, did my hand run into you? It does that sometimes."

Diancie stood by his side as Masquerain quickly leapt back up to her feet, scowling and grunting, "What are you two doing here!?" Diancie sighing, "Look, I don't wanna have to resort to this, but you're clearly a threat to our plans."

"Exactly," Hoopa replied with a smirk, "So we're gonna shut you up for good."

"And how do you intend to do that!?" the butterfly retorted as Diancie sighed, "Forgive us for this, but it's for the best that we silence you forever."

With that in mind, the diamond on the sylph's necklace glowed as Masquerain flew toward the two with her arms ready for a double hook. However, just as she was about to strike, gems shot out of the necklace at a rapid pace, moving in and out of the diamond like fists flying as Diancie shouted, "DIAMOND STORM!"

Masquerain's attack was halted as she took in multiple blows all over, her face already bleeding. And just as it looked like that was it, Hoopa folded his hands and said, "Now, Diancie," the sylph's onslaught coming to an end as she exclaimed, "DIAMOND HORN!" the gem on her forehead stretching out and becoming thinner until it resembled a big spike, the sylph headed toward Masquerain.

The butterfly instinctively turned her head to the side and held her hands up defensively only for the gem to pierce both hands, jabbing the side of her head as a hole formed. As if that was not bad enough, the material had actually cracked open a part of her skull and stabbed her brain. Luckily, it was not enough to kill her, but it still seemed to have an effect as her eyes shot wide open, stuck in the same position as she fell on her side.

"Wow, that turned out better than expected," Hoopa uttered as Diancie nodded and said, "I got the idea from some old footage I saw as a kid. It was the moment that almost caused Greninja to retire."

She remembered exactly what she saw on TV that day when she was ten. In the footage, the blue frog ninja was up against a dark-blue woman named Cloyster. She had a pearl-shaped head, a horn like that of a unicorn on her forehead, a slender build that made it look like she was wearing spandex and a spiked oyster shell with each half used as a shield and blunt weapon in each hand.

Greninja had a bit of trouble during this match, but eventually found a way around her iron-clad defence, delivering multiple hits to her head. However, just as it seemed like she would win, Cloyster managed to once again overpower her, ultimately ending the match by planting her horn into the ninja's skull. As a result, Greninja suffered extreme brain damage and spent a good number of months in a vegetative state. Had she not been a hero, it would not have been nearly as easy for her to recover from that, and yet even by those standards, the fact that she had recovered at all was seen as a true miracle.

Diancie chose to use less force and thus it was more likely that Masquerain could recover from this, but one thing was for certain. She would, at the very least, be out of commission for the rest of the tournament and thus Hoopa and Diancie both nodded and headed off, but not before the sylph pulled out a cellphone to report the unconscious body. She simply could not bring herself to leave a brain-dead person in the middle of the sidewalk, enemy or not.

As it just so happened, Florges was on her way back to the hotel right now. She had spent a great deal of time by Gardevoir's side until the girl's parents ultimately convinced her that she needed to enjoy herself more. After all, when would she have a reason to come to Tokyo again? Not to mention Gardevoir would not have wanted her to spend the whole time in a hospital anyway.

But when she arrived, she gasped at the sight of her friend passed out with a dopey expression on her face and a hole in the side of her head. As such, she ran over to her just as an ambulance had arrived, two people coming out as one of them asked, "Is this the patient?"

Florges breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Merci beaucoup. I don't know who called you, but it's great that you're here."

It was normal for lots of heroes to wind up in the hospital during a tournament, but this was getting ridiculous. Masquerain had not even made it to the tournament and yet she still wound up hospitalized. It was at this moment that Florges could no longer deny it. Her friend was right all along. Someone had sabotaged them, and the flower girl had no doubt in her mind that whoever had done that was also responsible for Masquerain's condition.

With that, she watched her friend as she was loaded up into the vehicle, thinking, 'I won't stand around any longer, Masquerain. If I had taken action and joined you, this never would have happened. I'll make sure that whoever did this is caught and booted out of the tournament and I'll even have a talk with Smeargle. Oui, I'll do everything you set out to do.'

Machoke, meanwhile, was still resting up as Aipom was in the middle of preparing dinner, smiling and saying, "I have to say, Machoke, you chose yourself a really good ally. You two were incredible today," Machoke nodding and saying, "Yeah. Hawlucha's awesome."

However, it was at this moment his cellphone started to ring. The boy picked it up and noticed the call was from Hawlucha's phone, a grin forming as he immediately answered, asking, "Hey, Hawlucha, what's up?"

He was shocked to hear not Hawlucha's voice but rather Isabel's, the girl saying, "Apenado, Senior Machoke. See, Hawlucha has your number, so I'm using his cell to call you right now."

The boy blinked before nodding and replying, "Okay, that's cool. So, what do you wanna talk about?" as Isabel sighed, "Well, I have some bad news."

She mentioned how Hawlucha was attacked and suffered heavy damage to his midsection, Machoke's eyes wide with terror. And his expression only got worse as Isabel went into further detail, talking about how her brother's condition was so bad that he would be comatose for at least a week, or at least that was what the doctors figured.

"Are you sure about that!?" Machoke retorted as Aipom stared at him, asking, "What is it?" the boy holding up a finger as tears welled up in Isabel's eyes, anger in her expression as she said, "Apenado, Machoke. I really thought you two could make it through the tournament, but Hawlucha has no choice but to drop out now. I'm gonna go look for whoever did this to him."

"You really shouldn't do that," Machoke uttered, "What if the culprit's someone like us?" the girl retorting, "Don't worry, I'm not going to fight the one who did this, but I want to at least be able to identify the culprit so I can get help from a hero," the boy breathing a sigh of relief. At least the girl was thinking logically.

The two talked for a bit more, Isabel adding that she would be certain to attend his match even if she did not find the culprit before then. After all, she knew Hawlucha would want her and the rest of the family to be there to support him.

The two said a quick goodbye as Machoke hung up, sighing as Aipom tapped his shoulder with her tail hand, asking, "Something wrong?" the boy shrugging and replying, "Nothing to really concern yourself with," as he got up and added, "I think I'm gonna go check up on Gardevoir in the hospital."

"Oh, okay," Aipom replied with a light smile, "But remember, come tomorrow, you and Hawlucha will undergo considerable training."

"Yeah, that's right," Machoke uttered with a nervous laugh before exiting the house, a look of sheer terror on his face as he thought, 'Oh my god, what am I gonna do!? I can't fight two opponents at once!'

But even so, he did at least intend on going to the hospital, not just to check up on Gardevoir but also Hawlucha. He just could not believe it. Not only was the attack itself sudden, but to think someone was powerful enough to deal that much damage to Hawlucha. Whoever did this had to have been insanely powerful.

But as the boy walked, he heard a familiar Irish voice saying, "Hey, Machoke. I was hoping I'd run into you at some point today."

The boy turned as sure enough, there stood Golduck waving at him while still wearing her custom-made T-shirt with Machoke's face and the words 'Machoke Rocks' written under it. Seeing this, the boy smiled lightly and walked over to her, asking, "Hey, Golduck. Just looking around the neighbourhood?"

"Yeah, pretty much," the duck replied, "Seeing as I'm not in the tournament, there's not much else to do during downtime. I'd hang out with Abomasnow right now, but he said he needed to head home right away. Apparently, there's a family emergency."

"So even if you had made it to the tournament, you'd be minus a partner," Machoke uttered as the duck sighed, "Yeah, and to be honest, I'm actually kind of surprised he even agreed to join me."

The boy looked confused as Golduck continued, "See, we're childhood friends, but, well, he's never been the most social. I'm one of the few who can tolerate him as he's often too busy to spend time with friends. Becoming a hero has allowed him to at least bond with his ally all the way in Alaska, but when it comes to his old friends, he can barely make time."

"So this is common," Machoke replied as Golduck nodded, a smile forming as she stated, "Well, at least I can still watch you kick ass in the next round, eh?"

Machoke chuckled lightly. It was so hard to believe that Golduck had a grudge against him before he defeated her in the Olympics. Now she was his biggest fan.

However, his chuckle turned to a low sigh as he groaned, "Well, you might not see a lot of ass-kicking from me. I'm gonna be fighting alone," Golduck's eyes wide open as the boy continued, "See, Hawlucha was attacked and apparently, he'll be unable to fight for a whole week."

Much like when Hawlucha had mentioned needing a partner, Golduck immediately saw an opportunity as she took hold of Machoke's hands, looking deep into his eyes and saying, "I'll do it."

"Wait, what?" Machoke remarked, staring at her with confusion as she grinned and squealed, "I'll be your partner! It's perfectly legal! If one hero's partner in a Team Tournament is unable to fight, he or she can pick another hero to take the injured hero's place!"

The boy stared in stunned silence, surprised that he had not come to this realization. A big grin then formed on his face as he shook the duck's hands, exclaiming, "I'm sure we'll make a great team!"

And that was that. Golduck and Machoke would fight together in round two. Needless to say, neither could have been more grateful as not only did Machoke have someone to help him throughout the rest of the tournament but Golduck had a chance to compete in the event as well.

But of course, before the day was done, Machoke still had to go to the hospital, Golduck agreeing to join him. After all, if they were to be allies, the duck would need to take interest in what was going on in his personal life. Machoke assured her he was okay if she would have rather done her own thing, but she insisted.

And soon enough, the two arrived and headed to where Gardevoir and Blaziken were still out cold. As it just so happened, Gardevoir's family had left just a little while ago, knowing that the girl would not want them to spend the whole time worrying about her.

As Machoke stood by Gardevoir's bed, he had a serious look in his eyes as he said, "If I end up facing Smeargle in the third round, I'll do my best to knock some sense into him. I promise you that," the boy leaning down and kissing her forehead, Golduck smiling and resting a hand on his shoulder.

And unlike when he promised to avenge Scyther's loss to Ninetales in the Olympics, he was fully confident that he could do this. Sure, he may not have been the most mature of all heroes, but Machoke had gotten over a lot of his old fears in the past, and that included facing tough opponents. After all, he had almost died when he fought Giratina over a year ago, and right now, facing Smeargle in his current state seemed like nothing in comparison to facing the old dragon.

 

For the next two days, all of the teams were busy getting ready for the second round of the tournament. All the while, Florges was in search of the ones who had put Masquerain out of commission, fully intent on bringing them to justice. After all, with the condition they had put the butterfly in, there was a chance she would never be able to fight evil again.

During this time, only Aipom knew of Machoke's new partnership with Golduck. The two actually wanted this to be a surprise to everyone else, though it was not so much Machoke's idea but rather Golduck's. She figured it would make for a grand spectacle.

Of course, this also meant Machoke would need a new team name. After all, 'Flying Muscles' would not go well with Golduck and her lack of wings. As for what they came up with in the end, that was soon to be revealed.

The time seemed to fly by as the next round came, the Tokyo Dome once again full. Reika and her friends had come early to get front-row seats along with the others. Gallade and Hitmonchan had also arrived to support Machoke and Hawlucha, Aipom keeping her promise not to reveal his new teammate.

But of course, before the first match could begin, Florges was wandering the halls in search of Smeargle and Vespiquen. After all, she knew they would have to be here today. She may not have found out who had given Masquerain brain damage but she was certain she could at least do this much by the end of the day.

And after quite a bit of searching, she noticed the beagle with his bee companion, the two headed toward the arena. And just as the flower girl thought, Smeargle still had his three tails.

It seemed things might be a little easier for her as Vespiquen said, "Wait here, Smeargle. I need to use the lady's room," the beagle nodding and replying, "Oui. I shall wait for you, Mademoiselle."

Seeing a kind smile on his face did give Florges a bit of hope. Perhaps he had not lost his kind nature after all and his behaviour during the match with the Fiery Beauties was a one-time thing.

With that in mind, she smiled lightly and approached him, saying, "Bonjour, Monsieur Smeargle," the beagle turning with a smile of his own and saying, "Bonjour to you two," the two hugging and kissing each-other on the cheek.

This helped Florges feel even more at ease as she said, "I hope you do a good job in today's match. You really surprised moi yesterday," the beagle nodding as he grinned, replying, "Oui, I never knew I could be so powerful!"

"About that," Florges uttered, biting her lower lip, "I am actually quite glad that you've discovered this new power. I always told you that you had what it took deep within, and it's tres bien that I was right, but don't you think you might have been a little too hard on Gardevoir? She's your best friend, non?"

Smeargle blinked and uttered, "Quoi?" the flower girl sighing, "Look, she's still in the hospital right now and hasn't woken up yet. You really pulled a number on her."

The beagle shockingly did not look fazed by this, but why? Surely the fact that his best friend had been that badly injured, and by him no less, would have had some kind of effect on him.

And yet despite that, he looked unfazed as he folded his arms, replying, "Well, that's what she gets for underestimating moi," Florges staring in absolute shock.

And her fears would only heighten as the green aura that had formed during the match appeared. As if that was not enough, the beagle had a look of frustration on his face.

"I understand," Florges sighed, "I told her not to go easy on you, so I wish she hadn't done that either, but even so, she was just trying to help you perform better to boost your confidence. Surely you realize that."

"Oui, I know exactly what she was doing," Smeargle retorted, "And that's what pisses moi off so much! She felt that the only way I could do a bien job was if she went light on moi! As if that's not enough, you're taking her side!"

"Quoi!?" Florges retorted as the beagle grunted, "Can't you be happy pour moi!? Can't you be glad that I've finally discovered my true potential!? In fact, you've all been against moi, haven't you!?"

"I don't think you realize what you're-" Florges uttered only for the beagle to grit his teeth, growling, "You, Gardevoir, even our human friends at home, you never believed in moi! In fact, I'm willing to bet the only reason you stood back and let moi lose every fight was just so you could learn how my opponents fought, not because you honestly believed I could beat them!"

"But I asked you to be my teammate!" Florges retorted with a look of annoyance on her face, "Why would I turn to you if I didn't have confidence in you!"

"I don't know," Smeargle remarked, "Perhaps because I'd make a good living shield for you? I mean, the top of my head kind of looks like a shield, don't you think?"

"You are so immature right now!" the flower girl snapped as the beagle folded his arms and smirked, remarking, "You're just jealous because right now, I'm a better fighter than you could ever hope to be."

Florges' eyes and mouth were wide open as Vespiquen returned, both she and Smeargle headed toward the arena. In truth, she had actually finished her business in the bathroom in time to witness his breakdown, and needless to say, seeing him turn against the very being she believed would prevent him from reaching his true state made her beyond pleased. She had truly picked herself a winner.

And sure enough, everyone was ready for the first match to begin, and this was certainly a highly-anticipated one. After all, the hero who had saved the world from Giratina and Hero Planet's chairman would be going at it.

And with that, Nori took a seat and exclaimed, "Welcome, everyone, to the second round of the Ultimate World Team Tournament! We've had an exciting first round, but I can bet this one will be ever better!" the crowd cheering wildly.

Aipom bit her lower lip, Keiko asking, "Something wrong?" the monkey shaking her head and replying, "No, I'm just worried Machoke might do something stupid again."

"You need to stop overreacting to his entrances," Keiko stated, "If anything, they give him a boost in confidence. Heck, Machamp wasn't that much different back in the day."

The monkey tapped her chin with her tail hand and nodded, saying, "You know, you actually have a point there. Besides, I guess it is better to see him put effort into an entrance than freak out over how strong his opponent is."

With that, Nori was ready now as she pointed at the Western entrance, exclaiming, "In the red corner, these two have dominated the combination of Serperior and Arbok and are sure to continue to amaze us today!" Isabel hearing this from the crowd while thinking, 'She talks as if Hawlucha is still there with Machoke, but that can't be right.'

"Both these heroes possess incredible strength and spirit!" Nori continued, "All of you, give a warm welcome to-" her eyes widening as she looked at the sheet of paper before her, uttering, "The Aquatic Muscles?"

Everyone was rather confused as they noticed Machoke headed toward the ring by himself, everyone staring in confusion as Nori blinked and said, "Oh, right, I completely forgot, but almost immediately after the first round ended, Hawlucha was attacked and suffered extreme injuries! He must still be in the hospital recovering!"

Aipom blinked and thought, 'Wait, where's Golduck?' the rest of the crowd in panic. Sure, it was commendable that Machoke would be willing to face two opponents at once, but at the same time, not even he would be able to handle that, right? But of course, the audience did not know the truth.

"Wait, what!?" Gallade spat, "Why didn't he tell anyone!? I would have gladly volunteered!" Hitmonchan nodding and adding, "I'm sure you would have kicked ass too!"

"Oh my!" Octillery gasped from the crowd, "If I wasn't still in the tournament, I would have taken that nice parrot's place," Kecleon sighing, "This is just depressing."

Hoopa looked beyond peeved as he spat, "WHO DID IT!? WHO WAS THE ONE WHO BEAT UP HAWLUCHA!? I'LL KILL HIM!" Diancie patting him on the shoulder as even those around him stared with confusion. After all, only Diancie knew just how much the genie wanted to fight Machoke.

He then glared at Vespiquen who shrugged, making it very clear that she had nothing to do with this. Sure, she may not have known as well as Diancie how much Hoopa wanted Machoke to advance to the finals, but she did have a feeling that might be the case.

Talonflame was the only one who did not seem worried as he smirked and said, "Come on, guys, have a little faith. I'm sure Machoke can handle these two. He beat me, right?" Scyther sighing, "Still, two against one isn't exactly ideal."

Both 'Beedrill' and 'Butterfree' watched this from the Eastern entrance, snickering wickedly. It seemed like their plan had worked. That was until Machoke grinned and exclaimed, "NOW!"

And sure enough, the team name now made sense as Golduck performed a somersault toward the ring, Machoke leaping up and reaching his arms up to grab hold of her hands. Unfortunately, he ended up jumping too high as their foreheads connected, both falling flat on their stomachs as the crowd broke out into hysterics.

Aipom slapped her forehead and groaned, "He delayed her entrance for that?" Reika staring at the monkey and remarking, "Did you know about this!?"

"Well, clumsy entrance aside, it would seem Machoke has found himself a replacement partner," Nori stated, "Though it definitely would have been nice to have been informed of this ahead of time."

Golduck and Machoke slowly rose to their feet, rubbing their foreheads and grinning at one-another before climbing into the ring, the crowd now back to feeling excited. Some of them remembered just how intense the match between these two heroes was back in the Olympics and thus the thought of them fighting together was truly something.

Both of their opponent stared in horror at the sight of this, neither believing it. How had they not realized how many friends Machoke had? If anything, they should have seen this coming.

But while those two were mortified by this turn of events, Hoopa could not have been more relieved. Sure, he knew little about Golduck, but as long as Machoke had a partner, he was confident that he could very well get his match with the boy.

At that moment, a staff member approached Nori and handed her a sheet of paper, saying, "I was told not to give this to you until after the entrance," the announcer nodding and looking it over, saying, "Okay, apparently, the reason they didn't say anything about this was because they wanted it to be a surprise. Well, that's understandable. It certainly worked."

"I'll say," Gallade uttered, "I'm kinda hoping they can do it. I remember Golduck needing water to even put up a really good fight, yet I don't see any that she can use."

"Oh my god, I had completely forgotten about that!" Aipom squeaked with panic in her expression, "She's predictable without her water powers!" Keiko sighing, "I'm sure she'll be fine. After all, she has a great partner."

And with that, the crowd started to calm down as Nori pointed at the Eastern entrance, stating, "And in the red corner, we've got two bugs who have proven themselves quite powerful so far. The chairman of Hero Planet and a former villain working together as one, give a round of applause for the Flying Terrors!"

The crowd cheered wildly as 'Beedrill' and 'Butterfree' flew toward the ring, performing a figure-eight in the air before landing gracefully. 'Beedrill' had his arms folded as 'Butterfree' whispered, "What now?" the wasp replying, "It's okay. The real Beedrill and Butterfree have strong abilities. I'm sure we can win this without exposing ourselves."

During this time, it had actually been a while since the real Beedrill and Butterfree had recovered. For the last couple of days, they had tried desperately to free themselves. However, they were starting to feel weak, not only from the strain they had put on themselves but also the lack of nourishment. It truly seemed like these imposters might just get away with their plan after all.

"Dammit!" Beedrill grunted, breathing heavily, "How could I be so stupid!? I swore to myself I'd make a much better chairman than my father, and yet look at me! Falling for such an obvious trick!" Butterfree sighing, "Look, I'm just as embarrassed as you are, but come on, your dad barely did a thing as chairman. He made a few orders and some really bad decisions."

The wasp blinked as the butterfly added, "You did what no Hero Planet chairman has ever done. You took action when the world was in danger. You turned me to the side of good. Not only that, but you even won a fight in a tournament. Has Weedle ever done anything like that?" Beedrill blinking and uttering, "You're right. He hasn't."

"Yeah, now stop beating yourself up," Butterfree said with a light smile, "We'll get out of this, I'm sure of it. We just need to think up a new approach, and if that doesn't work we'll think of a new one and keep going until we're free from our chains."

Back in the arena, Machoke and Golduck were discussing who should go first, the boy saying, "It has been a while for you. Are you sure you don't wanna go?" the duck nodding and replying, "Yeah, you and Beedrill have history, right? I'm sure if anything, he'll want to take a stab at you first, right?"

"That's true," Machoke replied with a nod as Golduck got behind the rope. But much to their surprise, 'Butterfree' was the one who volunteered to go first, but why? She had no connection to Machoke.

Whatever the case, the decision had already been made as Nori rang the bell, signalling the start of the match. And with that, Machoke got on the defensive as 'Butterfree' rose up from the canvas, flapping her wings and saying, "Machoke, to face someone of your stature is a true honour. I just hope you're not too rough on me," the butterfly winking at him as he winced, uttering, "Oh god, that's creepy."

And while the others were just as freaked out by this as Machoke was, Kecleon and Mawile both stared in confusion, Mawile uttering, "Since when did Butterfree use flirtation against her opponents?" Kecleon adding, "Forget that. Even she knows Machoke's dating Gardevoir. Why would she try that?"

The butterfly did not seem to hear this as she flew toward Machoke with her skull pointed at his chest only for the boy to wrap his arms around himself. And when 'Butterfree' rammed up against him, he ended up taking in no pain as the crowd cheered, the boy shifting to the offensive and sending a hard punch to her face, the butterfly backing up with a look of shock.

"You saw it yourselves, folks!" Nori exclaimed, "Machoke has used that infamous Mach Cover technique that he used to lower Lucario's guard in the Olympic finals!" Talonflame exclaiming, "Aw yeah! Just because Lucario found its weaknesses doesn't mean it's not useful!"

Hoopa blinked and uttered, "I completely forgot he had that," Diancie nodding and replying, "Well, it makes sense. He only used that ability in public once, right?"

And the reason for this was exactly as Talonflame said. Much like Lucario's London Bridge, now that most of the world knew how to counter the Mach Cover, he could no longer rely on it as much as he would have liked to, much like how he did not use his Muscle Tombstone as much as he used to ever since Talonflame reminded the world of its weakness.

And it seemed the boy had more planned as he sent his elbow hard into 'Butterfree's' gut, grabbing hold of her legs, lifting her up and throwing his arms downward, slamming her back hard against the mat. The crowd was even more pumped now as Nori exclaimed, "And Machoke is off to an incredible start! But can Butterfree turn this around like she did when Magnemite and Squirtle dominated her?"

"Yeah, that's a good point," 'Beedrill' grunted, "You remember how you got out of that predicament, right?" winking at her as the butterfly nodded and started to rise up.

However, Machoke would not make this too easy as he leapt at her with his elbow raised, but 'Butterfree' was ready as she lifted her feet up, ramming them into that very spot. The crowd was surprised when her feet actually proved enough to block the elbow drop and thus Machoke leapt away from 'Butterfree' with a grin on his face, saying, "Good. I would have been disappointed if this ended up being too easy."

The crowd was truly impressed as Aipom let down a light tear, sniffing, "I never thought I'd hear those words from him," Reika nodding and saying, "Guess it's not as intimidating when he fights a friend or someone he can trust, right?" Keiko nodding and replying, "Yep, Machamp was the same. The only opponents he was never afraid of were his friends."

Golduck was just so happy right now. Machoke was performing just as well as she had hoped, but 'Butterfree' intended to change that as she soared toward him, spinning as a twister formed around her body, the butterfly shouting, "WHIRLWIND!"

Machoke tried to block this only for 'Butterfree' to smirk and redirect the attack toward his face, striking him hard as this sent him flying back into the turnbuckle, some members of the crowd cheering for 'Butterfree' as Nori exclaimed, "And much like with Squirtle, Butterfree makes up for all the damage dealt to her with her powerful Whirlwind!"

And she did not wish to end it there as she sent a hard two-legged kick to the boy's face, Golduck asking, "Want me to take over, Machoke?"

Sure, she was a big fan of his, but even she knew victory would not be easy for him. After all, when he defeated her, she had come really close to beating him, and she was not the only opponent to bring him that close to defeat either, so she knew he would need her help at some point or another.

With that in mind, Machoke nodded and rose his hand only for 'Butterfree' to latch onto his arm, pulling him away from the turnbuckle as the crowd gasped. Sure, the butterfly may have been a former villain, but no one would have expected her to resort to such tactics, Nori stating, "And just as it looked like Machoke was ready to tag in his partner, Butterfree prevented him from doing it! She clearly wants him all to herself!"

However, what probably shocked the audience most of all, especially Machoke and his friends was that Beedrill actually seemed happy with this. Was this really the same chairman who wanted to make up for his former life of villainy? This seemed rather dirty for someone like that.

And it would only get worse from there as 'Butterfree' smirked and used just enough force to fling Machoke toward the ropes, the boy unable to stop himself as Aipom spat, "MACHOKE, LOOK OUT!" 'Beedrill' holding out his stingers while making it look like they were not actually aimed at the boy.

And sure enough, Machoke made a connection as the stingers pierced his shoulders, 'Butterfree' flying toward him while spinning and shouting, "WHIRLWIND!" striking him hard in the back as he coughed up a bit of blood, the stingers now having gone all the way through him.

"MACHOKE!" Golduck spat as Aipom bit her lower lip, screeching, "COME ON, THAT WAS SO UNFAIR!" Reika nodding and barking, "Hey, Nori, that's gotta be against the rules!"

The rest of the crowd was in an uproar as well. To think the Hero Planet chairman would resort to such underhanded tactics. And to make it worse, he actually had a means of justifying this as he implied a smirk with his eyes and said, "Hate to break it to you, girl, but this is perfectly legal. I haven't entered the ring therefor I'm still following the rules."

The crowd was still mortified by this as Nori nodded and stated, "He's actually half-right," the wasp thinking, 'Only half?' as the announcer continued, "As long as he stays on his side of the ring, he's allowed to provide assistance for his partner granted the opponent is close enough, but he can only do so for ten seconds, meaning he must remove his stingers from Machoke right now if he and his teammate would rather not be disqualified."

'Dammit,' 'Beedrill' thought as he shrugged his shoulders and did just that, Machoke wincing from the intense pain and uttering, "Why would you do that? I thought you were good."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm still on the side of good," 'Beedrill' replied with a shrug, "But I'm also serious about winning this match. Besides, villains fight like this all the time. If we held back and went all soft, they could walk all over us."

While the crowd seemed reassured, Machoke's friends including Nori could not help but find this suspicious. After all, Talonflame had used this exact same logic to justify his brutality before he was revealed to be a villain at the time and Lucario had used that as an excuse to destroy Metang's hands when the two fought in the Olympics. And in both of those instances, it had been a bad sign with no one noticing until it was too late to repair the damage that had already been done.

Even so, Golduck smirked and said, "Come on, Machoke, you can overcome this, right?" the boy nodding and replying, "Yeah, I can," before swinging his arm back and sending it hard into 'Butterfree's' face.

This distracted her just long enough for the boy to race over to Golduck, tagging her in as Nori exclaimed, "And just as it looked like Machoke might not get his chance, he has managed to tag in his partner!"

"Wait, is this really such a good thing?" Gallade uttered as the others turned to him, the boy adding, "Remember when Golduck fought? She started off strong but ultimately needed water to stand as much of a chance as she did against Machoke. And even then, he was able to work past that. It wasn't until she flooded the fight area that she actually became a serious threat."

"Oh yeah," Reika uttered, "She doesn't have a lot in the way of non-water based techniques, does she?" Keiko nodding and groaning, "If I knew Golduck was gonna be his ally for this match, I would brought a water bottle or something!"

The others then slowly turned to Aipom, the monkey whimpering, "Oh god, that actually would have been a good idea!" rubbing her hands vigorously against her head as her friends face-palmed.

However, Golduck smirked and gave Aipom thumbs up, saying, "Don't worry about it. Ever since that day Machoke defeated me, I've been working hard to become better at normal combat. True, I'll never be as good at this as I am when using my water powers, but I still feel like I can do this."

But while that certainly sounded hopeful, had she really gotten as good as she said she had? She would certainly need to if she and Machoke were to win this match.

 

Note: Interesting thing to note is that the colour given to Ditto's sister, Ditta is based off of the old Pokémon card in which Ditto was, in fact, purple for whatever reason.

Now with Golduck taking Machoke's place, no one knew exactly how this would go. Sure, Golduck was no slouch. After all, she did manage to make it to the second round of the Hero Olympics. But at the same time, she only stood a chance because both times, she had lots of water to manipulate with the gem on her forehead. With none of that present in the area, would she really stand much of a chance?

Hoopa certainly hoped so as he narrowed his eyelids, grumbling, "She'd better be a good replacement for Hawlucha! I want my fight with Machoke!" Diancie nodding as she looked closely at 'Beedrill' and 'Butterfree', whispering, "You know, something seems off about those two. Do you know of any other villains in this tournament?"

"Aside from Vespiquen, no," Hoopa replied, "Heck, I don't know any villains who could even dawn disguises like that and make it work. But if there are others out there trying to take down Machoke, I'll make them pay."

"You know Vespiquen may end up fighting him in round three, right?" the sylph remarked as the genie's eyes widened.

Golduck rushed at 'Butterfree' as 'Beedrill' asked, "Hey, you feel up to this?" the butterfly nodding and replying, "Yeah, I've seen the footage of her fight against Machoke. She's a joke without water."

With that in mind, she managed to dodge with incredible ease when the duck started to send an onslaught of palm punches at her. But just as it seemed the butterfly might be able to perform even better than when she went up against Machoke, her eyes widened as the duck managed to perform a perfect roundhouse to her side while still sending palm punches out, landing a few on her before she backed up.

The crowd cheered as Nori stated, "And Golduck successfully uses a tactic I didn't think could work so well. It seems those palm punches were a distraction so Butterfree would not notice her leg coming straight for her."

But rather than feeling intimidated, 'Butterfree' seemed more annoyed right now as she turned to 'Beedrill' and snapped, "Dude, what the hell!? Why didn't you say anything!?" the wasp retorting, "For your information, I didn't even notice she was doing that!"

The others stared as Hitmonchan uttered, "Wait, is this normal for them?" the others shrugging as 'Butterfree' sighed, "You're right. I'm expecting too much. Sorry, br-uddy! Yeah, buddy, cause you're my pal," winking at him while making a clicking sound with her mouth.

"Okay, that was a little suspect," Tsuya uttered as Aipom shrugged and replied, "Well, they do seem to have a strong connection. Maybe that's it."

With that out of the way, the butterfly flew toward Golduck, this time feeling ready until the duck smirked and ducked under her. 'Butterfree's' eyes widened in terror as Golduck lifted up her arms, grabbing hold of the bug's legs and using the same tactic Machoke had used to slam her on her back.

The crowd went wild as Nori exclaimed, "And after a rocky start, Golduck is doing a rather good job holding her own!"

'She's right,' 'Butterfree' thought as she immediately rose to her feet, flying over to Beedrill and tagging him in. Seeing this, Machoke smiled and held out his hand, exclaiming, "Tag me in!"

"You sure?" Golduck asked, "You took in a lot of damage back there," the boy nodding and replying, "Both of us have been waiting for this rematch, so yeah."

However, Golduck was unsure of this, as were Machoke's other friends. For whatever reason, it seemed as if 'Beedrill' did not even know about this, but the boy seemed fully confident. Not only that, but he had actually fought the wasp before, so he at least knew this opponent's techniques.

As such, the duck tagged him in and said, "Alright, I know you'll do a good job anyway," the two switching as Nori said, "That has to be the shortest amount of time between a tag that I've ever seen. Golduck only landed a few hits and is already trusting Machoke to carry the team further. I'll say this, she certainly has a lot of confidence in him."

While many of Machoke's friends did not look too worried, Cici, Reika and Aipom were unsure of this. Something just felt off about this whole thing, not just because of how 'Beedrill' was acting but because even 'Butterfree' was not acting completely like herself.

Even so, the match had to continue and thus, 'Beedrill' wasted no time flying toward Machoke with his stingers pointed outward. But just as it looked like he would pierce him again, Machoke threw his arms out and grabbed the incoming stingers, grinning and saying, "Come on, you should know how easy this is to counter."

With that, Machoke leaned back and released his hold on the wasp, sending him flying head-first into the turnbuckle as the crowd cheered, Gallade clapping and shouting, "Oh my god, that's the first move Machoke ever used!"

"If that's the case, why didn't Beedrill see that coming?" Talonflame remarked as the others turned to him with looks of confusion. That was certainly a good question, and Aipom could not help but feel ashamed of herself for having not thought of it first.

Whatever the case, it looked like things truly had improved for the Aquatic Muscles as Machoke took full advantage of this, sending a flying kick into the wasp's back. He then backed up a bit as 'Beedrill' turned to face him, a look of shock on his face. Now even Machoke was starting to think the same thing as he looked confused.

"What's wrong?" 'Beedrill' asked, "Are you surprised that didn't defeat me?" Machoke replying, "No. I'm just surprised that you actually fell for that. I mean, when we first fought, that toss was the very move that gave me the upper hand just as it looked like I was going to lose. I'm surprised you weren't able to counter that."

'Butterfree's' eyes widened as she stared at the wasp, 'Beedrill' blinking and uttering, "Oh, yeah, that completely slipped my mind," rubbing the back of his head with a light chuckle, "It's just been so long since we first fought, you know."

Machoke shrugged and replied, "Well, that is true," nodding his head and replying, "As long as you're not going easy on me."

During this time, the real Beedrill and Butterfree were still trying desperately to get out of their chains as they shifted their bodies. However, no matter what they did, the chains would not even so much as loosen.

"My god, this is getting on my nerves," Beedrill groaned as Butterfree asked, "Have you tried cutting the chains with your stingers? I'm sure it'll work the eleventh time," the wasp sighing, "Even if it could work, I don't think I have the strength."

Both went silent when they heard footsteps by the door, both wasting no time shouting, "HEY, HELP US! WE'RE TRAPPED IN THE CLOSET!" only for the sound to leave the area, Beedrill fuming and barking, "ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

With that, the wasp focused hard as he attempted to pry his wings out from between the chains. And after a few seconds, he actually managed to pull it off, flapping them as hard as he could thus lifting him and Butterfree off the floor.

"What are you doing?" the butterfly uttered as Beedrill implied a smirk and replied, "I'm getting us out of these chains," before flying as fast as he could around the area, Butterfree mentally questioning his sanity.

He tried all he could, slamming the chains against the wall every few seconds, even rubbing it up against what few sharp objects he could find in the closet. And after a while, the chains started to loosen as he said, "Now, Butterfree."

The butterfly nodded and managed to wriggle out of the chains. And with both no longer pressed up against one-another, the chains could no longer bind Beedrill as they fell to the floor, the wasp exclaiming, "Yes!" landing on his feet and raising his arms in the air in triumph.

Butterfree gave him a small clap and said, "Wow, that was actually pretty impressive. I didn't think that would work."

Beedrill nodded and sighed, "Well, that's enough of that. We got us two imposters to expose," as he flew over to the door and reached his stinger into it, twisting it back and forth. And after a few seconds, he heard a click as he and Butterfree smiled.

Meanwhile, Machoke was still doing a great job against 'Beedrill' as the wasp flew toward him once more, the boy taking hold of his arms and flipping him on his back, the crowd cheering as Nori stated, "The chairman is truly getting a run for his money as Machoke continues to dominate."

'Beedrill' scowled and thought, 'Dammit, I thought for sure this form would give me some great abilities, but I'm not sure what other solo moves to use with this guy. Pretty much every one of his moves involves his stingers in some way.'

With that, he gave 'Butterfree' a quick glance and nodded, the butterfly winking at him and realizing exactly where he was going. And before anyone else could question this, 'Butterfree' started flapping her wings really hard, staying behind the ropes as a big gust of wind picked up.

The crowd was rather shocked as Golduck spat, "Machoke, look out!" but it was too late as a small twister formed under the boy, lifting him and spinning him before sending him flying into the air. All the while, 'Butterfree' stared wide-eyed at this thinking, 'I didn't know I Butterfree could do that.'

Whatever the case, 'Beedrill' saw this as a perfect opportunity as he flew up to Machoke's height, piercing his shoulders once more as the boy cried out in pain, the holes getting just a little bit bigger. But it did not end there as the wasp leaned backward, flipping Machoke one-hundred-and-eighty degrees and shouting, "TWIN NEEDLE SUPLEX!" slamming his skull hard into the mat.

Machoke's eyes and mouth were wide with shock as he coughed up a bit of blood, 'Beedrill' releasing his hold and allowing the boy to collapse. Needless to say, his friends were certainly concerned. After all, he had been doing so well up to that point yet this combined with all the damage dealt to him earlier seemed to take a toll on him.

Even the real Beedrill's fans were unsure of how to respond to this as Nori stated, "And once again, the Flying Terrors make full use of the rule that allows them to attack outside of the ring as Butterfree sets Machoke up for Beedrill's Twin Needle Suplex! And while that is a little dirty, Butterfree's assistance went for less than ten seconds, so it was still legal!"

Reika gritted her teeth and snapped, "I don't care if those two are former villains! I seriously don't buy the fact that they would actually resort to this!"

"That's because we wouldn't dare!" came a familiar voice as the crowd gasped, turning to see the real Beedrill and Butterfree standing right there by the audience entrance, both breathing heavily as the wasp uttered, "Hey, anyone got some food for us? We're starving."

"What is this!?" Nori exclaimed as her eyes went wide with shock, "How are the Flying Terrors up there and in the ring at the same time!?"

Aipom and Reika turned to one-another and narrowed their eyelids, sighing in unison, "Why did we have to be right?" as Talonflame groaned, "I shoulda seen this coming. I did the exact same thing before joining Hero School."

Hoopa and Diancie were just as shocked as the audience, but not for the same reason. Rather, they now knew exactly which villains were in that ring right now, the two narrowing their eyelids as Hoopa growled, "Oh, they are gonna get it now!"

Machoke groaned and rubbed his head, slowly rising to his feet and looking back and forth between his opponent in the ring and the chairman standing at the entrance, narrowing his eyelids and grunting, "You're not really Beedrill, are you?"

The fake Beedrill looked back and forth before scowling and pointing at the two other bugs, exclaiming, "No, that guy's an imposter! He tried to take my place, but I beat the living shit out of him! I warned you not to come back, faker!" the false Butterfree nodding and adding, "You too, fake me!"

The audience was certain the two at the entrance were the real deal, but they could not be too sure as Butterfree smirked and asked, "Tell me, faker, if you're the real Butterfree, can you use my spores?" before flapping her wings and releasing a light orange powder, Beedrill staring at her and remarking, "Don't do that for show! You'll have to wait three days to use them again!"

The butterfly shrugged and retorted, "What's the big deal? It's already too late for us to compete in this match," as the crowd stared at the Butterfree standing in the ring, the insect sighing, "Dammit, we really should have learned more about these two."

The crowd gasped as this was clearly a confession, Machoke gritting his teeth and pointing at them, barking, "I came into this ring expecting to have a good rematch with Beedrill! Who the hell are you guys!?"

The rest of the crowd was just as curious as the two insects shrugged their shoulders, the fake Butterfree saying, "Well, it was nice while it lasted."

And with that, everyone watched in both interest and slight disgust when the two fighters molded their bodies to take on two very similar forms. The one posing as Beedrill was a humanoid creature with soft pink flesh, dots for eyes and a big, thin mouth. The other had the same eyes and mouth only this one was a girl and was purple.

Even Vespiquen could no longer feign disinterest from the crowd as her eyes widened, the bee thinking, 'No, what are they doing here!? They could ruin everything!' Smeargle looking at her with confusion.

"Oh god, it's you all over again!" Gallade groaned, turning to Talonflame as the falcon sighed, "Yeah, I saw that coming a mile away."

"So, who are you really?" Nori asked as the pink boy smirked and replied, "I am known as Ditto, and this lovely young lady here is my twin sister, Ditta," Hitmonchan lowering her eyelids and sighing, "With names like that, it's kinda hard to take them seriously now."

Ditta smirked and said, "I bet you heroes thought there were no villains left in the world worth worrying about, but we wanted to let the world know that Giratina was the least of their worries! Once we take down the mighty Machoke, all will kneel before us!" Hoopa gritting his teeth and thinking, 'That was MY plan! How dare they copy me like that!?'

"Well, I'm afraid your plans are going to fail," Nori stated as Beedrill nodded and asked, "Seeing as I can no longer compete, may I?" the woman nodding and replying, "It would be my pleasure," pulling out a second chair seemingly out of nowhere as if she knew the wasp would take his announcer position back after the match.

With that, Beedrill flew over and took a seat, stating, "While going under a different alias during a tournament is not illegal, being a villain in a tournament for heroes is! As such, I feel it only necessary to disqualify you two!"

The crowd gasped as Machoke grinned, saying, "That's the real Beedrill, alright," when the wasp turned to the boy and added, "That is, I would if Machoke was not clearly opposed to this."

The crowd was confused now as Aipom nodded with a light smile, saying, "Now that Machoke knows they're evil, he's not gonna let them go. Isn't that right?"

The boy grinned and nodded, saying, "You guys know me too well," Ditto and Ditta both smiling wickedly as the pink boy said, "Well, you heard it yourself, sis. The rules of this match no longer apply. Sure, we'll probably be booted out of the tournament when it's all done, but now we could possibly get away with killing the former champion's son!"

"Oh, that sounds positively delightful!" Ditta squealed as Gallade groaned, "I think I liked it better when they were pretending to be Beedrill and Butterfree."

At that moment, Nori nodded and said, "Well, unfortunately, they're right. As the rules state, if the opponent is okay with the violation, the match will continue," Golduck grinning at the boy with even more admiration.

This was exactly why she liked him so much. Despite his childish tendencies, Machoke was a true hero to the end and would never give up when things got serious.

Nori then remembered something and uttered, "Oh, right, we were already five minutes into the match when you showed up," Beedrill nodding and ringing the bell, signalling the start of the tornado tag portion. And of course, Golduck wasted no time leaping into the ring to join Machoke as Ditta climbed in as well.

"You know, I'm glad you guys exposed us, actually," Ditto said as he smirked at Beedrill, "For starters, you guys made terrible hosts for us. The only time we've ever seen you two in battle was that first team match. Outside of that, your past fights were never witnessed by human eyes and thus were never recorded, so we barely knew any of our techniques!"

"Not to mention we had no choice but to hold back," Ditta grunted as the two proceeded to change their forms again, Ditto saying, "But one fighter we know everything about is Machoke. We've watched every single one of his recorded matches, so we know all of his techniques."

And sure enough, the creature had, indeed, taken the form of Machoke as the crowd was truly frightened now. And it did not end there as Ditta added, "And as an added bonus, I did a little research on the only hero to ever best you in combat," taking the form of Lucario as the crowd was truly astounded. To make matters worse, Ditta had remembered to add the dog's old chest spike.

Seeing this, Golduck trembled as even Machoke was frightened. So far, the only opponent he had ever faced who possessed the same abilities he did was his father, Machamp. But since he had been weakened by age, Machoke was able to overpower him. Ditto, on the other hand, had youth and an expansive knowledge of how the boy fought on his side.

And of course, Lucario's abilities could not be taken lightly as Ditto looked at the scared crowd, exclaiming, "Come on, try showing a bit more enthusiasm! You're finally seeing a team-up of Machoke and Lucario! This should be a dream come true!"

With that, Machoke frowned and retorted, "Unfortunately, that's not a real team-up!" the boy charging toward Ditto as the villain sent a karate chop toward him. Machoke easily sidestepped the move and went in for a karate chop of his own only for Ditto to grab his arm, smirking and twisting the boy's wrist.

As Machoke cried out in pain, Ditto proceeded to turn him around, turning so his own back was facing the boy's and reached his arms out, grabbing hold of his chin. He then proceeded to latch his ankle around Machoke's, pulling hard as the boy's back started to break, the crowd gasping as he cried out in pain.

And it only got worse from here as when Golduck went in to help her ally, Ditta leapt onto her back and grabbed hold of her wrists, the audience even more horrified as the girl said, "I hate to end this so soon, but hey, what better way to deal with a pest than with the very move that ended Machoke's winning streak, the Riolu Torment!?"

"It would seem allowing them to be themselves was not the best choice!" Nori exclaimed, "Ditto has not only caught Machoke in his father's famous submission technique, the Ultimate Backbreaker, but Ditta has Golduck trapped in arguably Lucario's best move!"

Seeing this, one member of the crowd exclaimed, "COME ON, MACHOKE, YOU SHOULD KNOW HOW TO GET OUT OF THAT!" Aipom nodding and adding, "Remember how Lucario got out of it!"

'Right!' Machoke thought as he reached his arms up, grabbing hold of Ditto's wrists and twisting them. This caused the boy to release his hold as Machoke proceeded to lift him up by the arm, hurling him into Ditta, the girl's eyes widening as she was sent flying off of Golduck.

The duck breathed a sigh of relief and smirked, saying, "Thanks, Machoke," the boy nodding as the villains rose to their feet.

"That was nothing," Ditto grunted, "We can still win this," Ditta nodding and adding, "Yeah, let's take them out!"

With that, Ditta leapt onto her brother's hands as he propelled her off, the girl shifting her wrist spikes in front of her face, flying toward Golduck and shouting, "ROYAL JAVELIN!"

Golduck threw her arms out to block the incoming strike only for her hands to be pierced, Ditta taking full advantage of this as she kicked the duck hard in the gut. She then wrapped her arms around her, Golduck's eyes and beak wide open as the chest spike pierced her flesh.

The crowd gasped as Ditta flipped the duck so her head was facing the mat, leaping high above the ring and saying, "Though this move does have a rather dumb name, it is quite effective."

"I don't think so!" Machoke spat only for Ditto to get behind him, latching onto the boy and leaning backward, planting the back of his neck hard against the mat.

With that, Ditta descended toward the canvas and spat, "CANINE HUG SLAM!" Golduck's skull hitting the mat hard as she coughed up blood, Ditta removing the spike and allowing her to collapse as the crowd was in absolute panic.

"Just when it looked like the Aquatic Muscles could still win this, Golduck succumbs to one of Riolu's strongest techniques only made more powerful by Ditta's copy of Lucario's spike!" Nori exclaimed as Beedrill said, "Yeah, it's been a long time since the real Lucario used his father's techniques to defeat Machoke back in the day, and they still pack a serious punch, even when used by a complete poser."

Butterfree could not accept this. She did not care if Machoke was okay with this or not. This just seemed so wrong.

Aipom stared with concern and whimpered, "This couldn't be any worse!" and it seemed so as Ditto had Machoke in a Boston Crab, Reika uttering, "They can pull this off, right? I mean, this is Machoke. He always gets out of these situations."

Amanda watched this with gritted teeth back in London, growling, "How dare that bitch use my brother's abilities like that!? I wish I was the one in that ring right now! I'd give her a piece of my mind!" Sarah unsure of whether to try calming her down or not.

And it would only get worse as Ditto released Machoke's ankles, lifting him up and saying, "By the way, I don't believe you've ever felt the impact of that Muscle Tombstone of yours, have you? Why not have a little taste?"

Ditta folded her arms to watch the show as Golduck did not seem to be able to move right now, Ditto leaping high above the ring with Machoke's shoulders in hand. And once high enough, he flipped the boy one-hundred and eighty degrees, locking the boy's arms in place before wrapping his ankles around his neck, shouting, "MUSCLE TOMBSTONE!"

Despite knowing full-well how to get out of this, Machoke was in too much shock to respond as his head was slammed hard into the mat, the boy coughing up more blood than Golduck as he passed out as well. The crowd was in extreme panic now as Nori exclaimed, "And as if the Canine Hug Slam wasn't bad enough, Machoke has taken in that classic Mach Family finisher, the Muscle Tombstone!"

With that, she realized she had no choice as she started the ten count, Ditto saying, "You're wasting your breath," but just as he and Ditta were ready to finish off their opponents for good, both went wide-eyed as they turned and noticed Machoke slowly push himself back up, rubbing his head and grunting, "Wow, I can see why so many villains have fallen to this."

Golduck also managed to recover as Ditto stared and uttered, "Wait a minute, why didn't that finish you off?"

Machoke took a deep breath and said, "First of all, you've clearly never faced a member of my family. We can handle a lot of pain."

"As for me, I didn't take in a lot of hits prior to you using one of Lucario's finishers, so I still have plenty of spirit left," Golduck added as Ditto smirked and remarked, "Whatever. It'll just make victory all the more satisfying."

While the Aquatic Muscles still had fight in them, it was clear that this match would not be an easy one. After all, could Machoke possibly defeat himself?

 

Things had been going rather strongly in the Aquatic Muscles' favour before, but now that Ditto and Ditta had been exposed, the two saw no reason to hold back anymore. Taking the forms of Machoke and Lucario had already proven itself to be the best idea they could have come up with as the fight seemed much more in their favour now.

Despite this, Golduck and Machoke still had fight left in them as the boy grunted, "Alright, it's time for a little payback," Golduck nodding as she said, "Let's do this."

With that in mind, the two raced toward their opponents only for Ditto to ready himself for a counter, saying, "Big deal, so you survived. I dare you to pull that off a second time," Ditta preparing her wrist spikes only for both Machoke and Golduck to leap up, planting their feet hard into each one's forehead.

The crowd cheered as the fighters landed behind the siblings they had struck, Machoke wrapping his arms around Ditto and lifting him up, connecting a perfect suplex. Golduck only added to this as she hooked Ditta's neck, applying just enough force to push her forward, the girl falling flat on her face.

"Just as it seemed hope might be lost for the Aquatic Muscles, they make a great comeback," Nori stated as Beedrill asked, "But was there ever any doubt?" not adding to that as he remembered that as an announcer, it was his job to be neutral.

With that, Golduck proceeded to lift up Ditta, tossing her on top of Ditto as Machoke asked, "You ready for this?" the duck nodding and replying, "Yeah, let's do it."

With that, the crowd was truly astounded as Machoke leapt atop the turnbuckle, Golduck jumping on top of his shoulders as the two spread their arms out, Aipom uttering, "Are they trying what I think they are?" Gallade saying, "Looks like it, but I don't think that's such a good idea."

Despite that, both felt confident about this. While in theory, it only made sense for Machoke to do this with Hawlucha, Golduck figured she could pull it off. After all, it was far from the most advanced of all finishing moves.

With that in mind, the two leapt from the turnbuckle and exclaimed, "DOUBLE FLYING-" only for Golduck to lose her balance, falling off of Machoke's shoulders and onto her back.

Machoke's eyes widened as Ditto and Ditta recovered just in time to see this, the two wasting no time leaping toward the boy and latching onto his arms. The crowd gasped as Machoke panicked, the two using the momentum to slam his back hard against the canvas, each one latching onto his arm and neck.

"Just as it seemed the Aquatic Muscles would use the team move thought up by Hawlucha, it seems Golduck was unable to pull it off!" Nori exclaimed, "And now Machoke has been caught in a double triangle choke!"

"Wow, this is easier than expected!" Ditto exclaimed as Golduck groaned, rubbing her head and rising to her feet, gasping at the sight of this.

"I knew it," Gallade groaned, "Golduck can't match Hawlucha's strength and speed, so it makes sense she wouldn't be able to pull that off," Scyther nodding and replying, "It makes me wonder why they even thought that was a good idea. Surely they must have tested it out ahead of time."

"They didn't have enough time to practice team moves, that's why," Aipom uttered as the others stared at her, "I should have seen this coming. Those two only had a couple of days to prepare themselves for this. That's hardly any time to build up a good amount of chemistry between them."

"You have a point," Reika uttered, "Besides, Hawlucha and Machoke are both evenly-matched when it comes to physical strength. Golduck can't even compare to that."

Despite this, the duck fully intended to help her ally as she propelled herself off the ropes, aiming a flying kick at Ditta. However, the girl saw this coming as she released her hold on the boy, leaping at Golduck and latching onto her.

The crowd was in even more panic as Golduck was forced up against the turnbuckle. And it would only get worse from here as Ditta leapt high above the ring, saying, "This may not be my favourite of Lucario's finishers, but it'll be enough to keep you down."

"COME ON, GOLDUCK, FIGHT IT!" Isabel exclaimed, everyone shocked to hear her of all people saying this, "PLEASE, PROVE THAT YOU CAN LIVE UP TO THE STANDARDS OF MI HERMANO! I DON'T WANT MACHOKE TO LOSE JUST BECAUSE HE'S IN THE HOSPITAL!"

However, Golduck seemed unable to escape as Ditta threw her over her shoulder, leaning backward and shouting, "HALF-MOON PRESS!" slamming the duck's skull hard against the canvas as she once again passed out, the crowd now terrified as Nori stated, "And with that, Ditta uses another one of Riolu's old finishers to knock Golduck out once again. Let's see if she can recover from this one."

Machoke tried his hardest to fight the triangle choke so he could help with a look of anger in his eyes only for Ditta to leapt at him, planting her feet hard into his gut. And with that, both she and her brother picked him up from both sides, Ditto saying, "Just one use of this move is devastating enough, but let's see how strong it'll be when we use it together."

Ditta nodded and grinned wickedly at Isabel, saying, "That was a nice pep-talk you gave, but it seems our plan has come together after all. Golduck's nowhere near as good as your brother was," Isabel's eyes widening as her mother and Lea were both confused.

"Wait, their plan?" Reika uttered as Cici nodded and said, "I think what she means is that they were the ones who put Hawlucha out of commission."

Hoopa gritted his teeth, fuming and grunting, "Of course! Why didn't I see it sooner!?" the audience members around him staring in confusion as Diancie tried to hush him before he could reveal that he actually knew the two villains in the ring.

This only infuriated Isabel, and it would only get worse from here as Ditto and Ditta leapt high above the ring, holding Machoke upside-down and wrapping their arms around his torso, their legs latched to his upper body. There was no doubt about it. Both fighters had just set him up for his other famous finishing move.

Machoke's friends stared in sheer horror as Aipom screeched, "MACHOKE, REVERSE IT!" but thanks to the combined strength of Ditto and Ditta, he was unable to use the same tactic Lucario had used to get out of this. As such, his head was driven hard into the mat as the villains exclaimed, "DOUBLE ULTIMATE DRIVER!"

With that, both released their hold on the boy as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. It seemed even Machoke could not handle the might of this, the crowd staring with fear in their eyes. Even Nori and Beedrill were silent, neither able to announce what had just happened.

Hoopa still looked beyond peeved as Isabel bit her lower lip, sniffing, "Come on, Machoke. You can get up from that," Nori letting out a sigh and starting the ten count once more.

However, almost immediately after she started it up, the crowd gasped as Golduck planted her hands against the mat, slowly pushing herself up with a look of fury in her eyes. There was no way she would allow these villains to leave the ring with enough strength to cause more havoc, especially with their ability to change into any form they wanted.

However, neither Ditto nor Ditta looked the least bit intimidated as Ditta snickered, "Oh, this is just too perfect! The only one who can move right now is the team weakling!" both breaking out into hysterics as the crowd was unsure whether to argue against this or not.

The duck continued to scowl at them, stating, "You're right. I'm nowhere near as strong as Machoke. In fact, I feel like he's done most of the work in this match so far, but even so, I have a feeling he'll recover and if anything, I'll make sure he's able to wake up with an advantage."

The crowd was seriously hoping Machoke would recover soon as Golduck charged toward Ditta first. The girl threw her palm forward only for the duck to easily sidestep the attack, taking hold of Ditta's arm and hurling her high into the air.

The crowd was truly amazed as before Ditto could even respond to this, Golduck sent him into the turnbuckle with a well-timed roundhouse, leaping up to Ditta's level. She then latched her ankles onto the girl's neck and leaned backward, grabbing hold of the villain's ankles and flipping her over so her head was facing the mat.

The crowd went wild as Golduck exclaimed, "ICE ROCK DRIVER!" sending Ditta's skull hard into the canvas as she coughed up blood.

The duck then released her hold, thus allowing her to collapse as Ditto shook the pain off of his head, charging toward Golduck and barking, "You'll pay for that!"

However, Golduck easily saw this coming as she leapt backward, performing a handstand and sending the heels of her feet hard into the boy's chin, sending him flying high above the ring. She then leapt up and mounted herself onto his back, taking hold of his chin with one hand and his ankles with the other, pulling hard on them.

"DUCK DRIVER!" Golduck shouted as she sent Ditto's belly hard into the mat, the boy coughing up blood himself as his head lowered, planting itself into the mat, Golduck leaping off as the crowd cheered ever louder.

"And with little to no effort, Golduck successfully lands her two most powerful land moves!" Nori exclaimed, "And it looks like the Flying Terrors might actually have trouble getting up from this!" Beedrill sighing, "Butterfree and I are the Flying Terrors. Make up a different name for them."

'It's true, I've relied on water so much that it's hard for people to remember I have strong moves that don't require it,' the duck thought with a smirk, 'I highly doubt that was enough to defeat them, but at least it was enough to help. I just hope I'm a worthy ally for you, Machoke.'

Unfortunately, though, it was just as the duck figured. The crowd gasped as sure enough, Ditto and Ditta had not yet been beaten, the two slowly rising to their feet and breathing heavily, looks of irritation on their faces.

"Oh, come on!" Aipom groaned, rubbing her temple, "Why couldn't that have been enough!?" the others equally worried as Machoke still had not recovered yet.

"Despite Golduck's best efforts, the, um, Transforming Terrors still have fight left in them," Nori stated as Beedrill nodded and said, "Not bad."

"Transforming Terrors, eh?" Ditto asked with a smirk, "I like it," Ditta ignoring the name issue and saying, "Well, that certainly caught us by surprise, but we already know from your match with Machoke that those two moves you just used were the best you had."

Golduck folded her arms and sighed, "Well, I can't argue with you. I haven't really come up with any new non-water based finishing moves, but I can still put up a fight until Machoke recovers and we can fight together again."

"We'll make sure that doesn't happen," Ditto retorted as he charged toward his opponent.

The duck leapt above him only for the boy to see this coming, grabbing hold of her ankles and swinging her downward, slamming her back hard against the canvas. He then turned to Ditta and exclaimed, "Alright, let's finish this! We can't allow Machoke to save her this time!"

And with that, Ditta waited for Golduck to rise to her feet as she leapt at her from behind, latching her ankles onto the duck's sides. She then proceeded to take hold of her wrists, spreading them out and shouting, "RIOLU TORMENT!"

The crowd gasped as Nori exclaimed, "Oh no, and Golduck is once again caught in that perfect finisher that defeated Machoke! This might be it for her, folks!" Beedrill growling, "Forget neutrality! Come on, Golduck, fight it!"

However, everyone knew how there was no known method of escaping this hold and thus Aipom got up and screeched, "COME ON, MACHOKE, WAKE UP!" Reika nodding and barking, "Your partner needs you right now!"

Unfortunately, Machoke was still out cold as Ditto folded his arms, smirking and saying, "Man, I didn't think that Double Ultimate Driver would pack that much of a punch. I love this form," flexing his muscles.

And after a few more seconds, Golduck's arms were twisted as everyone could hear them break, the duck's eyes widening as she let out a loud cry of pain. However, this was just enough for Machoke's eyes to shoot wide open, the boy planting his hands firmly against the mat as he propelled himself off of it. He then flew toward Ditta and planted his feet hard into her side, causing her to release her hold as she careened into the turnbuckle, the crowd going wild as Ditto's jaw dropped.

"Oh, thank god," Aipom sighed with light tears in her eyes, Keiko breathing a sigh of relief and saying, "I had a feeling he wouldn't let us down."

But while the boy had at least managed to prevent Golduck's spine from shattering, it did not change the fact that she could no longer use her arms. Try as she might, she found herself unable to lift them as Machoke looked at her with concern, asking, "You okay?"

"I'll be fine," Golduck replied with a light grin as the boy sighed, "I hate to say it, but in your condition, you probably shouldn't continue this fight."

"Wait, what!?" Golduck retorted with a look of horror, the audience unsure how to react to this as Ditto smirked, folding his arms and saying, "He's right. Heck, I'll make sure you have yourself a good rest."

And before Machoke could even respond, Ditta flew at him and sent a hard kick to his face, knocking him on his back as Ditto took hold of Golduck, sending her flying into the air before leaping up, wrapping his arms around her torso and his legs around her upper body. Everyone knew exactly what was coming as they winced, the boy shouting, "ULTIMATE DRIVER!" sending her skull hard into the mat.

Golduck coughed up a great deal of blood as Ditto released his hold on her, allowing her to collapse as the crowd stared in horror, Machoke recovering from the kick just in time to witness this. He was even more frightened than the audience right now as it truly seemed like Golduck would not be able to move.

With that in mind, Ditto lifted her up and said, "We'll need more room to fight, so how about we remove this piece of baggage from the ring?" only for Machoke to grit his teeth, barking, "DON'T YOU DARE!?"

With that, he charged at the boy and sent a hard punch to his face. But just as he was about to do more, Ditta leapt behind him and latched onto his shoulders.

"This time, stay down," the girl said only for Machoke to lift his arms, wrapping them around Ditta's wrists. The crowd was truly astounded as he proceeded to lean forward, lifting her high above his head before planting her back hard against the canvas.

The crowd cheered as Nori exclaimed, "And Machoke pulls off a counter that I've never seen anyone use before! Using nothing but his armpits, he managed to apply enough force to slam his opponent to the mat!"

"That's right, and there's more where that came from!" Machoke exclaimed as Ditto charged at him, shouting, "I DON'T THINK SO!"

However, Machoke saw this coming as took hold of Ditto's arms. With that, he leapt high above the ring, turning the boy around before latching onto his wrists and ankles. He then proceeded to pull hard on both parts, bending Ditto's back a bit as his eyes and mouth were wide open.

"You've seen all my other finishers in action, but you've probably only ever seen this one once!" Machoke stated as he spun his body around, flipping himself and Ditto over one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, aiming the opponent's head toward his downed ally's gut.

"MUSCLE TORNADO!" the boy exclaimed as soon enough, Ditto's head was rammed hard into Ditta's gut, the girl coughing up blood as both sets of eyes rolled to the backs of their heads.

The crowd went wild as Machoke released his hold, allowing Ditto to collapse on top of his sister, both reverting to their original forms while Nori started the ten count. Beedrill implied a big smile with his eyes as the others had their own smiles, especially Isabel, light tears rolling down her cheeks.

And after ten seconds were up, Beedrill rang the bell and exclaimed, "And with that, this victory goes to the Aquatic Muscles!" the crowd cheering even louder as Machoke breathed heavily, raising his arm in the air with a big open-mouth smile on his face.

"This is truly an incredible sight, folks!" Nori exclaimed with glee, "Machoke was all alone for those last couple of minutes and yet he still managed to defeat both of his opponents at once! He really is something else, isn't he!?"

Needless to say, Aipom was beyond relieved right now as she sighed, "He always has to make so many close calls," Reika nodding and replying, "Yeah, but let's face it, Machoke will never get an easy match, will he?"

However, while Machoke's friends along with the rest of the crowd were happy, the boy's moment of triumph suddenly felt meaningless to him as he looked down at Golduck. With that, he lifted her up as medics ran into the area, the boy carefully placing her on the stretcher and smiling, saying, "Thanks for the help, buddy."

And with that, the duck was taken away as Aipom looked at her pupil with concern. After all, there was no doubt in her mind that Golduck would not make a full recovery in time for the third round and if what the doctors said was true, neither would Hawlucha. This left the boy with much fewer options for a replacement partner.

However, while Machoke was thinking about that to a certain degree, right now all he could focus on was Golduck's well-being. After all, he had once been on the receiving end of the Riolu Torment himself. If Ditta had finished the move, the duck's condition would have been even worse.

Before Nori could give her announcements regarding round two, Beedrill flew toward Machoke and implied a smile, saying, "Great job as usual, Machoke. Once again, you've saved us," the boy sighing, "Yeah, but I'm kinda disappointed I didn't get to have my rematch with you."

"Me too," the wasp replied with his arms behind his head, "But hey, I may be able to arrange something someday. Honestly, I'm just glad I got to fight in front of people once."

Butterfree shook her head and thought, 'Well, he's right. We did get one opportunity,' when suddenly, both insects' stomachs growled, Beedrill sighing, "Right, we haven't eaten in two days."

Nori nodded and stated, "Well, you'll get your chance to fill up as unlike with the first round, we'll be taking a half-hour break before the next match. So, everyone go and enjoy yourselves, but remember to return soon as you don't wanna miss this next fight."

With that, the crowd rose from their seats and decided to stretch their legs, Ditto and Ditta handcuffed and dragged out of the arena. Needless to say, Beedrill and Butterfree immediately bolted from the area to purchase a big lunch from the concession stand.

Machoke decided to join the others as Aipom leapt onto his face, embracing it and squealing, "Oh my god, you were so good out there!" the boy groaning, "And even after a year, you still insist on doing that."

Aipom gave him an awkward smile and let go, Gallade resting a hand on his shoulder and saying, "Either way, this is the third time you've stopped a villain from winning in a tournament for heroes, or in this case, villains. So far, only you and your dad have ever pulled that off."

Machoke blinked in confusion as Aipom nodded and stated, "That's right. A couple of really powerful villains made their way into the tag team tournament Machamp fought in. They overpowered everyone until the final match when after arguably one of the most intense battles he ever fought, both he and Combusken defeated them and became the world champions."

The monkey then sighed, "Though granted, this was before the 'no villains allowed in a tournament for heroes' rule was enforced, so no one tried to disqualify them for it," the others face-palming in response to this.

All the while, Florges had to admit that she was conflicted now as she wandered the halls, tapping her chin. Up to this point, she had been under the same assumption as Masquerain, that Hoopa and Diancie were the ones who attacked them during the mountain climbing race. And yet she had just witnessed two villains suffer defeat. Now she could not help but wonder if Ditto and Ditta had been responsible for it.

But even so, she was currently more focused on Smeargle. Deep down, as much as she wanted to support her friend, she wanted him to lose this match. She could just tell something was wrong with him and as such, she would support Gothitelle and Mawile as best as she could.

 

With the match between the Aquatic Muscles and the Transforming Terrors having come to a close, Machoke just wanted to rest up and use the half-hour they had as best as he could. He was still worried about Golduck's health, but he also knew she would rather not have him dwell on that.

As such, he and the others minus Scyther and Talonflame, who were off training as usual, and Reika, who decided to watch them, sat down for a quick lunch. But while Machoke certainly enjoyed his food, Aipom could tell something was bothering him. She did not ask as she knew exactly what it was.

"I just really hope there aren't any other villains in this tournament," Cici whimpered, "This has happened in every single one," Gallade nodding and adding, "Have you guys also noticed it's taken one less round for the big reveal?"

The others turned as Hitmonchan nodded and said, "Yeah, from what you told me, Talonflame wasn't exposed until the final match. Meanwhile, Ninetales was revealed in the semi-finals and now Ditto and Ditta in the quarter-finals," Machoke sighing, "And all of those reveals were when I fought them."

"I guess in that sense, you're kinda like a lie detector, aren't you?" Gallade joked with a big grin as Machoke sighed, "Yeah, but sometimes I wish some other hero could take these guys down for me," all going silent until the boy broke out into hysterics along with the others. Needless to say, Aipom was relieved just to see Machoke feeling positive again.

At that moment, the group noticed Florges wandering around deep in thought as Machoke blinked, saying, "Hey, that's Gardevoir's idol friend," the others lowering their eyelids and sighing, "I don't think she's necessarily what you'd call an idol," only for the boy to ignore them and wave happily, exclaiming, "Hey, Florges, wanna join us for lunch!?"

The flower girl blinked and turned to face them. She stood there silently for a few seconds but as she did not wish to upset them, a light smile formed on her face as she approached the group, bowing her head to them.

Cici pushed out a seat for her as she blinked, Aipom nodding and saying, "Go on, take it," the flower girl once again nodding and sitting down with the group.

Sure, she was used to having lunch with friends, but only those she knew well. She had never really interacted with any of Gardevoir's friends outside of Paris before.

However, she was often very good when it came to talking to people, though this was mostly due to her interactions with her fans, and thus she very quickly got over her surprise and said, "Monsieur Machoke, that match was simply incroyable. As I'm sure Gardevoir has told you, I don't have a lot of time to watch TV as when I'm not fighting evil, I'm either performing or doing something else, so these two matches are so far the only times I've ever seen you in action."

Machoke nodded as Hitmonchan said, "You know, you should probably look up some of his other matches in your free time. People often like to upload our matches online. It gives the public a way to see our fights without having to put everything aside for the moment they air on TV."

Florges nodded and smiled lightly, saying, "So there is a way to see Gardevoir's victories for myself. I'll get right on that when I have downtime next," the group grinning before enjoying a bit more smalltalk.

But after a while, Gallade noticed something off as he asked, "Hey, Florges, do you know where Masquerain is? We haven't seen her since she had lunch with us during our second break."

The flower girl's eyes widened in response to this. That was right, no one else knew of the butterfly's injury and how she had lost all consciousness after having her brain stabbed. But as much as Florges did not wish the spoil the moment with such awful news, she knew it would be wrong to keep this concealed from the public.

With that in mind, Florges let out a sigh and replied, "She's currently in the hospital," everyone staring wide-eyed as she added, "She was badly injured after round one ended. I'm not really sure when she'll recover."

Machoke blinked and uttered, "Okay, first Hawlucha and now Masquerain? As if the contestants hospitalized that day weren't enough," Gallade shrugging and replying, "Well, on the upside, I'm pretty sure you just stopped the villains who were likely guilty of this."

Hitmonchan nodded with a light smile and added, "That's a good point. Who else would even be able to pull this off other than the very villains who snuck their way into the tournament?"

However, Florges seemed very uncertain of this. She had a strange feeling that the Transforming Terrors were not the only villains in this tournament, but she still needed confirmation of this belief. It would have been wrong to accuse others of this sort of thing without evidence to back it up.

Either way, Machoke let out a sigh and said, "Well, I hope she gets better. She's actually pretty cool," a grin on his face as Florges thought, 'I really hope so too. I heard that Greninja was able to recover from something like this, so there's no doubt she can do it too, non?'

During this time, two particular heroes who were preparing extra hard were Gothitelle and Mawile. After having seen Smeargle's enormous boost in power, they needed to be ready, though the goth could see the fear on her partner's face, even her mother looking concerned about whether or not her daughter should partake in this match.

Seeing this, Gothitelle took a deep breath and gave the two a sweet smile, saying, "Come on, have a little faith," Mawile and her hair turning to face her as she added, "Remember how tough our last opponents were? We still managed to beat them. I'm sure we can beat these two, and even if we don't, we'll still try our best, right?"

Mawile blinked as her mother made low growling noises, the girl nodding with a big smile and saying, "Yeah, we'll show them just how badass we can truly be!" her hair retorting to her language with a few more growls as she sighed, "Sorry, Mommy."

And with that, the break was over as the seats were once again filled, Nori and Beedrill seated behind their desk as Nori exclaimed, "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the second match of round two! I've gotta say, it's gonna be hard to top that previous match, but I have confidence that these two teams just might be able to pull it off," Beedrill giving her an odd look as he could tell she did not fully believe those words, what with her being a much bigger fan of Machoke.

The crowd was unsure about this too, because while Gothitelle and Mawile had certainly surprised them by getting the upper hand against a much stronger opponent, they did not seem nearly as strong and skilled as Gardevoir and Blaziken. For all the audience knew, this match could very well end up being much shorter.

Even so, Nori would not delay this any longer as she pointed at the Western entrance, exclaiming, "In the red corner, these two have really surprised us so far! They seemed so weak at first but each has proven to be a lot more powerful than expected! Give a round of applause to the Elegant Warriors!" the crowd unsure whether or not to cheer let alone clap as Vespiquen and Smeargle approached the ring.

This time, they were accompanied by a Victorian score as Vespiquen wore a dress, Smeargle dressed in a fancy suit. Both held hands as they reached the ring, each one entering in a delicate manner before bowing to the other. Once again, the team had gone for an entrance that seemed more fitting for a live stage show than a fight.

However, once the entrance was out of the way, many cheered for Smeargle as one exclaimed, "SURPRISE US MORE!" a few people wearing T-shirts with the beagle's face on them, Machoke uttering, "He already has merchandise?" Aipom sighing, "That's the marketing industry for you."

Florges was appalled by this. Sure, she wanted Smeargle to become well-known in the fighting world, but not when he had to almost kill his best friend to make it happen. She prayed that Gothitelle and Mawile would be strong enough to deal with this as she glared at the beagle.

And with that, Nori pointed at the Eastern entrance, stating, "And in the blue corner, two fighters who are a lot tougher than they look! Having defeated an opponent much more powerful than they are, it is my pleasure to reintroduce the Queens of Darkness!"

Many members of the crowd cheered for the two girls as they headed toward the ring with light smiles, waving to the crowd. Much like before, Gothitelle saw no point in setting up a big entrance as Machoke waved at the two, clapping hard and exclaiming, "COME ON, KICK THEIR ASSES!"

The goth gave the boy a quick smile and wave before climbing into the ring, helping Mawile up into it. The younger girl felt much more confident not only because of what Gothitelle had said earlier but because of her shocking victory over Metang, a grin forming on her face.

Vespiquen watched the two closely as the young girl agreed to go first, Gothitelle nodding and accepting this. Now that Mawile was fully confident in herself, this just felt right.

Seeing this, Vespiquen turned to Smeargle, a big grin on his face as she said, "I know you probably wish to take the first go, but I would prefer to start this match."

"Are you certain?" Smeargle remarked as the bee nodded and replied, "Positive," the beagle sighing in disappointment but knowing better than to question the bee. After all, she had helped unlock his true potential. He owed her his full cooperation for that.

Gothitelle scowled, a part of her actually feeling glad that the bee had chosen to go first. After all, she was the one giving off the most negative aura right now and thus the goth wanted her to go down first.

"Remember, watch out for her strings," Gothitelle said as Mawile nodded, Nori ringing the bell to signal the start of the match. As such, Vespiquen wasted no time flying toward the girl before her with her arm out.

Mawile waited for her to get close as her mother made some low growling sounds, the girl nodding and turned around just in time for the hair's jaws to open up, biting into Vespiquen's wrist. The crowd cheered for the girl as the bee's eyes widened, Mawile flinging her hard into the turnbuckle as Gothitelle gave her a light smile.

"That Mawile's awesome!" Machoke exclaimed with a grin as Octillery clapped, shouting, "Good start!"

However, it seemed like it might be too early for people to celebrate as Vespiquen scowled, thinking, 'Alright. Let's see how she handles this.'

With that in mind, the bee once again headed toward Mawile. Like before, the girl was on the defensive as Vespiquen flew over her head, landing behind her. But just as she was about to strike, Mawile's mother went on the attack and sunk her teeth into the bee's wrist again.

The crowd cheered even louder, Smeargle now concerned until the bee winked at him, the beagle's fear turning to a look of understanding as he nodded, readying his tails. And he would soon find a reason to shift them around as Mawile lifted Vespiquen up, shouting, "ALLIGATOR JAW SUPLEX!" slamming the bee's back hard against the mat.

The crowd cheered once again as Nori asked, "Is this really the same Vespiquen who got the drop on Blaziken so quickly in the first round? So far, she's tried nothing but basic moves and as a result has fallen victim to the jaws of Mawile's reincarnated mom!"

"That is still such a hard concept to grasp," Beedrill uttered, "And to think, she and Butterfree used to be allies."

"You know, Nori brings up a good point," Reika uttered, "I'm actually starting to question this. Did Vespiquen honestly believe getting behind the girl, you know, the part where that creepy hair is was a good idea?"

Machoke blinked before shrugging and replying, "Well, it's her fault for not thinking straight. I'm just happy those two have got an early lead," clearly referring to the Queens of Darkness.

It seemed there was more to this than everyone figured as Vespiquen implied a smirk, unleashing the bees from the holes in her abdomen. Seeing this, Gothitelle gasped, "Mawile, look out!" but much to everyone's shock, the bees did not actually come close to the girl's body at all.

Instead, they circled around her mother until she found herself unable to open her mouth, the crowd gasping as Gallade groaned, "I totally should have seen that coming."

Mawile pulled hard only to hear light grunts of pain as she squeaked, "Sorry, Mommy!" Vespiquen implying a wicked smile as she said, "You know, Mawile, you are quite strong for someone so small, or rather you would be if you were the one doing the work."

Mawile's eyes widened as the bee continued, "Think about it. There's no doubt you performed much better than Gothitelle during your last match," Gothitelle nodding and saying, "She's right. You really impressed me."

Mawile gave the goth a light smile in response, but that quickly faded when Vespiquen remarked, "She's giving you way too much credit, because admit it. You weren't really the one who upstaged Gothitelle during that fight. It was all the work of your mother, wasn't it?"

No one knew exactly how to react to this as deep down, they knew Vespiquen had a point. And it seemed even Mawile was considering it as she turned to her mother, the ponytail trying to shake herself like a head, letting out a low whimper.

"Face it," Vespiquen stated, "Without this deformity of yours, you're nothing!" the bee flipping herself over thus lifting up Mawile, the girl's eyes wide open as the bee shouted, "ATTACK ORDER!" Mawile pursing her eyes and mouth shut while Gothitelle was unable to hide her fear. She rarely ever changed her expression, at least in her eyes, and yet in no time flat, she already looked terrified.

However, Mawile was shocked to take in very little pain from the impact of the slam, and soon the reason would be made clear when she turned to notice she had not been on the receiving end. Instead, the top of her ponytail had been planted hard against the canvas as she seemed to be suffering now.

Seeing this, Mawile gritted her teeth and snapped, "NO! I WON'T LET YOU HURT MOMMY!" before rising to her feet and pulling hard. She was no longer trying to free the hair so much as she was trying her hardest to lift Vespiquen up. After all, she had managed to lift the bee over her head earlier, right?

Unfortunately, it seemed she was no longer able to lift up Vespiquen as she implied a smirk, saying, "I knew it. All those times you managed to lift Metang and even when you lifted me earlier were not just you. Your mother was helping you every time, wasn't she? And right now, she doesn't have quite enough strength to add to the force of your throw."

Gothitelle bit her lower lip as Mawile trembled, Vespiquen asking, "I'm right, aren't I?" Machoke uttering, "You know, I'm having a lot of trouble arguing against that."

"Yeah, me too," Aipom whimpered as the others seemed to feel the same, Mawile letting out many deep breaths and turning to Gothitelle, asking, "Am I really a weakling?"

But before the goth could answer that, Vespiquen refused to let the hair recover and thus kept her mouth bound shut, the bee shifting her abdomen back thus pulling the strings toward her. This forced Mawile to get close as Vespiquen sent one set of claws into the hair, the other into the girl. As a result, both were paralysed now as the bee lifted the two up, sending the hair's chin into the mat.

And to end it all, she then swung Mawile around before finally reeling her bees back in thus releasing her hold and allow the two to fly back-first into the turnbuckle. The crowd was truly amazed now as from these few hits, Mawile's mother was already looking weak.

Gothitelle was now truly concerned as despite Mawile having not taken in much pain herself, she did not rise back to her feet. The crowd, even Smeargle and Vespiquen's fans stared at the girl with concern as she sniffed, letting down light tears.

"Oh my god, is she crying!?" Tsuya spat, staring at Vespiquen and barking, "You monster!" the bee implying an eye-roll and sighing, "I was just taking this match seriously. What did you expect me to do, go easy on her?"

'No, she's right,' Gothitelle thought with a frown, 'Mawile's not crying because you harmed her. She can handle that. No, she has a much different reason.'

And this was made clear when she looked up at Gothitelle, whimpering, "It's true, isn't it!? I've never been strong! It's always been Mommy doing everything for me, hasn't it!?"

"No, that's not true!" Octillery remarked, Kecleon saying, "Yeah, I always thought you were tough," Mawile retorting, "That's because you only saw Mommy in action! I rarely ever use my own strength, and when I do, it doesn't have much of an effect!"

"Stop it!" Gothitelle retorted as Mawile gasped and turned to her, her eyes wide with shock as the goth continued, "Look, Mawile, I've known you long enough. It is true that all of your best moves involve you relying on your mother, but keep in mind that even she wouldn't be able to lift up a heavy opponent if you didn't apply some force of our own."

The girl stared with confusion as the goth added, "You have to remember that now with your mother's spirit inside of your hair, she's a part of you. You give her strength just like she does for you!"

Mawile's eyes sparkled as Vespiquen folded her arms and implied an eye-roll, Smeargle actually touched by this. When the bee noticed a light tear forming on his eye, she narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'This Gothitelle might be more of a threat to my plans than I thought.'

And luckily for the bee, it seemed like she might just get a chance at revenge when Gothitelle held out her hand and added, "Right now, though, your mother needs rest, so let me fight in your stead and allow her to recover, alright?" Mawile wiping her tears and nodding with a big smile, sprinting over.

However, the increase in speed seemed unnecessary as Vespiquen did not even attempt to stop the girl, Mawile tagging Gothitelle in as she switched places, the crowd excited once more as Nori stated, "And after a good speech, it seems Gothitelle is ready for action! Let's see if she can make up for the damage Vespiquen dealt earlier!"

The bee folded her arms as Smeargle asked, "Now can I go in there?" the bee replying, "There's one thing I need to do first, then you'll get your turn," the beagle nodding and replying, "Oui."

With that, Gothitelle narrowed her eyelids and said, "You can insult me all you like, but when you mess with one of my friends like you just did, you will suffer my wrath," purple orbs of energy surrounding her hands as Vespiquen chuckled.

"Chivalry might make you sound cool, but will it make you stronger?" the bee asked tauntingly as Gothitelle rushed at her with her hands at the ready. Sure, her style of fighting may have been simpler, but she knew how to strategize.

As such, when Vespiquen sent her claws toward her, the goth easily dodged it before planting her palm hard into her cheek. The bee implied a smirk and asked, "Is that all you got?"

She then proceeded to ram the back of her hand into the goth's cheek, adding, "Come on, I barely felt a thing," only for Gothitelle to retaliate with another palm punch, retorting, "I can tell you're bluffing," striking the bee five times in the chest before sending her flying back a bit.

The crowd cheered for the goth as she folded her arms and said, "I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to get me to use Psyshock in the hopes that Smeargle will sketch it, right?"

Vespiquen's eyes widened as Machoke smirked, saying, "Nice try. It sometimes takes a while, but when Gothitelle sees her opponents in action enough, she can read their tactics like a book."

"Wow, that's actually pretty impressive," Aipom replied with a nod as Vespiquen narrowed her eyes, sighing, "Alright," flying over to Smeargle and tagging him in, saying, "Make sure you draw out that look of terror we saw earlier."

"Oui," the beagle replied with a grin as he leapt over the rope and into the ring. Now the crowd was really unsure of where this would go. Sure, Vespiquen may have been strong, but Smeargle had already proven himself much better.

Before he could attack, Gothitelle took a deep breath and said, "Wait, Smeargle, before we start this, I need to ask you something."

The beagle blinked as the goth asked, "Are you happy with your victory in the first round?" the audience confused by this question, and it seemed Smeargle was just as dumbfounded as he replied, "Pardon, but I don't understand."

"Look, you didn't just win," Gothitelle remarked, "You sent a very good friend of yours to the hospital. You showed this great deal of malice, celebrating the act of hospitalizing your friend as if you just took down a mighty villain. Is this really what you want?"

Florges had a light smile on her face. Having never gotten to know Gothitelle, she never would have guessed that she would be on the same wavelength as her. Perhaps this goth could reach Smeargle and succeed where the flower girl had failed.

Smeargle stared at Gothitelle briefly, a look of both shock and regret on his face. Deep down, he felt that she might very well be right. But unfortunately, that would all change when Vespiquen let out a sigh and said, "She's trying to psyche you out. Don't listen to her."

For whatever reason, these very words seemed to convince the dog as the green aura from before surrounded him, the beagle glaring angrily at Gothitelle and retorting, "Why don't you mind your own bee's wax, you emo bitch!?"

All went silent as no one could believe what they had just heard. Florges' jaw was dropped as Machoke uttered, "Thank god Gardevoir wasn't around to hear that," Gallade nodding and saying, "You just took the words out of my mouth."

Even Gothitelle's eyes went wide as she thought, 'Did he just call me emo?' and before anyone could say anything else, Smeargle growled, "If you're just gonna stand there, I guess I may as well take advantage of it."

Gothitelle snapped out of her trance just in time to see the beagle send a barrage of tail punches her way, shouting, "TRIPLE TAIL BRUSH BARRAGE!"

Gothitelle tried her best to block the incoming strikes, but she could not keep up as she took a hard punch to her chest. And it only got worse from there as Smeargle sent twenty more punches into her, soon striking her with all three tails and sending her flying back.

Mawile gasped and whimpered, "Are you okay?" the goth taking many deep breaths and saying, "Yes, I'll be fine."

However, Gothitelle had never been more unsure of something she had said before in her life. At this point, it seemed like the beagle might very well have been beyond saving. The only way to help him see the light was to beat some sense into him and the goth planned to do just that.

 

So far, things seemed to be going badly for the Queens of Darkness. While each girl had performed well upon first entering the ring, her early advantage had been followed up by an extreme amount of pain from the opponent. However, with Smeargle in the ring, could the girls even get the advantage back?

The crowd was very unsure of this as just from one move from Smeargle, Gothitelle already looked badly beaten. However, the goth had been taught to ignore extreme pain, to treat it like a minor inconvenience. And as such, she held up her hands as energy once again surrounded them.

Smeargle turned his gaze over to Florges and smirked, almost as if to rub his new power in her face. This only made the flower girl want him to lose more as she thought, 'Please, Gothitelle! I want my friend back!'

All the while, Hoopa grinned and squealed, "I almost forgot how proud of Vespiquen I am! She's done such a good job with this one!"

With that, Gothitelle rushed at Smeargle. Just as the beagle was ready to counter, she stopped her attack and swerved to the right. Smeargle followed her movements as she moved again, the audience rather confused by this.

'I need to make sure he can't respond at all,' the goth thought, 'I hate to say it, but I simply can't allow myself to take in more damage. He's unbelievably strong, much more of a threat than Vespiquen.'

And after shifting around enough, Smeargle was starting to lose focus as the goth saw the opportunity, forming two blue energy blobs around her hands as she stated, "Now that you're no longer watching me, you can't copy this," and thus the goth sent both of her palms hard into Smeargle's cheek, shouting, "PSYSHOCK!"

The crowd went wild as the beagle flew away from her, hitting the turnbuckle hard as Nori exclaimed, "And after lowering her opponent's defences, Gothitelle makes up for the damage dealt to her earlier with her infamous Psyshock!"

However, after witnessing the beagle stand up after all the damage he had taken in during his match with the Fiery Beauties, Gothitelle knew this would not be enough. And just as she suspected, he easily recovered from the hit, rubbing his cheek with a smirk.

"Pas mal," Smeargle said, "Your Psyshock is quite a force to be reckoned with, but compared to the moves Mademoiselle Gardevoir used on me, this is but a joke."

The crowd gasped as Machoke uttered, "Is he serious?" Reika sighing, "Well, you can't deny Gothitelle doesn't quite have Gardevoir's physical strength."

"That's true," Cici stated, "That's why she's relying on strategy. If she keeps this up, she might actually win."

The odds of that happening seemed to dwindle when Beedrill rang the bell, stating, "And the five minutes are up, folks! Time for the tornado tag portion of this match!" the crowd cheering wildly as Vespiquen entered the ring, saying, "It's a shame you let yourself fall victim to that move, but you clearly dealt more damage than she did, so good job all the same," the beagle grinning at her.

Mawile crawled under the rope into the ring, Gothitelle asking, "How are you, Wendy?" the hair giving her a low growl as Mawile smiled lightly and said, "Mommy's fine. She just needed a little rest."

Gothitelle breathed a sigh of relief as she said, "Good, because I might need your help."

"You hear that?" Vespiquen remarked, holding her hands against her side with a chuckle, "Even Gothitelle knows that you can't possibly fight us without that abomination of yours."

Machoke gritted his teeth and growled, "That girl pisses me off," Talonflame asking, "Be honest, guys, was I this bad?"

However, it seemed the bee's words no longer had any effect as Mawile sighed, "You're absolutely right," the bee blinking as the girl added, "Without Mommy, I wouldn't be strong enough to fight you let alone anyone else, but she also needs me for movement. I'm the one who gets her close enough to attack you. In that sense, we still make for a very good team," the ponytail grinning and letting out happy grunts and growls.

Some members of the crowd cheered for the girl as Vespiquen sighed, "You won't be so tough when we put her out of commission again," only for Mawile to give Gothitelle a serious look, saying, "Now."

The goth nodded and lifted her ally up by her hind legs, swinging her around while the crowd stared. Mawile then tucked her upper body in to resemble a flail with her mother at the ready, Gothitelle flinging her toward Vespiquen as the two exclaimed, "ALLIGATOR JAW FLAIL!"

Vespiquen braced herself only for Smeargle to get in the way, the ponytail opening her jaws and clamping them hard onto his head. Mawile's fans cheered as blood squirted out of the indents that formed, Smeargle gritting his teeth as Vespiquen blinked, Gothitelle smiling lightly. That went better than she had planned.

Or at least it seemed that way until Smeargle placed his hands firmly against the sides of the ponytail's mouth, forcing it open with so much ease, it looked like no effort had been put into it whatsoever. And it only got worse as he said, "By the way, thanks for showing me your signature move back there."

Mawile's eyes widened as the tips of Smeargle's tails came together to form a bigger paintbrush, the brush coming open to reveal a mouth with a set of razor sharp teeth. The crowd gasped as the mouth bit down on Mawile's mother, the ponytail whimpering as Smeargle threw his tails back, slamming Mawile's back hard against the mat and shouting, "ALLIGATOR JAW SUPLEX!"

Some members of the crowd cheered wildly for Smeargle while others looked beyond concerned, Nori stating, "And Smeargle has just expertly used Mawile's own finishing move to damage both her and her mother at the same time!" Beedrill groaning, "I know this is a fight between heroes, but that was painful to watch."

Gothitelle gritted her teeth before charging at the beagle only for Vespiquen to get in the way, unleashing her bees again. However, the goth knew exactly what to expect as she tried to dodge only for Smeargle to dash behind her, wrapping his arms around her and taking to the sky.

"It would seem Smeargle plans to use one of the three moves he learned from sketching Gardevoir!" Nori exclaimed as the beagle flipped himself one-hundred and eighty degrees, spinning while wind surrounded him. He then smirked and exclaimed, "THAT'S RIGHT! I HOPE GARDEVOIR IS CONSCIOUS ENOUGH TO SEE THIS IN THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE I WANT HER TO SEE HOW MUCH SHE HAS HELPED MOI!"

Florges gritted her teeth, thinking, 'Lucky for him, she's still unconscious! If she really did witness this, I'd go in there and teach him a lesson! I don't care if it's a violation of the rules!'

Gothitelle was truly frightened now as Smeargle exclaimed, "TORNADO BUSTER!" slamming her skull hard against the canvas, the goth coughing up blood as her eyes and mouth were wide open, the beagle releasing his hold and allowing her to collapse.

Smeargle's fans cheered him on while everyone else stared in silence, Machoke breaking that as he uttered, "She's gonna be okay, right?" a look of terror in his eyes.

One thing was for certain and it was that both Queens of Darkness were unconscious. As such, Nori started up the ten count as Vespiquen implied a light smile, saying, "Excellent work, Smeargle. You performed even better this time around."

But just as Nori reached six, Mawile had finally recovered from the damage dealt earlier, breathing heavily as she stared at her ally, her eyes wide open with fear. Sure, she was still standing, but could she possibly hold her own against these two?

Even the audience was unsure of this as Vespiquen turned and said, "You should have stayed down," Smeargle ready to finish what he had started only for the bee to hold out her arm, adding, "As a fellow hero, though, I know how to be merciful. You are the youngest fighter in this tournament. While everyone else is either fifteen of sixteen, you are merely thirteen. Not only that, but you are not exactly the most physically fit for this sort of thing."

Mawile bit her lower lip, the bee adding, "As such, I will give you the option to surrender. If you forfeit right now, you and your teammate will be spared from further pain."

The girl's eyes widened as she had no idea what to do right now. On one hand, it would be disgraceful to give up, but on the other hand, she did not wish to see Gothitelle suffer any longer. Besides, the two had actually made it past the first round. That was more than Mawile had actually expected to pull off.

Even her mother was unsure of how to respond to this. She had full confidence in her daughter, but on the other hand, she did not wish to see her hospitalized.

But just as Mawile was about to agree to Vespiquen's terms, she noticed Gothitelle's hand start to twitch, a serious look forming as she squeaked, "No!"

Many members of the audience gasped as she added, "You're right, I'm not even sure if I can win this, but I'm not going down without a fight! Gothitelle would have fought to the bitter end no matter what and I plan to do the same!"

Mawile's mother proceeded to let out low growling sounds with a big grin, the girl beaming with pride as Vespiquen folded her arms and sighed, "Alright, but remember, this is your decision."

With that in mind, the bee flew toward Mawile with her claws at the ready only for her to dodge to the right, her mother latching onto her arm. Vespiquen winced from the pain as Mawile proceeded to spin her body around, swinging her opponent as Smeargle rushed toward her. Luckily, though, this was exactly what Mawile hoped he would do as when he got close enough, her mother released her hold thus sending Vespiquen head-first into her ally, Smeargle grunting as he fell on his back.

The crowd cheered for the girl as she leapt high into the air, spinning vertically above the two and flipping herself upside-down. Her mother than opened and curved her mouth just enough for her front jaws to point outward, Mawile descending toward the Elegant Warriors and shouting, "ALLIGATOR WARHEAD!"

And with that, the jaws rammed hard into Vespiquen's gut as she coughed up a bit of green blood, Smeargle taking in slight pain from this as well. The crowd cheered even louder as Mawile leapt away from the two, noticing Gothitelle starting to gain more movement back as she smiled lightly, feeling quite proud of herself for at least pulling off this much.

"Wow!" Nori exclaimed with a big grin, "I don't think anyone expected this, but Mawile has managed to hold her own against the Elegant Warriors with two very simple yet effective moves!"

However, just as expected, this was nowhere near good enough to defeat her opponents as Vespiquen slowly but surely positioned herself upright, dusting off her abdomen as if it was an actual dress. And Smeargle soon rose to his feet as well, glaring angrily at Mawile.

'Non!' Florges thought with a look of disappointment, 'I knew that wouldn't be enough to finish them off, but I was really hoping it would be!'

Before Smeargle could attempt revenge, his eyes widened as he received multiple blows to the back, the crowd cheering once more when they saw Gothitelle was the one behind it. As it just so happened, she had recovered at this exact moment and was sending an onslaught of palm punches into the beagle.

'I won't let up!' she thought with a look of determination, 'This guy is clearly too strong! I can't allow him to land another hit!'

Smeargle's tails started to shift as the goth realized she would need to end her attack. As such, she dealt two hard palm punches into the back of his head, sending the beagle flying forward as he fell flat on his face, the crowd going wild as Nori exclaimed, "As if Mawile's comeback wasn't impressive enough, Gothitelle makes an incredible recovery and deals even more damage to Smeargle!"

"Yeah, way to go, girls!" Machoke exclaimed with a big smile, Octillery clapping and adding, "Good show! You two are awesome!"

Vespiquen narrowed her eyelids and wasted no time unleashing her bees, saying, "I'm impressed the two of you actually managed to pull off such a miracle, but I assure you it won't last," three bees flying toward each girl.

Mawile attempted to dodge but unlike before, the she was the one bound by the strings as opposed to her mother. And while Gothitelle had recovered, it had taken a lot out of her just to unleash all of those palm punches to Smeargle and thus she found herself caught as well. And despite only three strings being used on each girl this time, it still proved effective as Vespiquen spun her body around, swinging both of them while Smeargle recovered just in time to witness this.

"ATTACK ORDER CAROUSEL!" the bee exclaimed as she flew over to the nearest turnbuckle, ramming Gothitelle's head and Mawile's mother repeatedly against it while her fans cheered for her, Beedrill shouting, "Would you look at that onslaught!? After taking in a surprising amount of pain earlier, Vespiquen plans to end it all for good!"

While taking in the multiple blows, Gothitelle's eyes turned violet as she gritted her teeth, a dark aura resonating from her. Everyone stared in confusion as she lifted up her hands as high as they could go, taking hold of Vespiquen's strings before applying enough force to stop her from swinging them.

The bee's eyes widened as she soon found herself flung into the turnbuckle, the Queens of Darkness freed from their bindings as the aura left the goth. Gothitelle then sported a light smile and thought, 'I finally did it. I finally unleashed my family's hidden power.'

However, it seemed this was not enough as Smeargle growled and exclaimed, "Alright, you've proven yourself to be more of a nuisance than I first thought! As such, I'll deal with you first!"

And it seemed he might just be able to do that as Mawile stroked her mother with concern, whimpering, "Mommy? Are you okay?" the ponytail not even moving now. Her mouth was stuck hanging open while panic filled the girl.

Even Octillery was concerned as she uttered, "Oh no, is she going to be okay?" Kecleon shaking his head and replying, "I don't know. I've never actually seen someone successfully knock out her hair before. I mean, apparently Gothitelle managed to do it, but I didn't witness that."

However, the goth noticed Vespiquen seemed to be struggling to get up as she said, "Don't worry, Mawile, I'll do my best," her purple spheres appearing around her hands once more.

Panic soon rose among her fans, Machoke wanting even less to face Smeargle in the semi-finals as suddenly, the paintbrush tips on his tails opened up, revealing big fountain pen tips. As if he had not already been scary enough, now he had a sharp weapon to use on his opponents.

Gothitelle was actually frightened and had trouble hiding it as Smeargle smirked, saying, "You know, Gothitelle, I'm a tad disappointed that you of all heroes wound up being my opponent for the second round," many confused by this.

The goth tried her hardest to look like this did not offend her, but the beagle saw right through this as he added, "First of all, your fighting style is, how you say, predictable. Your moves lack variety. But what's more is that you act all tough and uncaring in the face of danger when deep down, you're just as scared as your much younger and more openly-sensitive partner."

Mawile stared wide-eyed as Smeargle added, "I will say this, you were right when you told Mawile that she was still good enough to keep fighting. While it is true her mother is the key to all of her attacks, at least the moves she can dish out are impressive and even unpredictable at times. And like you said, part of the reason her mother's moves work so well is because Mawile adds her own strength to make each one more effective."

The crowd was unsure where this was going as Vespiquen slowly recovered, hearing this and wondering the same thing herself, the beagle adding, "In fact, if it weren't for little Mawile, you wouldn't have even made it to the first round, let alone past it!"

Many people were mortified to hear this, though they had trouble arguing against it. Florges bit her lower lip as Machoke spat, "DON'T LET HIM TALK TO YOU LIKE THAT!"

"See that?" Smeargle remarked, "Only your friends are willing to stick up for you right now, but deep down, even they know that I speak the truth. Your powers of darkness might make your palm punches strong, but when that is literally the only form of attack you have, it makes you extremely predictable."

Gothitelle gritted her teeth, trying her hardest not to let his words get under her skin as the beagle added, "It is said that you defeated Mawile in the Reverse World, but let me ask you something? Did you actually knock her out?"

Gothitelle let out a sigh and replied, "No. I knocked out her mother and then she gave up after that, but not because her mother was unconscious. It was because I managed to talk some sense into her," Mawile biting her lower lip, remembering all of that perfectly.

"I was right, you are weak," Smeargle remarked with a smirk before sending the now-sharp tips of his tails toward her at a rapid pace, barking, "TRIPLE TAIL PEN BARRAGE!"

The goth tried her hardest to block the incoming strikes with her hands, but each time, the pen tips would leave big holes in her palms. Eventually, she could no longer handle the pain as she dropped her guard, taking in multiple stabs to her torso, her dress ripped in quite a few areas.

Needless to say, many members of the crowd were horrified at the sight of this as Octillery spat, "COME ON, KEEP FIGHTING!" as another member of the crowd barked, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, MAWILE!? HELP YOUR PARTNER!"

'That's right!' the girl thought with her eyes wide open before charging forward, thinking, 'Mommy may not be able to help me, but I can still-' only for her train of thought to end when Vespiquen flew hard into her with her elbow planted into her gut.

She then unleashed her bees once more as Mawile found herself bound, Vespiquen saying, "That's enough, Smeargle. Let's end this," the beagle ending his tail assault and nodding.

With that, he performed a handstand and wrapped his left and right tails around Gothitelle's arms, leaping backward thus hurling the goth over his head. And once she was close enough, Vespiquen flipped her own body all the way around, swinging Mawile hard into Gothitelle's head, the Elegant Warriors shouting, "ATTACK ARMY!"

With that, both Mawile and Gothitelle were out cold as Nori started the ten count, Machoke getting up and shouting, "HEY, GET UP, YOU GUYS!" Octillery and Kecleon doing the same.

Many members of the crowd cheered for the Queens of Darkness including Machoke's friends, but ultimately, neither were able to get up by the ten count as Nori rang the bell, exclaiming, "And after a rather intense match, this victory goes to the Elegant Warriors!"

Smeargle's fans gave a loud cheer as everyone else was naturally mortified. Once again, this had been one of the most brutal losses the crowd had witnessed as Gothitelle was bleeding all over, Mawile and her mother unable to move.

"GOTHITELLE!" Machoke spat as he got up from his seat and ran toward the ring, Aipom joining him as Florges looked down, getting up from her seat and slowly heading toward the exit. It was official. Smeargle was lost to her now.

As Machoke approached his friend, he looked at her with concern and uttered, "Uh, you okay there?" Gothitelle giving him a light smile and uttering, "You can defeat him. I'm sure... sure of it," the goth letting out a light cough before losing all consciousness.

Machoke was horrified beyond compare as medics came in to load the goth onto a stretcher. Aipom looked at the boy with concern and bit her lower lip. She had thought quite a bit about Machoke's predicament regarding the next match and now she was certain she had come up with a solution.

And as the boy watched Gothitelle and Mawile leave the area, Octillery frowning and said, "I'll be sure to win my next match for you, just you wait!" Aipom patting Machoke on the back and saying, "Hey, don't worry about the next match."

The boy turned to her as she gave him a light smile, saying, "I promise that come the day of the semi-finals, I'll have a new partner for you. I know exactly who to turn to," Machoke's eyes widening as a big grin formed.

"You're the best trainer a guy like me could ever have!" he exclaimed as he picked her up for a tight embrace, Aipom's eyes widening as she wheezed, "Can't breathe!"

But as happy as the boy was to hear these words, he still hoped Gothitelle and Mawile would be okay. After all, their beating actually looked more brutal than what Gardevoir and Blaziken dealt with.

With that, Beedrill cleared his throat and stated, "Well, that wraps up the second match of the day. As such, there will be an hour-long break before the next match. You may all go and do whatever you wish, but remember to be back soon."

With that, the crowd got up to exit the area, Scyther and Talonflame once again ready to train. They would get in as much preparation as possible for their match as they knew just how strong Hoopa and Diancie were.

Of course, Octillery and Kecleon would use this time to hone their skills as well while Heracross and Lopunny did the same. Sure, they would be going up against friends, but neither team would dare take the other lightly. At this time, each team would treat the other like strangers and do the best they could to win.

 

With the second round over, everyone was ready for a long break. Though Machoke really hoped that his new partner would be amazing as he certainly needed this.

As he and his friends were enjoying some downtime, Reika and Tsuya having once again left the group to check up on Scyther and Talonflame, Florges approached the boy and tapped him on the shoulder. Machoke turned to look at her with a light smile, saying, "Oh, hey there, Florges."

The flower girl gave him a sweet smile and said, "Just to let you know, I'm gonna take off to check up on Gardevoir and Masquerain, but I have something I need to ask you first," the boy almost one-hundred percent certain he knew where this was going, the others thinking the same thing.

Placing a firm grip on the boy's shoulders, Florges looked deep into his eyes and asked, "Can you promise me that you will defeat Smeargle in the semi-finals? If there is anyone in this tournament I truly believe can pull this off, it's you."

Machoke was uncertain of whether or not he could really promise such a thing. Sure, he had dealt with insanely powerful opponents before. He had made a big name for himself by saving the world from Giratina all on his own. If anything, he truly did seem like the perfect fighter for this.

But even so, Smeargle in his current state terrified the boy, more so than any other opponent he had ever faced. Talonflame seemed like a joke in comparison and Lucario during the Olympics, despite so far being the only fighter to defeat Machoke under fair circumstances was nowhere near as intimidating. But even so, Machoke had promised Gardevoir that he would make up for her and Blaziken's loss prior to this moment.

As such, a confident smile formed on his face as he nodded and stated, "I promise," Florges giving him a light smile of her own and shaking his hand with both of hers, sighing, "Merci beaucoup. Gardevoir really is lucky to have you."

Gallade and Cici both smiled warmly at this as Hitmonchan sighed, "Good old Machoke," before looking around and asking, "By the way, where did Aipom go?"

"She said she was gonna meet up with my new partner," Machoke replied as Gallade shrugged and replied, "Well, good to know you'll have someone to fight alongside you. You're awesome, but let's face it, you'll need all the help you can get."

"Yeah, don't remind me," Machoke sighed with his eyelids lowered.

And during this time, Aipom had walked quite a ways from the Tokyo Dome, the monkey letting out a sigh and reaching into a handbag she had brought with her. She then pulled out her cellphone and dialled a few numbers with her tail finger, holding the phone up to her ear and biting her lower lip. She could not believe she was doing this, but why? What was she up to that made her so nervous?

After a few seconds, the monkey got a response as a familiar voice came from the other line, asking, "Hello, who may I ask is calling?" Aipom taking a deep breath and replying, "Hey, Mommy. How are you?"

"Why, hello, Aipom!" the older monkey, Ambipom, exclaimed with the biggest grin, "I'm doing just peachy! I've had so many students surprise me this year, you wouldn't believe it!"

Aipom smiled lightly and replied, "That's good to hear," before sighing and biting her lower lip, Ambipom asking, "So, why did you call me? It sounds like you have more in mind than smalltalk."

"Yeah," the younger monkey replied, "See, I've just made the most extreme decision that I've probably ever made. You've watched Machoke's matches on TV, right?"

"Oh, yes," Ambipom replied, "Wouldn't miss that for a second. After all, he's your student," Aipom sighing, "Well, not so much anymore. I've seen him really work well on his own lately, but as you're probably aware, his partner in today's match, Golduck, won't be able to fight."

"Oh yes, I saw that," the older monkey stated with a frown, "That Ditta had no right using such a horrible technique, especially since it's not even her own."

"Well, Machoke really needs a new partner, and I want him to have the best partner he could possibly have for this match," Aipom replied, "There are options, but I'm not sure if any of his other friends can really help him that much. Gallade's fine, but you've seen his track record. Hitmonchan I'm not so sure about, Barbaracle I haven't seen lately and, well, Hawlucha's still in the hospital."

"Oh my, that is quite the dilemma," Ambipom replied with a nod, "But I'm guessing you've chosen a replacement partner, right?" Aipom sighing, "Actually, I have an idea, but I want to know if it's a good one."

Ambipom was all ears now as Aipom had trouble letting the words out. After roughly twenty seconds, she uttered, "I plan on being Machoke's partner in the semi-finals."

Aipom expected at least silence on the other end but was shocked when Ambipom squealed with excitement, replying, "Oh my god, I am so proud of you! I can't imagine a better partner for Machoke right now!"

The younger monkey went silent. She could not believe it. Her mother truly thought this was a good idea? Heck, Aipom herself was unsure of whether or not this was the best decision, so to get so much support from Ambipom amazed her to no end.

"Wow, thanks," Aipom said with a light smile, "It's great that you think so, but honestly, I'm not sure if I'm really ready for this," Ambipom sighing, "Well, you may be right about that."

Aipom was now confused as she remarked, "Didn't you just say I was the best pick?" Ambipom replying, "Of course, but knowing a lot about fighting and having actual experience are two completely different things. What I mean is that you're not ready yet, but I know three heroes who can help you. They taught me how to fight when I needed help and I can guarantee they will help you in time for the semi-finals."

Aipom's eyes sparkled as Ambipom added, "Luckily for you, they live in a dojo located within Tokyo, so it won't take you a long time to find them."

And with that, Ambipom gave her the address. After having lived in Tokyo for as long as she had, Aipom knew exactly where to go as she gave her mother a big 'thank you'. There was no way she would let Machoke down.

Meanwhile, Florges was about to exit the dome when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She slowly turned to see Smeargle standing right there as a look of panic formed on her face.

"Look, Smeargle, I'm not going to try and convince you to stop what you're doing anymore," she protested as the beagle took hold of her neck, remarking, "Oh, I don't care about that! You can try and convince me this is wrong all you want, but I won't let your words get to moi!"

Now Florges was confused as she hacked a bit, grunting, "Then why are you-?" only for Smeargle to smirk and remark, "Because Vespiquen tells me that you are still a threat to moi. As such, I can't feel at ease unless you're in the hospital too."

Florges' eyes widened as he added, "I would kill you, but we have history. Not even I would go so far as to end the life of a former friend. It's not in my nature."

While it was reassuring to know a small part of his old personality was still there, Smeargle still terrified Florges as she put on a serious look. With that in mind, she formed a vine around each of her arms, forming two lances as she snapped, "I just want to visit Masquerain in the hospital! You can't stop moi from doing that!"

With that, she jabbed both vines into the beagle's shoulders only for Smeargle to ignore the pain, smirking and saying, "I'm afraid you have no choice," as he leaned backward, planting the back of her neck into the floor, causing her to remove the vines.

And it did not end there as he proceeded to strike her multiple times with the tips of his tails, covering her in holes as he laughed hysterically, shouting, "DO YOU FEEL IT, MADEMOISELLE FLORGES!? THIS IS HOW IT FELT TO SUFFER NOTHING BUT TERRIBLE PAIN WITHOUT ANY WAY TO DEFEND MYSELF EVERY SINGLE TIME I STEPPED INTO THE RING! YOU WOULDN'T KNOW THAT BECAUSE YOU'VE NEVER LOST A MATCH BEFORE!"

Green blood splattered from inside of the flower girl as she trembled and uttered, "I know you were weak before, but I never stopped believing in you," Smeargle retorting, "SHUT UP, YOU LIAR!" the beagle lifting her up with his tails and turning her so her back was facing him.

He then wrapped his left and right tails around her hand while binding her legs with the lower one, pulling hard and shouting, "BEAGLE BACKBREAKER!" as he applied a great deal of force.

A loud crack could be heard as Florges' eyes and mouth were wide with both agony and shock. With that, Smeargle released his hold and allowed her to collapse, the flower girl out cold.

Smeargle folded his arms and nodded, saying, "Don't worry, someone will come by and get you medical attention," before smirking and adding, "It's pretty funny, actually. Now you're the one getting treatment."

After roughly thirty minutes, the crowd had returned to their seats. Sure, they had another ten minutes left, but they did not wish to risk being late for the next match. Though Machoke at the very least was looking more forward to this match as the two teams competing were good friends, therefor neither side would show malice toward the other.

And while the crowd waited, Aipom had arrived at the dojo she was headed for. Luckily for her, it was not particularly far from the Tokyo Dome and thus she was able to make it quickly. As such, the monkey took a deep breath and put on a serious look, saying, "Alright, Mom, I'm ready," as she proceeded toward the front door.

Back at the Tokyo Dome, the crowd was settled as Nori exclaimed, "Alright, folks, it's time for the third match to begin! I have to say, this has been a very exciting round so far, but can it possibly get more intense!? Well, we might just get our answer soon enough!"

With that, the woman pointed at the Western entrance, stating, "In the red corner, despite both having a massive strength difference, the two actually work really well as was shown in their previous match. With great strength and cunning, the Vanishing Muscles!"

The crowd cheered until they noticed Octillery attempting one of Machoke's typical entrances. The octopus was riding on a unicycle with Kecleon balanced atop her head, the chameleon groaning, "Look at those stares. I told you this was a bad idea."

"These entrances always seem to help Machoke," the octopus replied, "Perhaps they'll do the same for us!" before leaping off of the unicycle and landing on her two middle tentacles and holding out her others, some members of the crowd clapping.

Machoke grinned and exclaimed, "That was actually pretty cool!" the octopus shooting him a light smile and thinking, 'Good to know he approves.'

"And in the blue corner," Nori stated, "these two are also different when it comes to strength but work just as well as a team. With speed and muscle, these two are sure to blow us away once more, and they are none other than the Bouncing Biceps!"

The crowd cheered including Gallade, the boy saying, "I hope those two win," Hitmonchan nodding and replying, "After the way they beat us, I want to at least see them make it to the semi-finals."

And sure enough, their entrance was rather grand, though since the two had more time to prepare, they managed to assemble a float complete with hired dancers, all of them dancing along to an Egyptian beat while Lopunny, sporting her finest dress, performed a snake dance. Heracross, meanwhile, impressed the crowd by carrying the float all by himself atop his horn, showing the crowd just how strong he truly was, a big grin on his face.

Once the two were close enough, the beetle set the float down as he and Lopunny leapt into the ring with their arms out, Machoke grinning even wider as he exclaimed, "I can't tell a lie! That was also beyond cool!" Lopunny chuckling as Heracross sighed, "You know, I'd say he's been a bad influence on you, but your entrances are always at least more graceful than his."

All the while, Aipom had wandered the halls of the dojo for a bit before reaching the training room, biting her lower lip nervously before sliding the door open. She then noticed the instructors her mother had spoken of, three monkeys in their forties to be exact.

The first of this trio was a rather flabby monkey with cream-coloured fur on his torso save for his hip area, fingers and toes. The rest of him was covered in red fur. His tail resembled a long puff of smoke and puffy white tufts of fur surrounded his shoulders. Finally, atop his head was fur that resembled a campfire. For some reason, his eyes were closed shut despite the others having their eyes open.

Another one was taller and more slender with with the cream colour in the same places, only the area around his mouth also had the same colour. The rest of him was covered in green fur that was shaped to resemble grass. Atop his head was a bush-like crest that resembled a pompadour and more pointy white fur on his shoulders. His tail was more like a normal monkey tail save for the tip, which had leaf-like formations on it.

The last of the trio had her cream-coloured fur on her arms, legs and tail, save for the tip. The rest of her was covered in blue fur, with that of her torso resembling a dress. The fur atop her head resembled dreadlocks, each lock coiled up at the bottom. And to top it off, the tip of her tail had a blue plume that resembled a water spout.

Upon seeing the girl, the green one smiled lightly and said, "Oh, hello there, Miss. I can't remember the last time someone came here," the blue one giving her a light wave before pulling out a chalkboard, writing 'Hello' on it and turning it forward so Aipom could read it.

"You're right," the red one stated, turning toward the green monkey, "It's been over ten years since someone came here," before turning to face Aipom and saying, "State your name and business."

The purple monkey blinked, find it rather odd that the red monkey could see with his eyes closed like that. However, she nodded and replied, "My name's Aipom. I was told that you all helped my mom become a really good fighter in her youth. Her name's Ambipom. Do you remember her?"

"Oh, did you hear that?" the red monkey replied with a grin, turning to the green one who stared at him as he sighed, "Oh, that's right, of course you didn't."

"So you do remember my mom?" Aipom asked as the blue monkey nodded with a big smile, pulling out her chalkboard and writing on it before turning around and revealing the message 'Oh yes, she was our best, most prominent and only student.'

"A bit of a live-wire, she was," the green monkey added with a grin as Aipom blinked, uttering, "I'm confused. Didn't your ally just say you couldn't hear me say that?"

"Yes, that's why I read lip movements," the green one replied, the monkey now confused as the red one sighed, "Guess we may as well introduce ourselves so she gets the idea."

With that in mind, the red monkey rose to his feet and folded his arms, saying, "A pleasure to meet you, daughter of Ambipom. I am Simisear, the monkey warrior of fire," the green one rising up and adding, "And I am Simisage, the monkey warrior of grass."

The blue monkey then rose up and wrote on her chalkboard again, pointing it toward Aipom as it said 'And I am Simipour, the monkey warrior of water,' before writing down another message and holding it up as all three struck cool poses while Simisear and Simisage exclaimed, "We are the three wise simians!"

Simisear's ear twitched as he asked, "Why don't I hear the background music?" Simipour quickly writing down 'Sorry' before tapping her foot against a small button in front of her, a party ball coming down from the ceiling above them and releasing streamers, a nineties J-pop song playing in the background as Simisear groaned, "It's too late now!" slapping his forehead.

Aipom was rather confused by all of this. Were these three really great masters of fighting? They hardly seemed fit for it. And it was not just their weird attempt at looking cool while introducing themselves that made her curious, either. Something else struck her right off the bat.

"Oh, I think I just realized what's going on!" the purple monkey exclaimed, pointing at Simisear and stating, "You're blind," pointing at Simisage and adding, "You're deaf," then directing her attention to Simipour and saying, "And you can't talk."

Simipour nodded with a big smile, Simisear replying, "Well, that should have been obvious from the get-go, but hey, no one picks up on everything right away, am I right?" shrugging his shoulders.

However, upon realizing she was right, Aipom was not so sure about this now as she looked down, uttering, "Does that mean you can't help me?" Simisage unable to see her lips this time as he uttered, "What did she say?"

"Trust me, you don't need to worry about that," Simisear replied, "We were born like this. If we were able to teach your mother how to fight years ago in our condition, we can teach you how to fight," Aipom's eyes sparkling.

Despite their disabilities, the trio seemed more than capable just from their confidence alone. Perhaps this could all work out in her favour.

Back in the Tokyo Dome, both Kecleon and Lopunny looked like they had dealt quite a bit of damage to one-another earlier as each was on the sidelines, Octillery and Heracross now going at it. The octopus spun her body around, sending her tentacles at Heracross while the beetle held up his arms. He took in some slight pain to them, but this did prevent him from taking in extreme damage.

"Octillery has Heracross on the defensive as she sends an onslaught of tentacle slaps his way," Nori stated, "Surely the kabuto can't keep that up forever."

'You're right, lass,' the beetle thought with a smirk as he saw an opening, his horn glowing as he sent it hard into Octillery's skull, shouting, "MEGAHORN!"

The crowd cheered for him as the octopus groaned in pain, rubbing her head and leaping away from him to keep her distance. Now she needed a new tactic as Kecleon asked, "You okay?" the octopus nodding and replying, "Come on, you know I can take much more than this."

With that in mind, the octopus lunged at Heracross again as the beetle readied his horn. But just was he was about to strike, Octillery leapt over his head, landing behind him before wrapping her tentacles around his arms and legs, pulling hard on them while the crowd cheered for her now, Heracross gritting his teeth with his eyes wide open.

While this went on, Aipom sat before the monkey trio as Simisear asked, "So, little one, why is it that you seek our help? Has a great evil risen up? When Ambipom turned to us, that was her reason. She wished to fight alongside her pupil, Machamp, to help put an end to the mighty Groudon and his allies."

"Well, this is so I can help Machamp's son, Machoke," Aipom replied as Simipour wrote on her chalkboard, turning it toward the younger monkey so she could see 'This villain must be terrible for him to need your help' written on it.

"That's the thing, I'm not even sure," Aipom replied, "The thing is, he's currently fought through the first two rounds of the Ultimate World Team Tournament. He's done a good job, but both of his partners have been badly injured and won't be able to fight alongside him. I figure I would be the best replacement, but I'm not sure if I'm good enough yet."

"Well, much like Ambipom, it is admirable that you realized teaching someone to fight and actually fighting yourself are two different things," Simisear replied with his arms folded, "But on the other hand, this is a very shallow reason to fight. Truth be told, we've never seen the importance of tournaments. All they do is make a show out of what's supposed to be a serious career."

Simisage nodded and added, "Yes, we see no reason to help. I'm sure his next opponent will be really powerful, but if he loses this match, it won't be the end of the world."

Aipom's eyes widened as she whimpered, "But Mom said you'd be happy to help," Simisear retorting, "Well, clearly she doesn't know us as well as she thinks. I'm sure this is all really important to you, but we really couldn't care less about something so trivial as a fight between heroes."

Aipom bit her lower lip as light tears rolled down her cheeks. Simisage and Simipour actually looked a tad guilty for agreeing with Simisear now, but the red monkey would not allow himself to be swayed by the sounds of crying. He merely saw it as an act of immaturity and thus, he waved his hand at Aipom to signal her to leave.

However, Aipom realized she could not let this go as she put on a serious look and retorted, "You know what!? Fine, I'll go train myself! I bet you three aren't even as good as they say! I mean, how are you supposed to be masters of fighting if you can't even use all the senses!?"

Simisage clasped his hands over his mouth, Simipour drawing a pair of wide eyes on her chalkboard and holding it in front of her face. Simisear, meanwhile, frowned as this seemed to get under his skin, the red monkey rising to his feet and grunting, "You underestimate our skills!? Alright, we'll show you exactly what we're made of! If you can beat each one of us individually with no breaks between fights, we'll teach you everything you need to know! But if you lose, we never want to see you again!"

Simisage and Simipour gave their brother an odd look as he growled, "Right!?" the two nodding as Simisage faked a grin, saying, "Uh, yeah, of course."

'No breaks?' Aipom thought with a look of terror in her eyes, Simisage not sure whether to point this out to his brother or not.

However, the purple monkey knew she would have to do this if she was to ever be worthy of fighting alongside Machoke. She had just convinced Simisear to give her a chance. There was no way she would pass this up, and thus she sported a more serious look and bowed her head.

 

It would not be long until both teams were to join each-other, but at the moment, things were starting to look surprisingly favourable for the Vanishing Muscles as Octillery rammed her head hard into Heracross' chest while covered in ink. The beetle fell hard on his back as the crowd cheered, Nori stating, "And Octillery's Octazooka continues to pack a punch!"

And it did not stop there as the octopus leapt high above him, pointing two of her tentacles toward his head while spinning in mid-air. And before Heracross could even respond, he took both tentacles to the gut, crying out in pain as Lopunny squeaked, "Are you okay, Heracross!?"

At that moment, the bell rang as Beedrill exclaimed, "And it would seem the tornado tag portion has begun!" Lopunny wasting no time leaping into the ring and propelling herself toward Octillery, sending both of her feet hard into her back while her fans cheered.

Seeing this, Kecleon wasted no time whipping out his tongue and binding it to her right ear only for the rabbit to stand on the tips of her feet, twirling while swinging the chameleon into the turnbuckle. The crowd once again went wild as Nori exclaimed, "And Lopunny has given the advantage back to the Bouncing Biceps!" Heracross grinning and holding up the claw that represented a thumb.

While this went on, Aipom had gone to the dojo change room to ready herself for her first fight. She still could not believe that she had agreed to this as this felt extreme. Sure, these triplets were older and had likely gone the same route as Machamp and the other legends, having their strength lower with age. But on the other hand, fighting three of them in a row with no breaks was asking way too much, especially since she had no real combat experience up to this point. The closest she ever had was whenever she would catch Machoke in a hold during training and wait for him to get out of it.

But despite this, she had made a promise to herself. She was going to ensure that she could help Machoke to the best of her abilities. There was no way her pupil, no, her friend would fight alone in the semi-finals, especially when his opponents were this ruthless.

With that in mind, the purple monkey returned to the main fighting hall where the monkey siblings were waiting. Simisear and Simisage were off to the side while Simipour stood in a big square that represented a ring.

As she saw Aipom enter, she pulled out her chalkboard and wrote 'I'll be your first opponent' on it, showing the message to the smaller monkey as she nodded and bowed her head, saying, "I'll do my best," Simipour tossing her chalkboard toward Simisage who grabbed it with ease, a proud grin on his face. After all, the blue monkey would not need it for this fight.

Simisear folded his arms and stated, "Before you two begin, there's actually something I'd like you to know, Aipom," the smaller monkey blinking as he added, "Remember when I said you had to defeat all three of us? Well, that was kind of a lie."

Aipom blinked, staring in confusion as she remarked, "What do you mean?" the red monkey explaining, "See, you don't actually have to take us down. I only told you that to test whether or not you were willing to go through with this. No, you only have to hit each of us once."

"You're kidding, right?" Aipom uttered, not sure whether to be relieved by this or not until Simisage added, "Seeing as you're still young and have never been in a real fight, we feel it would be unfair to expect you to knock all three of us out with no time to rest. And trust me, we're not just going easy on you because of that. We did the exact same thing for Ambipom back in the day."

"Oh, okay," Aipom replied with a light nod and a small smile, "I get it now," before thinking, 'Well, it's not like this is the actual training. I'll breeze through this and gain the knowledge I need, I just know it.'

With that, Simipour sprinted toward Aipom as she put on a more serious look, her tail hand poised as she thought, 'This is pretty easy,' but as she clenched a fist and prepared for a punch, Simipour easily dashed behind her.

Before Aipom could even figure out what was going on, she took a fierce roundhouse to the back of her head, her eyes wide open. And it did not end there as Simipour released steam from her tail, ramming the tip hard into the purple monkey's back as she cried out in pain.

"Why does that hurt so much!?" Aipom screeched as Simisear explained, "Judging the sound of burning, I can only assume she just used Scald, one of her strongest moves. It allows her tail to heat up like a tea kettle so while powered by water, it can also burn whoever it touches."

'That's right,' Aipom thought as Simipour leapt back to keep her distance, 'Since she can't shout the names of her signature moves, it's hard to see them coming.'

Even so, the fight was far from over as Simipour rushed toward Aipom again, the purple monkey thinking, 'Come on, you've been giving advice for so long! You can do this!'

As the blue monkey closed in, Aipom sent a punch forward only for Simipour to dodge again. But Aipom saw this coming as she swung her tail sideways. But unfortunately for her, Simipour had seen this coming as well as she sent the tip of her tail into the fist. At first it seemed like an ordinary block, but just like before, it started to steam as Aipom cried out in pain.

With that, Simipour smiled lightly and proceeded to form water around her hands, Aipom turning toward her only to receive a hard palm punch to the face. And it only got worse as she took in a variety of the hits, Simisage looking at this with concern.

But just as it looked like Aipom would lose, she gritted her teeth and latched her tail hand onto the wrist of an incoming hand, using both of her hands to block the other one. Simipour's eyes widened as Aipom thought, 'Time to use the first signature move my mom ever used,' using all three hands to apply just enough force to lift Simipour over her head.

The blue monkey's eyes and mouth were wide with shock as Aipom exclaimed, "TRI-HAND SUPLEX!" slamming Simipour's head hard against the floor.

Simisage smiled and said, "Well, what do you know? She did it," explaining what he had just witnessed as Simisear nodded and stated, "Well, congratulations, Aipom. You passed the first round," before snapping his fingers and adding, "Well, Simisage, you're up."

"Oh boy!" the green monkey exclaimed with a grin as he rose to his feet, "I was hoping she'd make it this far!" Simipour rubbing her head as she rose to her feet, slowly exiting the fight area.

'I can't believe it!' Aipom thought, her eyes sparkling, 'I actually used one of Mom's finishing moves! And it worked on someone twice my size! That is so cool!' the monkey trying to contain her excitement.

While Machoke was certainly invested in the tournament match, Octillery swinging Kecleon hard into Lopunny's face while shouting, "OCTOPUS WRECKING BALL!" sending her flying into Heracross, the boy could not help but wonder why Aipom was taking so long. All she had set out to do was meet his new partner, right? That should not have taken so long.

Back at the dojo, Aipom stared at the green monkey before her, Simisage grinning and saying, "Well, you certainly did a good job back there, but let's see if you can land a hit on me. I'll warn you, I'm quite fast."

Aipom was already thinking up a strategy as she thought, 'Alright, Simipour's senses all worked perfectly fine. This guy on the other hand can't hear. As such, I'll have to evade his vision if I'm to strike him.'

However, before she could contemplate this further, her eyes widened when Simisage charged toward her at an incredible speed. Needless to say, he was not kidding when he boasted about his speed as he was much faster than Simipour.

And before Aipom could contemplate this further, she received a hard knee kick to her face, flying backward as Simisage rushed behind her, his leaves curling together to form what resembled a spearhead. With that, he exclaimed, "LEAF SPEAR!" sending it into the purple monkey's back, Aipom coughing up a bit of blood as she flew forward, falling hard on her face.

She could not believe this. Not only was Simisage lightning fast, but he also had a considerable amount of strength. Those two hits alone made her feel like giving up. Even with the damage dealt by Simipour earlier, she should not have felt this weak yet.

Simisage then approached her from behind, a light smile on his face as he said, "Sorry to do this, kid, but if I hold back, this won't be much of a test, will it?"

But just as he was about to strike her again, Aipom knew something she could do as she took hold of his ankle. Simisage's eyes widened as he reeled his leg back, sending her tumbling away from him. However, Aipom saw an opportunity now that she was behind the green monkey and as such, she used her tail hand to stop herself from tumbling along the floor.

And just as Simisage was about to turn and face Aipom, she quickly launched herself under his legs so she was behind him. The green monkey blinked and scratched the side of his head, uttering, "Where'd you go?" Aipom knowing she had him now as she knelt down, swinging her tail hand and sending a karate chop into his ankle.

With that, the green monkey turned as he groaned, "Aw, man! The least you could have done was use an advanced technique like you did against Simipour," Aipom nodding and replying, "True, but that would have been unnecessary for this kind of challenge."

"Well, she's right," Simisear remarked before rising to his feet and adding, "I guess that leaves me. I have to say, I'm impressed. It took Ambipom much longer to overcome Simisage, but you managed to do it in no time flat."

Although that was certainly refreshing to hear, Aipom was really starting to wonder if she could do this. She had taken in considerable damage from the previous monkeys already and this guy looked tougher than both of them. But on the other hand, Aipom was certain his blindness would be a hindrance and thus she felt truly ready for this.

Back in the Tokyo Dome, it seemed the Bouncing Biceps had once again gotten the upper hand as Lopunny had Kecleon high above the ring with his ankles bound by her ears, both upside-down. Heracross, meanwhile, had managed to knock Octillery on her back with a fierce elbow to her face as he planted his horn under her.

Lopunny proceeded to spin toward the mat, setting the chameleon up for her Bunny Tornado, a move she often used to end matches. And with that, Heracross proceeded to lift Octillery up just in time for Kecleon's head to collide with hers, the two shouting, "TORNADO SHOVEL!"

With that, the Vanishing Muscles took in a great deal of pain, each one spitting up a bit of blood before passing out. Machoke winced at the sight of this as Nori started the ten count, Beedrill exclaiming, "And Heracross and Lopunny combine their two strongest solo attacks to create a powerful team move! But will that be enough to take out their opponents!?"

The crowd watched in anticipation when Nori reached ten seconds, ringing the bell and exclaiming, "And this victory goes to the Bouncing Biceps!" the crowd going wild as Hoopa folded his arms, smirking and saying, "They'll make alright semi-finals opponents, I guess," Diancie nodding while thinking, 'Granted we're able to defeat Talonflame.'

"Way to go!" Scyther exclaimed with a smirk, Talonflame adding, "Hey, just think, once we wipe the floor with Hoopa and Diancie, we'll get to face them in the next round!"

Reika nodded and replied, "Yeah, that's right. You guys are best friends," Scyther nodding and replying, "Ja. In all honesty, we were actually hoping we'd get to face each-other in this tournament. And it looks like it might just happen."

"And with that out of the way, it's time for another half-hour break," Beedrill stated, "But remember, be back soon. I can guarantee you won't wanna miss the next match."

Hoopa smirked and said, "Yeah, they definitely won't wanna miss this," the genie turning toward Talonflame, the falcon not noticing as he and Scyther were about to head off and prepare themselves.

Machoke grinned and said, "You'll kick their asses for sure," Talonflame nodding and replying, "You'd better believe we will," the two pounding their fists together before heading toward the exit for good.

Though Machoke was still wondering what had kept Aipom away for so long. Let alone that, would Machoke even get to meet his new partner by the end of the day?

That would soon be made clear as Simisear stood before Aipom with his arms folded. He took a deep breath and said, "You've done well to make it this far. But mark my words, there's a reason I saved myself for last. I just hope you're ready for this."

Aipom gulped and thought the same thing. But even so, she had to keep trying. After coming this far, turning back was not an option.

With that in mind, she took a deep breath and rushed toward Simisear. Figuring that he would expect her to rush straight toward him, she sprinted to the right just as she got close, leaping at him from the side with her tail at the ready. And sure enough, the red monkey had his arms crossed in front of him, showing that he had, indeed, expected a frontward assault.

But just as it looked like Aipom would have the quickest victory of all time, Simisear sent his left arm outward, striking the purple monkey hard in the cheek as she flew away from him. Her cheek hit the wall hard as she whimpered and slid down it, rubbing that very spot with a look of fear in her eyes.

'Okay, maybe that was too obvious,' Aipom thought as she ran toward him again, Simisear poised for another attack only for the purple monkey to try moving in various directions. It seemed the red monkey would not move thus making this easier for Aipom as she got behind him, aiming a karate chop toward his ankle like she had Simisage.

However, unlike his brother, Simisear had seen this coming as his tail caught flame, the red monkey shouting, "FLAMING SMOKESTACK!" sending the tail downward and striking Aipom hard atop the head.

Not only was the tail surprisingly heavy enough to crush her, but thanks to the flames surrounding it, she took in massive burns as she cried out in pain. Simisage stared in horror, about to speak up against this until Simipour held up her chalkboard, the words 'If we hold back, she'll never learn' written on them.

"But she's just a kid," Simisage groaned before sighing, "Though yeah, that Smeargle guy would probably do much worse without a second thought."

Aipom now ignored the pain dealt to her when she heard that. Where had that come from? After all, she had not told them the name of either of Machoke's semi-finals opponents. All she had said was that both were powerful.

However, Simisear could hear her lack of movement as he sent a back kick into her face, sending her skidding across the ground as he grunted, "Pay attention to the fight! Not doing so could cost you your life in a real battle!"

Aipom sprang to her feet and breathed heavily, thinking, 'My god, I should have known! Because he can't see, he's learned to rely on all of his other senses! Not just touch, but hearing and smell too. I thought for sure he would be the easiest of the wise simians, but he's actually the best fighter among all of them. I need some way to take advantage of him.'

It was then that she looked up and saw it, the solution to her problem. Hanging from the ceiling was a single light bulb held in place by a small chain, but could the monkey possibly jump high enough to reach it?

She would certainly have to try as she stood up on her tail hand, Simisear folding his arms and asking, "Are you going to move? I have the patience to wait, but the longer you sit there, the longer it will take you to pass the test."

'To the best of your knowledge, I'll be sitting here,' the monkey thought as she used her tail to propel herself high above the floor and toward the light bulb.

Simisear heard the sound of her hand but heard nothing after that as she asked, "Did you really just take one step forward?"

Simisage and Simipour both stared in shock as they had never seen such a tactic before, Aipom leaping just high enough to latch onto the chain. Simisear sniffed the air, saying, "Wait, your smell isn't coming from that spot anymore. It's coming from somewhere else, but where?"

With that, Aipom released her hold and descended toward the red monkey's skull, spinning vertically like a wheel with her tail fist at the ready. Both Simisage and Simipour were even more amazed, their eyes wide with shock as the purple monkey screeched, "TAIL HAMMER!" sending it hard into his head.

Simisear's eyes actually opened as his teeth gritted, the red monkey standing there in stunned silence as Aipom leapt off of him, breathing heavily. She could not believe it. Even with his other senses helping him as much as they did, she still managed to hit him.

After a few seconds, Simisear's eyes closed once more as he folded his arms, a smile forming as he said, "Well done, Aipom. You passed the test," Aipom's eyes sparkling as a big smile formed on her face, Simipour giving her a round of applause while Simisage held his fist forward, exclaiming, "Yeah, great job! That was wicked!"

The purple monkey bowed her head to Simisear and said, "Thank you so much for giving me this chance, even if you didn't want to," the red monkey replying, "Oh no, I wanted you to take this test."

Aipom blinked as Simisage laughed nervously and stated, "Admittedly, we didn't quite get it at first either, but him turning you down earlier was a test of your commitment."

"It was?" Aipom uttered as Simisear nodded and explained, "If you had just accepted my answer and walked away, I would have deemed you unworthy. Instead, you used reverse psychology to get me to accept. I would have preferred something along the lines of 'I'm not turning around no matter what you say', but that was clever."

Aipom was truly astounded as the fire monkey added, "Also, believe it or not, while we're okay with our teachings being used for a fight between heroes, we have a feeling one of those Elegant Warriors might not actually be a fellow hero."

"But wait, I thought you didn't know who his opponents were," Aipom uttered as Simisage laughed, replying, "We just pretended not to know so you'd tell us your reason. You saying it was all for a tournament match helped lead up to the trick we played on you earlier," Simisear nodding and asking, "Did you think that just because we're middle-aged and live in a dojo, that means we're not up to date with what goes on in the world? We're perfectly in touch with current events."

Simipour nodded and wrote 'We have a TV in the back room' on her chalkboard, Aipom surprised by this as she said, "Let me guess, Simipour watches TV normally, Simisage reads subtitles and you just listen, right?" Simisear nodding and saying, "Well, that saves us a bit of extra time."

Aipom finally understood what was going on as she sighed, "Well, all that matters is that you're going to help me. So, what should we start with?"

"Nothing," Simisear replied, folding his arms as the monkey blinked and remarked, "What!?"

"You heard me," Simisear replied, "We will start with absolutely nothing," Aipom staring silently. Did they not feel like she could handle their training after all the praise they had given her?

It seemed this was not the case as Simisear said, "I was kind of hoping you would catch onto this, but hey, no pupil is perfect, so we'll overlook this one. But yes, your performance during these three fights proves that you are, in fact, ready to take on Smeargle and Vespiquen in the semi-finals with Machoke. You don't need to learn any skills from us. You already have effective skills of your own. You just need to practice with them until the next round."

Aipom blinked and uttered, "But I'm short and weak," Simisear retorting, "Short and weak are two different things. From what Simisage described to me earlier, you had the strength to lift up an opponent twice as tall as you. I don't think a mere weakling could have pulled that off," the purple monkey biting her lip as he added, "And yes, we saw what happened when you held Garchomp above your head. I'm not saying you have the strength to lift up every fighter out there, but I can guarantee those Elegant Warriors are not too heavy for you to handle."

Aipom's eyes sparkled as a big grin formed on her face, Simisage chuckling and saying, "Just let it all out. You've earned that right."

With that in mind, the monkey let out a happy screech, squealing, "OH MY GOD, I REALLY AM STRONG!" all the while running around in circles with her arms in the air. For years, she had tried not to act like this, keep up a 'too mature to be a child' image, and yet at the moment, this just felt right.

She then stopped and bowed her head to the wise simians, saying, "Thank you so much for everything. I'm gonna be the best partner Machoke's ever had, just you wait!"

And with a quick goodbye and a few more motivational words from the older monkeys, Aipom headed out of the dojo full of spirit and determination. After all this time of being a mere trainer on the sidelines, she was going to be the hero and nothing was going to stop her now.

Machoke was enjoying some down time with the others as there were still twenty minutes left before the next match. While he still wondered when Aipom would return, he also hoped that Scyther and Talonflame would have what it took to take on Hoopa and Diancie. After all, those two were a lot scarier than they looked.

But while discussing this with Gallade, Cici and Hitmonchan, his eyes widened when he heard a familiar voice say, "Hi, Machoke," the boy turning as Gallade smiled and said, "Hey, welcome back, Aipom."

However, it was not too long until the group noticed the bruises from her fights, Machoke blinking and uttering, "What happened to you?" the monkey chuckling and replying, "Your partner and I got in a little friendly scuffle. We got carried away with it."

Machoke nodded with a smile, saying, "Didn't think you were the kind to play rough," before asking, "So, where is my partner?" the monkey holding her hands behind her back and saying, "She's a little shy right now, but trust me, when the semi-finals come, you'll meet her," Hitmonchan narrowing her eyelids but choosing not to bring up the fact that this seemed to leave Machoke no time to prepare any kind of team moves with this newcomer.

Either way, Machoke felt reassured knowing at least one conflict had been resolved. But even so, there were still a couple of others that needed taking care of, the Elegant Warriors and the Demonic Angels. Hopefully both of these threats would be taken care of before the finals.

 

This was it, just a few more minutes until the final match of the second round. After seeing his old ally defeated, Talonflame really wanted to win this match as he and Scyther had trained harder than ever before. After seeing just what kind of fighters Hoopa and Diancie were, they felt ready for this.

Once the two were done, Scyther turned to Reika, who had been seated there the whole time with Tsuya and approached her, saying, "Danke," the black-haired girl rather surprised to hear this.

"Okay, I know enough German to know what that means," Reika uttered, "But what are you thanking me for?" Scyther replying, "I know I often say you don't have to do this, but it means a lot that you've come to watch me train. I mean, first of all, it's kind of nice to have someone besides my mother monitor my training, but at the same time, it's nice to have a friend around to support me."

Talonflame rolled his eyes and sighed, "Alright, you two have your little talk. I'll just wait outside," the falcon exiting the room, Tsuya getting up and exclaiming, "Wait for me, my dove!" the falcon retorting, "Oh god, now you're comparing me to weaker birds!?"

Scyther rolled her eyes as Reika laughed, sighing, "I feel bad for both of them," the green bug nodding and stating, "Anyway, you've been a really good friend to me all this time, and I feel really grateful for this."

She then reached for a box and opened it up, revealing fresh sausage as she asked, "Would you like to share some of this with me?" Reika gasping, "Wait, aren't these your own homemade sausages, you know, the ones that give you strength for every match!?"

Scyther nodded and replied, "Ja, but there's no harm in sharing them," Reika nodding with a light smile and taking a bite, thinking, 'Wow, Machoke was right. These are the best sausages in the world.'

Her cheeks were bright pink as she let out a sigh. A part of her just wanted to lean in and plant a big kiss on Scyther's lips, but before she could do so, Talonflame opened the door and said, "Hey, we got five minutes! Hurry it up!" Scyther blinking and nodding, saying, "Ja. I'm coming."

With that, the bug grinned and said, "You'd better hurry too. I wanna see you cheering me on," Reika nodding and replying, "Right!" before heading off, thinking, 'Oh well, if I'd come clean about my feelings, it probably would have thrown her off anyway.'

All the while, Machoke and the others had already gotten front-row seats, saving them for Reika and Tsuya while Aipom asked, "So, I missed the last match. Who won?" Machoke replying, "Heracross and Lopunny."

"That doesn't surprise me too much," Aipom replied with a light smile before looking around and noticing that once again, Vespiquen and Smeargle were nowhere in sight. Why was it that after their matches, they felt like leaving the Tokyo Dome? Though this did also beg another question.

Aipom remembered how Vespiquen told Mawile that she had performed better than Gothitelle in the first round, but how did she know that? She and Smeargle were not even in the area to witness the event. Or maybe it just seemed that way.

As it just so happened, the two were actually watching from a TV in their apartment suite, Smeargle saying, "Remind moi again why we're not there," Vespiquen explaining, "It's because Gardevoir and Florges' friends wish to corrupt your mind. I would much rather you not be near them until it is time to fight again," Smeargle nodding in understanding.

And with that, it was finally time as Nori exclaimed, "Well, we've had a great second round so far, but it's time for the final match of the day!" Beedrill nodding and adding, "This is one people have certainly been looking forward to. Now that Lucario's been defeated, I'm sure his old buddy, Talonflame, would love to give his opponents a piece of his mind."

"No doubt about that!" Nori replied with a grin, "Knowing his temper, he's probably spent these last two-and-a-half days thinking about nothing more than wiping the floor with these two!"

"On that note, let's introduce the teams, shall we?" Beedrill asked as the woman nodded and stated, "In the red corner, two spirited and powerful fighters who have truly made a name for themselves! They proved too much for the mighty Bisharp and Scrafty to handle and enter the second round, likely raring for more! Give it up for the Slashing Explosions!"

The crowd went wild as Talonflame flew toward the ring like a rocket, Scyther standing on his back like a surfer. And once the falcon flew overhead, the insect leapt off of him and performed various backward flips before landing firmly against the mat. And to end the routine, Talonflame performed a spin over the ring before slowly descending toward the mat, fire surrounding him until he landed, the crowd truly amazed.

"Before you announce the next team, I have something I gotta say!" Talonflame exclaimed as Nori blinked and turned to Beedrill, the wasp nodding and saying, "I'll allow it."

"Thanks," the falcon replied with a smirk before exclaiming, "I can tell you right now, our announcers are correct! After what these two did to Lucario, I'm going to make sure they suffer like he did! We may not have always gotten along, but Lucario was my first real friend and, as embarrassing as it is to admit, he's dear to me."

Some members of the crowd had tears in their eyes, some even saying, "Aw," while the falcon gritted his teeth, groaning, "Why didn't I see that coming?"

He then cleared his throat and added, "As such, I know he'll rest much easier in that hospital knowing that Scyther and I defeated the so-called 'heroes' who gave him such a horrible beating!" the falcon spreading out his arms and forming two peace signs, the audience applauding him.

"Wow, it's not like him to be so open about a friendship," Machoke uttered as Tsuya gave the falcon a heavenly smile, sighing, "That only makes me love him more," the others face-palming.

"Well, that was certainly inspirational," Nori stated before adding, "And in the blue corner, two heroes no one even knew about until just recently! Since the two defeated Lucario, they've gained quite a following! With many surprising techniques, the Demonic Angels!"

And as Nori had said, Hoopa and Diancie had quite a following now, so when the two entered the area, they received many cheers. However, the audience was even more amazed by the fact that Hoopa had built himself a float and hired dancers to dress in Arabian outfits, all of them dancing to an upbeat melody representing said nationality. Hoopa himself even performed a dance of his own, Diancie swaying left and right and smiling light. She had to admit that she really enjoyed this entrance and hoped for more fun ones in the future.

"Showoff," Talonflame grunted, folding his arms as Scyther sighed, "It's not like we were exactly humble with our entrance either."

As much as the falcon wanted to retort to that, he had to admit she had a point. And besides, this was hardly relevant to the match itself anyway. Right now, he just wanted this match to start so he could wipe Hoopa's grin off of his face.

Knowing just how serious he was about this, Scyther rested a hand on his shoulder and said, "You can go first," the falcon blinking and turning to her, the insect grinning and saying, "I know I always like to be first for everything, but you have more motivation and drive than I do. Just try to save me a bit of the action, okay?"

Talonflame snickered and replied, "You really are a true friend. It's times like this I'm glad I gave up villainy."

And of course, Hoopa had already decided long before the match that he would go first, Diancie knowing better than to question this. After all, his happiness was more important to her than anything else in the world, but why?

Once Diancie and Scyther stood outside of the ring, Nori was about to ring the bell as Hoopa held out his hand with a smirk, saying, "I know I tricked Lucario with this, but I don't feel like doing that this time. Let's shake to a good match, eh?"

Talonflame frowned and stared for a few seconds before smirking and saying, "Alright," the crowd happy to see this, Beedrill saying, "Well, it is always nice to see good sportsmanship in the ring."

Hoopa smirked and thought, 'Wow, he's even dumber than I first thought!' but just as he was about to start the match exactly the same as how he started the one with the Fancy Fighters, Talonflame balled his hand up into a fist and sent it hard into the genie's face, sending him into the ropes.

The crowd gasped as Nori quickly rang the bell, Talonflame flapping his wings and leaping toward Hoopa just as he bounced off the ropes. And once close enough, the falcon engulfed his talon in fire, shouting, "ROUNDHOUSE INFERNO!" sending it hard into the genie's face, knocking him on his back.

While the majority of the crowd was unsure how to feel about this, Talonflame's most die-hard fans broke out into heavy cheers, one shouting, "Yeah, give him a taste of his own medicine!" and "Serves him right for pulling the same stunt on Lucario!"

And while no one was surprised by Talonflame's friends being fine with this, many were shocked when even Aipom rose her tail fist in the air and cheered for the falcon. Machoke stared and grinned, saying, "Well, good to know you're not always a goody-two-shoes," the monkey's cheeks turning bright pink as she quickly knelt down in her seat, whimpering, "Sorry, I wasn't thinking straight."

However, deep down, she was glad to see Talonflame get an early lead regardless of whether his tactics were dirty or not. Like a few others, she had a feeling Hoopa could not be trusted and that only bad things would happen if he or Vespiquen won the tournament.

"Dude, what the hell!?" Hoopa groaned as he pushed himself back up, Talonflame smirking and remarking, "Not so nice when you're on the receiving end, is it!?"

The genie gritted his teeth as Talonflame continued, "I know you probably think that just because I'm a bruiser, that must make me some kind of dumbass, but let me tell you, I'm a lot smarter than you think! After seeing the way you tried that bullshit on Lucario, there was no way in hell I'd let you do the same to me!"

Diancie blinked and uttered, "You okay?" Hoopa retorting, "Of course I am! I'm just shocked he'd try that, especially with the way he's been trying to convince the world he's good now! Or maybe that was a lie!"

The crowd was unsure how to argue against that until Talonflame smirked and retorted, "First of all, I couldn't care less about a lecture from someone who literally did the same thing in round one! And secondly, it's not like I'm the only one guilty of this! Surely you've heard of the mighty Bouffalant."

Hoopa blinked and uttered, "Who?" every member of the audience falling on his or her side while Beedrill nodded and explained, "That's right. While Bouffalant did eventually come around to the side of good after losing to Machamp, he never lost his brutality. If it meant getting himself a victory, he would resort to dirty tactics. It didn't change the fact that he was still fighting for the side of good."

"Oh yeah, I remember that," Machoke groaned, "He gave Blaziken a really hard time on Hero Planet," Gallade nodding and saying, "Whatever the case, it was certainly effective."

And of course, Talonflame refused to let it end here as he flew toward Hoopa again, the genie snapping his right fingers as his left hand vanished. Talonflame knew exactly what to expect as sure enough, the hand appeared right behind him, balled up into a fist, and flew at his back. But just as it was about to strike, the falcon turned his body just enough to block it with his palm.

"You didn't think I'd actually fall for that, did you?" Talonflame grunted as he smirked and bent half of the hand upward, the crowd wincing at the sound of Hoopa's knuckles cracking.

However, the genie was ready for this as he tried his best to ignore the pain, biting his lower lip while his eye twitched, a light tear rolling down his cheek. But while this went on, he swung his horn around before sending his ring toward the falcon, shouting, "DEMONIC RING!"

But it seemed Talonflame was even prepared for this as just when the ring was about to strike his head, he immediately turned it toward the projectile and caught it with his beak. The crowd was truly astounded as a smile formed on said part, many of his fans cheering.

"Wow!" Nori exclaimed with a big smile, "Talonflame is certainly not holding back! He's seen all of Hoopa's tricks and found a way to turn all of them against him! His desire to avenge Lucario is stronger than I could have ever imagined!"

But just as it looked like Talonflame had this match in the bag, Hoopa smirked and said, "Gotcha," as small holes formed in the ring, releasing an icy wind.

The falcon's eyes widened as he released his hold on the ring, crying out in pain as he let go of Hoopa's hand shortly after. With him being a fire type, it was hard to ignore cold being forced down his throat.

And it seemed the genie had more planned as when his ring returned to him, he quickly took hold of it and spun his body around, sending it toward Talonflame once more and shouting, "DEMONIC RING!"

Hoopa's fans cheered as spikes came from the ring, striking Talonflame's cheek as he winced in pain, a small cut forming on him. And it did not end there as Hoopa proceeded to lean his body forward, pointing his fists out and flying toward the falcon like a rocket. And before Talonflame could even respond, he took a hard punch to the gut as Hoopa floated upright, sending a barrage of rapid punches into his face.

His fans were even more excited now as Nori exclaimed, "And just like that, Hoopa has already turned the tides in his favour! Despite his incredible strength and skills, not even Talonflame can stand up to an onslaught like this!"

"You think so!?" Talonflame retorted before holding up his hands, blocking two incoming punches. Hoopa's eyes widened as the falcon proceeded to lean backward, planting the back of the genie's neck into the canvas while his fans cheered for him once more.

"Yeah, that's the Talonflame I know!" Machoke exclaimed with a grin, "Take it from me! It'll take a lot more than a few punches to knock him down!" Scyther nodding and thinking, 'That's why he's the perfect ally.'

Hoopa used his hands to propel himself back up, breathing lightly as Diancie was about to suggest tagging her in. However, she knew full-well that he would not want that. The only time he would want her help was during the tornado tag portion, and that was still more than three minutes away.

And with that, Hoopa snapped his fingers again, Talonflame smirking and tauntingly asking, "You're seriously trying that again?" but just as he was ready to counter the incoming hand, he noticed it was nowhere to be seen as Scyther pointed and exclaimed, "Talonflame, his hand didn't teleport!"

"Wait, what!?" the falcon remarked only to feel something sharp pierce his shoulder. He slowly turned to see that it was, in fact, Hoopa's right horn, the one that did not have a ring on it, soon turning toward the genie and noticing that said horn had, in fact, left the side of his head.

"Surprised?" Hoopa asked as he snapped his fingers again, this time having his left hand appear in the form of a fist right behind Talonflame as opposed to a ways from him, "My hands aren't the only thing I can teleport."

And soon enough, the falcon would feel even more pain as the fist flew into the horn, forcing it further in like a hammer hitting a nail. Talonflame did his best not to cry out in response to this while the crowd was truly amazed, and it would only get worse from here as just like Hoopa's hand, the horn was, indeed, trying to return to its owner.

"You're showing resistance now, but let's see if even someone as tough as you can handle this," Hoopa said with a smirk as the horn soon managed to push itself all the way through Talonflame's shoulder, putting a big hole in it as blood flew out, the falcon unable to contain a big cry of pain.

"THAT LOOKED HORRIBLE!" Machoke spat, now even more terrified of Hoopa as his horn return to the side of his head, Nori stating, "And in a shocking display, Hoopa reveals yet another power of his. And much like when Lucario used his spikes to overpower Machoke's Mach Cover, even the mightiest of flesh can be pierced by a blade."

And it would only get worse from here as Hoopa flew at Talonflame, sending a hard punch into the shoulder that had been stabbed. The falcon grunted in pain as he backed up, holding onto that very spot as Scyther held out her arm, shouting, "Tag me!"

The falcon frowned and let out a sigh, saying, "Alright," before slapping Scyther's hand, the insect taking his place as the crowd cheered, Nori stating, "And now Scyther had entered the ring. Let's see if she can finish what Talonflame started."

And Scyther would not allow Hoopa to start up another move, thus she sprinted toward him and sent a flying roundhouse into the side of his head. The genie grimaced in response to this as the insect proceeded to grab both of his horns, lifting up her other leg and sending her knee hard into his face.

The crowd went wild as Scyther sent Hoopa flying away from her with one last kick to his midsection, Beedrill exclaiming, "And with just a few kicks, Scyther already seems to have brought the advantage back to the Slashing Explosions!" Diancie wishing she had been the one to take those hits instead.

Reika cheered wildly and exclaimed, "Way to go, Scyther!" the others joining her.

Hoopa glared and said, "You may be fast, but honestly, I'd have much rather continued to fight Talonflame. At the very least, he was more of a challenge."

The audience was now silent as Scyther remarked, "What!?" Talonflame gritting his teeth, growling, "Don't listen to him."

Hoopa laughed and remarked, "Yes, don't listen to the one with the common sense here! Come on, Scyther, you build yourself up as this great successor to Scizor when in reality, you're a joke!"

Everyone gasped, Scizor sitting in the crowd and listening to this, gritting her teeth and thinking, 'He's not trying what I think he is. Nein, every time someone does this, it ends badly,' Reika narrowing her eyelids and thinking, 'Please, Scyther, don't take his words to heart. You know what he's doing.'

And it truly seemed to go that route as Hoopa said, "Come on, let's face it, you've never gotten past the second round of any tournament. Meanwhile, every opponent you ever defeated was a joke!" Gallade's eyes widening as he spat, "HEY, ARE YOU CALLING ME A JOKE!?"

"Of course I am!" Hoopa retorted with a smirk, "In preparation for this tournament, Diancie and I watched the most famous matches of the participants online! While it's been recorded that you actually have one impressive victory that was never caught on camera, every other match you've been in has done nothing to make you sound like a good fighter! You lost to Scrafty in a matter of minutes, you lost to Scyther even faster and ever since those weaklings you beat to qualify for the Olympics, you haven't won any other matches! Scyther beating you is nothing to write home about!"

Gallade twitched all over as Hitmonchan growled, "How dare you badmouth my man, you bastard!?" Scyther not sure whether to argue with that or not. Looking back, she certainly remembered Gallade not being much of a challenge.

"Hey, don't forget Hippowdon!" Reika exclaimed as the others nodded, Aipom saying, "That's right. Hippowdon gave her a lot of trouble," Heracross nodding and adding, "Almost bested her, he did, but she still pulled through."

"That only proves how pathetic you really are," Hoopa remarked, "Think about it. The only reason you won that match was because of Scizor's advice. If she hadn't told you exactly what to do when he had you trapped in his Sand Tomb, you would have lost.

"Hold on," Reika stated, "Scizor wasn't giving her advice when she fought Bisharp and Scrafty in the first round!" Hoopa nodding and remarking, "True, but she did have Talonflame's help. Heck, she wasn't doing all that hot until he joined the fray."

Now the crowd was really unsure what to say to this. Even Reika was trying to come up with some kind of comeback as Diancie said, "Well, it is also true that every time Scyther stopped taking Scizor's advice, it always ended in failure. Just saying."

"You often brag about how you're too good to rely on your wings for combat, yet you really haven't done anything to deserve your reputation," Hoopa said, "Let's face it, alone, you're nothing but one big joke," as Scyther remarked, "Nein!"

The genie blinked as she smirked and said, "You know, you're not the first fighter to try this sort of thing on me. I know, I have a bit of a temper that makes it easy for me to stop fighting logically when provoked, but I'm not gonna let that happen again. Besides, you tried the same thing when Lucario's Force Palm hit you and it didn't work on him either, so what made you think it would work on me?"

Both Scizor and Talonflame had light smiles on their faces, Talonflame giving the bug a thumb up and saying, "Good job. Now go in there and give him more of a beating!" the insect nodding and charging at Hoopa, Reika breathing a sigh of relief.

With that in mind, the genie frowned and exclaimed, "Diancie, now!" the sylph nodding, at least knowing she could get away with this once as she knelt down, placing her hands against the mat and shouting, "GEM GROWTH!"

With that, a big gem formed in front of Scyther as the insect wound up running face-first into it, grunting in pain. Hoopa then warped his left hand behind her in the form of a fist. Since Scyther was distracted by the pain caused by the gem, she took a fierce punch to her back as Hoopa floated behind her, reuniting with his hand before wrapping both around her waistline.

With that, he lifted her up and leaned backward, planting her head hard into the mat as his fans cheered for him, Nori stating, "And like the Transforming Terrors, Diancie has taken full advantage of the rule allowing teammates to help their allies as long as they don't enter the ring!"

Diancie nodded and thought, 'At least it's legal. That way I don't feel too bad about it,' Talonflame gritting his teeth and cursing, "Dammit, if only I had long-range moves as well, then I could go in there and help!"

And it seemed Scyther's situation would not improve any time soon as Hoopa proceeded to flip her onto her belly, sending rapid punches into the back of her head. Unlike Talonflame, who could handle this sort of thing, Scyther's body was nowhere near as strong and thus she felt intense pain from the multiple hits. Out of desperation, she even resorted to folding her arms behind her head, but all this did was redirect all the pain to her hands.

"Hey, Scyther, what are you doing!?" Talonflame snapped, "You know exactly how to get out of this!" Scyther nodding and lifting her legs back, latching them onto Hoopa's sides.

The genie's eyes widened as the insect knew his punches would not add strain to his body. As such, she shifted her arms and planted them against the mat before pushing herself up, flipping Hoopa over thus slamming his head into the canvas.

The crowd went wild as Reika squealed, "YEAH, I KNEW YOU COULD GET OUT OF THAT, SCYTHER!" and it would not end here as Scyther took full advantage of this, lifting her foot above her head before sending it crashing down upon Hoopa's back.

Needless to say, things were once again favourable for the Slashing Explosions. But could this advantage possibly last? After all, Hoopa and Diancie had both surprised everyone when they fought the Fancy Fighters, so who could say Scyther was on easy street at the moment?

 

While Hoopa had gotten quite a few good moves in, it seemed the Slashing Explosions might just have what it took to win this match after all. However, things were likely to change when Nori rang the bell, signalling the tornado tag portion.

Talonflame entered the ring and smirked, saying, "Good job, buddy," Scyther giving him a thumb up as Diancie entered, saying, "You did a good job, Hoopa. Let's finish what you started."

The genie nodded and replied, "Yeah, they may think they got the drop on us, but they're dead wrong."

With that, Nori stated, "Things are sure to heat up now! This match has already been pretty intense with just Hoopa in the ring, but now that Diancie has joined him, will things be as difficult for the Slashing Explosions as it was for the Fancy Fighters?"

"I doubt it," Machoke replied with a grin, "If anything, those Demonic Angels are in even more trouble now," and it seemed so as Scyther leapt toward Diancie with both feet forward.

Before either one of the Demonic Angels could respond, Talonflame flew over to Scyther and planted his talons against her shoulders, allowing her to fly faster. Thus when her feet made contact with Diancie's chest, she took more pain and fell on her back.

Before Hoopa could retaliate, though, Talonflame leapt off of Scyther and wrapped his arm around the genie's neck, planting his back hard against the mat. The crowd went wild as Scyther proceeded to send an axe kick into Diancie's gut, leaping backward as Talonflame did the same. He remembered full-well how Hoopa had taken advantage of Lucario when trapped in a camel clutch. There was no doubt he could easily do the same if Talonflame caught him in a submission hold.

But just as the Slashing Explosions seemed even more likely to win, Diancie placed her hands against the mat, uttering, "Gem Growth," but it seemed Scyther and Talonflame saw this coming as both leapt to the side, avoiding the gems.

"Do you think we're stupid!?" Talonflame barked only to find his arms locked in place, Hoopa having caught him as he said, "Nope, but you were so easily distracted by the gems that it gave me a perfect opportunity to grab you."

Before the falcon could even respond, Hoopa threw his hands backward, slamming his head into the canvas. And it would not end there as Diancie rose to her feet, gems sprouting up from under her dress.

Hoopa and Diancie's fans cheered now as the sylph stood on the tips of her toes, twirling toward Scyther while shouting, "SUGARPLUM FAIRY SLASH!" Scizor thinking, 'That was a mistake. My daughter can easily block that.'

And it seemed so as Scyther sprouted her arm blades, using them to block the incoming gems. However, she was shocked when Diancie increased the speed of her twirl thus forcing the insect's arms to the side, striking her midsection hard as she cried out in pain.

Some members of the crowd gasped as Machoke winced, groaning, "It's more painful watching it the second time," green blood flying out of Scyther as she flew into Talonflame just as he had risen to his feet, both falling on their backs.

"Wow, that turned out better than expected," Hoopa said with a smirk, but just as he was about to have Diancie set up for the Diamond Meteor that had defeated Lucario and Clauncher, both rose to their feet, breathing heavily with annoyed looks on their faces.

Hoopa frowned and asked, "How are you both still standing?" Talonflame remarking, "First off, you guys haven't done that much to us yet, but also, we can sustain a lot of pain," Scyther nodding and stating, "Growing up, I was put through hellish training from my mother, the likes of which no one has ever dealt with. I've taken in far worse pain than you could ever dish out."

"And as for me, I got an incredible resistance," Talonflame explained, "It'll take a lot more than a stab to the shoulder and a few measly punches to take me down."

"Yeah, take it from someone who fought him before," Machoke stated, "Talonflame is not to be taken lightly," the crowd even more excited now as Hoopa gritted his teeth.

"Dammit," he whispered, "I underestimated these two. I figured since they didn't make it to the Olympic finals like Lucario did, they would be nowhere near his level, but so far, they're proving to be just as annoying, if not more."

"What should we do?" Diancie asked as Talonflame turned to Scyther, asking, "Are we just gonna stand here and let them come up with a strategy?"

"Nein!" the insect remarked as the two charged toward their opponents, Diancie gasping as Hoopa exclaimed, "I know!" snapping his fingers as his left hand and horn both teleported.

However, rather than forming a distance away from the two as usual, each one appeared right next to a fighter, the hand grabbing onto Scyther's wrist as the horn lodged itself into Talonflame's ribs. Not even the falcon could ignore pain like this as he cried in agony, Scyther finding herself dragged toward Hoopa as the genie winked at Diancie.

The sylph nodded and dashed in front of the insect, shouting, "DIAMOND HORN!" the diamond atop her head stretching forward until it formed that very shape. However, knowing that doing what she did to Masquerain could potentially get her disqualified, she lowered herself just enough for the horn to jab Scyther's midsection as opposed to her skull.

The fans of the Demonic Angels cheered wildly as Machoke had panic all over his face, and it would only get worse from here as Hoopa snapped his fingers once more, sending his waist ring high above the mat and sending the ring around his horn under Talonflame. After round one, everyone knew what was coming as a vortex formed inside each ring, the falcon pulled into it, the ring returning to Hoopa's horn as Reika snapped, "SCYTHER, TALONFLAME'S IN TROUBLE!"

The insect's eyes widened as she gritted her teeth, shouting, "ARM SCHWERT!" sending one arm blade sideways toward Diancie. Since the sylph still had her body lowered, she managed to block it with her diamond, but the force of the slash sent her back as Scyther charged toward Hoopa when Talonflame emerged from the waist ring.

Unfortunately for her, Diancie would not allow this as she slapped her hand against the mat, shouting, "GEM GROWTH!" as once again, a big gem rose up in front of Scyther's face, the insect unable to react in time to avoid making a collision with it.

As if that was not bad enough, Hoopa managed to reach Talonflame as he latched onto his arms, shouting, "HYPERSPACE HOLE!"

Talonflame was just about to used his wings to soften the blow only for Diancie to leap backward toward the ropes, bouncing off of them with her feet aimed at the gem she had formed. And to top it all off, a familiar light surrounded her legs as the big diamond she had used on Lucario took form.

"What's she doing?" Machoke uttered, Scyther attempting to stop Diancie only to receive a hook to her neck when the sylph passed her, falling on her back as the diamond struck the gem. Thus the top half flew toward Talonflame, hitting him hard in the forehead as it came open, a light trickle of blood forming as he groaned in pain.

This provided just enough of a distraction for Hoopa to plant Talonflame's head hard into the mat, his fans going wild as the others stared in shock, Lopunny shouting, "TALONFLAME!" Heracross gritting his teeth and grunting, "This is just painful."

As if that was not enough, Diancie refused to allow Scyther to rise to her feet as she kept her legs in their diamond form, floating above the insect's back. Seeing this, Reika exclaimed, "SCYTHER, LOOK OUT!" but it was too late as Diancie descended toward the insect, shouting, "DIAMOND METEOR!" planting the diamond hard into her back, Scyther coughing up blood.

Scizor could no longer hide her presence as she removed her cloak, shouting, "SCYTHER, ARE YOU OKAY!?" the crowd gasping as Nori exclaimed, "Just as the Demonic Angels make an incredible comeback, the legendary Scizor seems to have graced us with her presence!" the red insect ignoring the attention and tensing up, hoping Scyther would not be mad at her for coming to the event.

However, Scyther still had enough consciousness to see her as she grinned, saying, "Hallo, mother. I'm glad you could come, but I wish you were here under better circumstances."

Diancie gasped at the sight of this, not so much because Scyther's mother was there but because the insect could still move. As it just so happened, Lucario was not the only one to fall to a single use of her Diamond Meteor, and yet Scyther was still kicking.

Machoke smiled wide and exclaimed, "Thank god! Scizor could give her a few tips to get out of this!" Reika nodding and saying, "Yeah, she'll know what to do."

However, it seemed their intuition was wrong as Scizor bit her lower lip and said, "Scyther, as you know, I have decided to let you live your own life, to be independent. As such, I will not give you advice, but I will say that there is a way out of this and I'm sure you're aware of it."

Hoopa had been too distracted by the older bug's presence to notice Talonflame rise to his feet, wrapping his arms around the genie and barking, "HEY, DID YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT WOULD FINISH ME OFF, PUNK!?" the falcon taking to the sky with his body engulfed in flames.

The crowd went wild for him as Scyther nodded and said, "Ja," placing her hands and knees firmly against the mat, pushing up thus forcing Diancie's diamond out of her back, the sylph's eyes wide with shock.

And it did not end there as Talonflame performed a U-turn in midair, shouting, "FLARE BLITZ!" Scyther leaping up to Diancie's level and wrapping her arms the sylph, leaning backward and barking, "FLYING HAMMER!"

With that, the Demonic Angels found their heads making contact with the canvas, a big cloud of smoke surrounding Hoopa as he had just taken in the devastating move that had defeated both Blaziken and Scyther during the Next Gen Battle. Needless to say, this combined with all the damage dealt to the genie earlier led the crowd to believe that at least Hoopa must have been dealt with for good after that.

And it seemed so as the smoke cleared to reveal that Hoopa had coughed up quite a bit of blood as a result of the collision with the mat, his eyes stuck wide open as his tongue hung sideways out of his mouth. And Diancie seemed to be down for the count as well, despite having not taken in a lot of hits prior, the crowd going wild.

"Well, with two powerful slams, it seems that the Slashing Explosions may have actually won this match!" Beedrill exclaimed as Nori started the ten count, Machoke grinning wide and exclaiming, "YEAH, YOU ROCK!"

Aipom had a more serious look, thinking, 'Please let that be it. Tell me they didn't survive that,' as Reika and Scizor both had confident smiles on their faces.

Talonflame and Scyther both breathed heavily, grinning at one-another before holding their thumbs up. But just as Nori reached nine, the crowd was shocked, the announcer stopping the count when Hoopa and Diancie mustered up the strength to grab each respected opponent's ankles.

Before Talonflame could even respond, Hoopa used his hands to cross his legs together, thus causing him to trip and fall flat on his chin. However, Diancie had more plans for Scyther as she encased her hands in the material that made up her gems.

Because she was clinging to Scyther, the material also covered the insect's ankles as she struggled to free herself but to no avail. And it would only get worse as Diancie rose to her feet, lifting Scyther up with her and leaning backward, planting the back of the insect's head into the canvas.

Diancie's fans cheered as Nori exclaimed, "And just when it seemed to be over, the Demonic Angels make a shocking recovery and get their revenge!" Diancie removing the material from Scyther's ankles before resting on top of her, saying, "You may have resisted Hoopa's punches, but his weren't as strong as crystals, were they?"

Scyther instinctively held up her hands to block the inevitable onslaught of diamond-encrusted punches, though this only provided a little bit of protection as the material caused the backs of her hands to come open, green blood trickling down while the crowd watched in horror. And while this went on, Hoopa proceeded to float over Talonflame, smirking and saying, "You said mere punches wouldn't be enough to hurt you, but what if I aimed them at a spot that's already bleeding?"

Talonflame's eyes widened as Hoopa sent an onslaught of punches, his right hand striking the falcon's shoulder while his left hand went for the bleeding ribcage. Not even Talonflame could ignore so much pain as Tsuya spat, "THIS IS SO UNFAIR! HE'S TARGETING TALONFLAME'S TENDER SPOTS!" Cici nodding and whimpering, "Hoopa's scary."

Heracross could not take anymore as he stood up, shouting, "COME ON, GUYS, YOU CAN RESIST THIS!" Lopunny adding, "YEAH, FIND A WAY TO COUNTER THIS!" Scizor nodding and shouting, "You can do it, Scyther!"

With that in mind, Scyther threw her legs up, latching them to Diancie's waist. And unlike Hoopa, if the sylph were to continue her assault, she would end up dealing further harm to herself.

Unfortunately for the insect, Diancie was much more focused on making Hoopa happy as she continued her assault, seeing an opening before sending a hard punch straight into Scyther's forehead, the crowd truly astounded. This one punch was more than enough to draw blood, Scyther now too hurt to keep her arms up as Diancie continued her assault.

"And Diancie's just whaling on Scyther right now!" Nori exclaimed as Beedrill added, "Yeah, and Talonflame doesn't have it much better. Look, his wounds are getting bigger."

And this was certainly true as the multiple punches opened up the wounds more. However, Talonflame would not stand for this as he spat, "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOU!"

With that, he proceeded to plant his hands against the mat, lifting up his legs and sending them into Hoopa's midsection. With the genie distracted, the falcon used his legs to lock him in place, performing a handstand and throwing said legs forward, sending Hoopa flying head-first into Diancie. This caused the sylph to cough up a bit of blood as she fell on her side, thus allowing Scyther to rise back to her feet, breathing heavily and trying to ignore the extreme pain dealt to her face.

"Hey, you hanging in there, Scyther?" Talonflame asked as the insect nodded and replied, "Ja. I think it's time to end this."

With that, the two proceeded to hold hands as Scyther thought, 'Forgive me, mother, but I need to use my wings for this move to work,' the insect lashing out the blade on her free arm, Talonflame engulfing his own free arm in flames.

With that, Scyther revealed her wings as she and Talonflame both flew above the ground, the crowd gasping as Machoke uttered, "Is she doing what I think she is?" Aipom nodding as Heracross stated, "She's actually flying during a match!"

"Honestly, I'm more surprised by Scizor's reaction," Gallade uttered as the others turned to see what he meant, and sure enough, the red insect did not look the least bit upset. In fact, she had a smile on her face, almost as if she was proud of her daughter for going against her teachings, but why?

'As impressed as I am by the fact that you never once felt the need to rely on your wings, it might just be necessary here,' Scizor thought as the Slashing Explosions spun around in mid-air, headed toward their opponents while shouting, "ARM SCHWERT INFERNO!" a twister of flames surrounding them.

But just as the move was about to hit, Diancie quickly placed her hands against the ground, focusing hard as a pink aura surrounded her. And after a few seconds, the sylph exclaimed, "GEM GROWTH!" as a wide assortment of gems sprang up out of the ground where Talonflame and Scyther were headed, slowing them down as a big one rose up in the middle.

This particular gem struck both of their hands, thus forcing the two away from each-other as Hoopa grinned and said, "You are awesome, Diancie!" the sylph blushing and uttering, "Awesome? Me?"

However, the sylph quickly realized she could not pass up this opportunity as she changed her legs into a big diamond once more. With that, she once again propelled herself off of the ropes and aimed the diamond straight for Talonflame, Hoopa flying behind her and pushing on her shoulders to increase the speed, both shouting, "DIAMOND ROCKET!"

Seeing this, Scyther immediately lashed out her second arm blade and dashed in front of her partner, crossing both of them together. And thus it seemed she and the falcon would be safe when the diamond made contact with her blades.

The crowd was silent as Machoke sighed with relief, saying, "That was too close," Aipom whimpering, "I wouldn't be so calm right now if I were you."

The boy's eyes widened when he noticed what the monkey meant, most of the crowd terrified when they noticed Scyther's blades start to crack. And before either of the Slashing Explosions could react, the bottom halves of the blades shattered as Scyther took the diamond to her gut, said part passing straight through her and piercing Talonflame as well.

With that, both coughed up blood before being forced up against the ropes, the material coming open as the crowd stared in shock. And sure enough, it was not long until the ropes snapped open, Talonflame and Scyther flying out of the ring, the falcon's back hitting the wall hard as the collision left a small crater in the material.

The crowd gasped as those sitting behind said wall looked down, Nori exclaiming, "And with an impressive team move, the Demonic Angels have sent the Slashing Explosions outside of the ring!" Beedrill nodding as the woman started the ten count.

"Come on, you two, get up!" Reika spat as many others in the crowd started to show their support as well, Scizor exclaiming, "Scyther, you can still fight, can't you!?"

"Yeah, where's that fighting spirit!?" Heracross snapped as Lopunny sighed, "I hate to say it, but it might not be enough."

And sure enough, Nori managed to reach the number ten as she rang the bell, exclaiming, "And the final match of the second round has ended with the Demonic Angels claiming victory!" Hoopa and Diancie's fans cheering while the rest of the crowd was mortified.

As if that was not enough, neither Scyther nor Talonflame were able to move. As such, Scizor immediately sprouted her wings and flew toward them, exclaiming, "SCYTHER!" landing in front of her and letting down tears, a light smile on her face as she sniffed, "I'm so proud of you. You may not have won, but honestly, I think you did a lot better than you would have if I had given you advice."

"Oh, my dear, sweet Talonflame!" Tsuya exclaimed as she raced toward the ring, medics coming in to place the Slashing Explosions on stretchers.

Sure, Scyther had been badly damaged before, but never had a post-fight injury been this bad. Not even Talonflame dislocating her arms and legs compared to what she had felt when Diancie pierced her.

"As I said, without help from others, she's a joke," Hoopa said with a smirk as Diancie let out a sigh, refusing to bring up the fact that she and Talonflame had come very close to winning.

Reika also joined them as Machoke glared at Hoopa. Diancie may have been a scary opponent, but she did not give off nearly as bad of vibes as the genie did. And of course, there was also his match with Smeargle and Vespiquen to worry about and those two had already proven themselves to be a major threat as well.

"So, when should I expect to meet my new partner?" the boy asked as he turned to Aipom, the monkey replying, "As I said earlier, she will show up for the match, but her fighting style is a bit similar to my own, so I can actually replicate the team moves that she came up with. She's studied your fighting style and is one-hundred percent certain that these moves will work for you."

Machoke had a light smile as he replied, "Almost sounds too good to be true. I look forward to meeting her," a look of concern taking over as he went to join Reika and the others. He knew all of them were likely headed to the hospital and he wanted to join them, not just to make sure Scyther would be alright but to also check up on Gardevoir.

And sure enough, Heracross and Lopunny nodded at one-another, heading out of the dome. Unlike Machoke, they wanted to get to training as soon as possible. After seeing just how tough Hoopa and Diancie really could be, there was no way they would take a break, even if they had finished a match not too long ago.

But as the two started to leave, Lopunny looked back and noticed that Diancie looked rather exhausted when leaving the ring, more so than Hoopa. But why? The genie had taken in the most damage during the fight and had done the most work.

"Just like before, we only have two days before the next round, not counting today of course," Beedrill stated, "So everyone had better prepare themselves! And to those in the audience, you definitely do not want to miss this one!" the crowd beyond excited. After all, the semi-finals may not have always had the most exciting matches in any tournament, but they always came very close.

Soon enough, Machoke and the others arrived at the hospital as Scyther and Talonflame were immediately rushed down the hall. However, when the two heroes were wheeled to their room, Machoke's eyes widened when he noticed both Masquerain and Florges in separate beds, the flower girl sound asleep while her friend's eyes were still droopy, the butterfly not even budging.

Reika turned and gasped, "When did they get in here!?" as a nurse explained, "Miss Florges was brought here earlier today. Masquerain, on the other hand, has been here for three days."

As worried about Scyther as Reika was and as much as Tsuya wanted to make sure Talonflame was okay, both were fixated on Masquerain right now. While Florges' injuries were not too much different from what heroes in these tournaments often dealt with, Masquerain's were another thing all together.

"I feel sorry for her," the nurse sighed, "No one knows how it happened, but someone or something pierced her brain," Machoke uttering, "So she's basically a vegetable now?"

Sure, Florges had told the group that Masquerain was badly injured, but she never said just how bad it was. But who could have done this to her? Was it Ditto? He had been posing as Beedrill, after all, so that was a possibility.

Either way, he had a feeling at least one of the remaining teams in the tournament was responsible for all of this and he intended on dealing with this. At the very least, he would defeat Smeargle in the semi-finals.

 

With only two days to prepare for the semi-finals, Machoke was hard at work with Aipom giving him all the help he could get. After all, he knew just how powerful of an opponent Smeargle was. If he was not even remotely prepared, he could wind up in the hospital and break his promise to Gardevoir. Though without any knowledge on who his ally was, would he truly be ready when the day came?

Whatever, the case, the boy had just practised a team move with Aipom, a grin on his face as he said, "Well, that's pretty easy to pull off," the monkey nodding and replying, "Yep, but it's also very effective."

While the two took a quick breather, the boy turned to his trainer and stated, "I find it strange how many of these moves involve your tail, though. Does my new partner have a tail?" Aipom nodding and replying, "Yep. You'll find that like me, she fights best with it as the rest of her body isn't that useful in combat."

"Now I'm starting to wonder if she'll really be the ultimate partner," Machoke groaned, lowering his eyelids, "I was even thinking of calling up Barbaracle, but you seemed really certain," Aipom trying her hardest not to take offence to this as she nodded and replied, "Trust me, she'll be a great help."

However, a part of her was starting to wonder if this was true. After all, the fact that her tail was the only strong part of her was a tad alarming. If anything, Machoke's brief moment of doubt made sense.

But even so, Aipom remembered what the wise simians had told her. They reassured her that she was, indeed, ready for this, that she had the skills to help Machoke win the semi-finals and hopefully return Smeargle to the good guy he once was. If anything, losing faith in herself was the last thing she should have done at this point.

And thus, once the break was up, she and Machoke got started on more training. Though as she did not wish to tell Machoke that she would be his partner yet, she would hold off weight-lifting until she was alone. After all, building up her muscles could make the boy suspicious.

During this time, it seemed Hawlucha had finally recovered as he left the hospital, a news crew surrounding him while his family tried to fight them off. However, the parrot simply his head, all three female humans backing up as he smiled at one of the cameras.

"How does it feel to finally wake up after almost a week?" a young woman asked as Hawlucha replied, "It feels muy bueno, but that's not what I wish to say. I have something I wish to tell Machoke if he's listening. And if he's not, hopefully one of his amigos can pass this message onto him. After all, I can only imagine how busy he must be preparing for the semi-finals."

With that, everyone else went silent as he took hold of a microphone, stating, "Senior Machoke, it was a pleasure fighting alongside you, even if it was just one match! I'd also like to congratulate you on your second win, though Golduck certainly won't be able to fight for a while!"

The blue duck in question was currently lying in bed awake and listening to this with a sigh. As much as it pained her, the parrot was right as while her recovery had certainly been much faster than everyone else's, her arms were still limp and would need another week to recover.

Back outside of the hospital, Hawlucha added, "I just want to wish you the best for the semi-finals! That Smeargle is a scary adversary, but I know you can take him down! I just hope your next partner can help you out. I'd rejoin you, but the doctor says I shouldn't partake in another match for a while."

As it just so happened, Gallade and Hitmonchan were both listening to this while visiting Gardevoir, big smiles on their faces as the parrot added, "Well, adios for now. I hope we'll get to hang out later."

And Hawlucha was not the only one who had recovered today. While Lucario, Clauncher and even Gardevoir were still unconscious, Blaziken had made a full recovery. After all, the move that had defeated her was nowhere near as devastating as what the green girl took in and thus she had also left the hospital shortly after Hawlucha had.

But unlike the parrot who had sent the boy a message about his recovery via news coverage, she intended to visit him at home. She had a feeling he could at least put off training for a few minutes just to talk to a friend he had not been able to speak to in over three days.

As such, the chicken approached his house to see him and Aipom training in the yard, smiling and saying, "Howdy, stranger," the two turning to face her, Machoke's eyes sparkling.

"Blaziken, you're awake!" the boy exclaimed as he ran over to her, giving her a light hug and asking, "Does this mean Gardevoir's okay too?" Blaziken shaking her head and replying, "No, she's still out like a light."

She then gritted her teeth and growled, "I swear, if I ever get my hands on that Smeargle for what he did to her! Who does that to his best friend!?" Aipom sighing, "Calm down. We're gonna take care of that in the semi-finals, right, Machoke?"

Machoke blinked and uttered, "Well, yeah, my new partner and I should be able to handle it," the monkey clasping her hands over her mouth. She had come close to letting her secret out and she certainly did not want that just yet.

Blaziken smirked and said, "Well, I had a feeling you'd make it that far," before sighing, "Before I left the hospital, I needed a few hours before I could get up. Luckily, the sports network was showing yesterday's matches. I can't believe it. This is the third time in a row some villain has snuck his or her way into a big Tokyo tournament, and this time, it was two."

Machoke let out a sigh and replied, "Yeah, but at least those two are taken care of," Blaziken nodding and adding, "Though it's a real shame you keep losing your partners. Once was one thing, but twice in a row?"

Aipom nodded and sighed, "And it's not just them either. I don't know if you've heard, but Florges and Masquerain were also sent to the hospital. I wouldn't be surprised if Ditto and Ditta were the ones behind Masquerain's brain damage, but I'm wondering who gave Florges such an awful beating, especially since we already dealt with those two."

Blaziken was certainly surprised to hear this as Machoke sighed, "I have a feeling Smeargle might have done it. Lord knows he's clearly not thinking straight right now plus he and Florges have history. But once I knock some sense into him, hopefully all these incidents will come to an end."

Blaziken folded her arms and nodded, sighing, "Not gonna lie, Machoke, I'm really hoping this new partner of yours is up to snuff. I would have gladly taken Golduck's place," Aipom wondering if maybe she should have waited.

However, she had already made her decision. She had faced off against the wise simians and proved herself in battle. She also knew Machoke's moves and how to work with them more than anyone else. No matter how one looked at it, she was still the best pick for the semi-finals.

After a bit more talking, Blaziken wished Machoke the best and headed off to let him continue his training. He and Aipom seemed fine as they were right now, so she saw no need to join in.

While this went on, Vespiquen was busy not so much training herself but training Smeargle. She wanted the beagle to keep his aggression up as she knew he would need it for a match with the former world champion's son. However, due to his power having reached incredible levels, she did not use simple tactics like weights but rather had him ram his tails repeatedly into iron dummies.

"Very good," Vespiquen said as she noticed him putting dents in one, "Your tail is already your most powerful weapon and you've only made it stronger," the beagle nodding and replying, "Oui! You've really helped shape moi into the hero I was always meant to be! Nothing can stop moi now!"

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that," the bee remarked, "While you are, indeed, powerful, you've seen how much of a threat Machoke can be, right?" Smeargle blinking as she added, "You saw how in that last match, he pulled off a true miracle. He was all by himself yet he still managed to defeat both of his opponents at once. That is not the kind of fighter to take lightly, even if he is just a fighting type."

Smeargle nodded as Vespiquen added, "If anything, we need his most powerful moves on our side. His finishers are well-known throughout the world for how amazing they are, how even one such move can finish off the most powerful of adversaries with very few exceptions. As such, we are going to take a different approach and test a theory of mine."

"A theory?" Smeargle asked as the bee nodded and replied, "So far, you have only been able to sketch an opponent's moves from up close while watching the fighter use it in person, but have you ever tried sketching a move used on TV?" the beagle blinking as she added, "What I'm suggesting is that you watch at least one match where Machoke uses one of his infamous finishing moves and sketch it. You are to do this until you've learned all four of his solo finishers, got it?"

"Mais oui," Smeargle replied with a nod, "He'll be truly surprised when I turn his own finishing moves against him, non?" Vespiquen nodding with an implied smirk.

She could not have been more proud of her partner right now. It was as if he had become a son to her.

Meanwhile, Heracross and Lopunny were busy with their own training, though they had taken less breaks than Machoke. After all, Hoopa and Diancie had proven themselves surprisingly strong. There was no way the Bouncing Biceps would allow themselves to suffer the same fate as their allies.

However, much like how Scyther used to prepare for matches by going to other climates, back when her mother was the one choosing her training exercises, Lopunny and Heracross had chosen to train in the mountains. There was a lot to work with here, especially for the rhino beetle.

Heracross was currently lifting a large rock with his horn, groaning, "This isn't heavy enough!" flinging it behind him as it landed a small distance away, the beetle looking around until he found a bigger rock.

And while he lifted it up and down, Lopunny bounced around, leaping off of multiple rocks and other landforms, planting flying kicks into a few just to strengthen her feet. And shockingly, this actually seemed to work as the rabbit found herself putting small cracks into some of them. Considering how skinny she was, this was no small feat.

But of course, with her ears being her best weapon against any opponent, she would sometimes take a break from jumping and kicking to deliver multiple ear punches to rocks. If she could strike something that hard and get results, there was no doubt her ears could deal incredible pain to any opponent.

Soon enough, the duo was exhausted as they breathed heavily, Heracross grinning and saying, "We're ready for this," Lopunny nodding and pounding her fist against the beetle's, saying, "Yeah, those Demonic Angels won't know what hit them."

And the next day-and-a-half went by quickly. Machoke still found it strange that his partner had not once shown up to train with him, but Aipom reassured him that she would be ready. And thus, the boy was ready to get a full night's rest in preparation for this match.

As he slept, Aipom was still up with a light smile on her face, the monkey thinking, 'Just a little bit more,' checking up on the boy to make sure he was still asleep.

With that, she headed outside to do some last-minute weight-lifting. Not just for her tail but her arms as well. She remembered full-well what had happened when she caught Garchomp while she fell from two stories. Because the monkey had been so weak, her knees gave way and she was stuck in the hospital for the duration of the Olympics. She did not wish for something like that to happen again.

And soon enough, the morning of the big event came with only two hours before Machoke needed to arrive for his match with the Elegant Warriors. Despite having gone to bed an hour later than usual, Aipom had still woken up before the boy to make breakfast, though it was mostly cereal and toast. She did not wish to fill either her or Machoke up with foods such as bacon before a big match.

As Machoke took a bite of toast, the monkey smiled and asked, "So, you ready for your match today?" the boy nodding and saying, "I heard Gardevoir's supposed to regain consciousness today. I really hope she's awake. I want her to see me win."

Aipom nodded and thought, 'Lucky girl. She's gotten him to do anything for her,' the monkey then wondering if maybe it was time for her to consider dating. Up to this point, she had never taken an interest as she saw it as a waste of her intelligence.

And soon enough, everyone had arrived for the match. As much as Reika wanted to stay in the hospital to check up on Scyther, she decided to come to the Tokyo dome all the same. Not only did she know Machoke would likely need her support but she also wanted to make sure Heracross and Lopunny could defeat Hoopa and Diancie. And of course both Cici and Keiko were with her.

Tsuya, meanwhile, had chosen to stay behind in the hospital to watch over Talonflame, so she would watch from there instead. Though surprisingly even Gallade and Hitmonchan had decided to stay there and watch over Gardevoir. Though this was mostly due to Gallade wanting to be there when his sister finally woke up.

Golduck was still lying in bed, looking at the TV intensely while thinking, 'Come on, Machoke, you can do it.'

Unfortunately, Lucario and Clauncher were still comatose and thus could not watch the match, and the same of course went for Florges. Though while she could not wake up, it had gotten to a point where she could at least hear what was going on around her, so she at least had a way of knowing what would happen during the match while the TV in her room aired it.

Blaziken had gotten a front-row seat as the others arrived, a grin on her face as she waved to them. And soon enough, they had also taken a seat. And of course, all of them really hoped Machoke could win this match.

Just as they had gotten comfortable, Keiko looked around and asked, "Hey, have any of you seen Aipom?" Reika shrugging and replying, "Now that you mention it, no. I would have thought for sure she'd be here early as usual."

"Yes," Cici uttered, "It's not like her to miss one of Machoke's matches," Blaziken uttering, "Yeah. She usually worries way too much about Machoke. I hope something hasn't happened to her."

During this time, Machoke looked nervous while waiting by the entrance. As it just so happened, his partner had not yet arrived. Now he was starting to wonder if she would ever show up.

Luckily, he would soon have no reason to be concerned when he noticed a figure dressed in a cloak approach him, giving him a light wave. However, no hand had come out of the cloak as she said, "Hi, Machoke. I'm your partner."

The boy nodded with a light smile and said, "Nice to meet you, uh...?" holding out his hand as the cloaked figure bowed her head, seeming to ignore the gesture as she added, "I am Aipa," all the while thinking, 'Come on! Was that really the best name you could think of!?'

However, Machoke seemed to buy it as he said, "Oh yeah, Aipom mentioned you having a tail. You must be a member of her family or something," the monkey breathing a sigh of relief before saying, "Yes, um, we are cousins. That's why our names are similar," all the while thinking, 'Okay, enough! He's gonna find out who you are once you're in the ring! Don't push it!'

She then cleared her throat and added, "By the way, I've already submitted our team name, so you don't need to worry about that."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, finally," Machoke said with a grin, "I would ask you to remove the cloak so I could see you, but you've actually given me a really good idea for an entrance," Aipom biting her lower lip and thinking, 'Shit.'

And once the bleachers had been filled, Beedrill and Nori both nodded at one-another as the wasp exclaimed, "Welcome, one and all, to the Ultimate World Team Tournament semi-finals! We've had two very exciting rounds so far, but this round is sure to be amazing!" the crowd now pumped up as Nori added, "We've seen quite a few surprises so far, including a pair of villains sneaking their way in here, but I'm sure there'll be much more to come as these four teams have proven themselves more than worthy of being here!"

With that in mind, Beedrill pointed to the Western entrance, stating, "In the red corner comes the hero who saved us all and a mysterious new ally! He has triumphed over the Venomous Titans, bested two villains and now he comes to us to likely impress us even more with an ally who is sure to help him out greatly! As such, it is my pleasure to introduce-" the wasp looking at the sheet with the team name on it, his eyes wide open as Nori looked over at it, uttering, "The Student Teacher Combo?"

Everyone was shocked to hear that name, Keiko uttering, "You don't suppose-" as suddenly, Machoke and his partner entered wearing cloaks, Machoke with a serious look in his eyes.

Aipom darted her eyes around, thinking, 'Well, this actually isn't that bad. In fact, it's kind of intimidating,' a part of her also feeling strangely happy just to be a part of all of this for once.

"Wow, he looks dignified," Reika said as Blaziken folded her arms, saying, "I bet a certain someone played a big part in that."

However, once the two climbed into the ring, Keiko briefly noticing wood sticking out from under the cloak of Machoke's partner, Machoke threw off his cloak as everyone, Aipom included, staring at him as he had a flashy outfit on, laughing and exclaiming, "BET YOU DIDN'T EXPECT THAT, DID YOU!?"

Some members of the crowd shielded their eyes as Aipom groaned, 'Why?' Machoke turning and uttering, "Aren't you gonna remove your cloak?"

'He's right,' Aipom thought, 'I can't fight in this,' and thus the monkey proceeded to latch onto the cloak to her tail hand, hurling it off of her as the crowd gasped.

It was just as Keiko and the others suspected, though what surprised them the most was Machoke's reaction, the boy staring in stunned silence at the sight of his trainer standing right next to him on stilts. She then leapt off of them, balling her tail hand up into a fist before using it to smack the objects away from her, no one sure whether to cheer or be concerned for the monkey's safety.

"You mean to tell me-?" Machoke uttered as Aipom sighed, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I had a feeling if I did, you'd probably try to convince me not to. But mark my words, I've been training a lot recently for this. I turned to three masters to help give me the skills to help you. I know I can be a good ally for you."

"Actually, I would have been okay with that," Machoke replied, scratching the side of his head as the monkey went wide-eyed, barking, "What!?"

The boy nodded with a grin, replying, "You may be small, but you taught me a lot of the skills I know today. Size aside, I actually feel comfortable knowing you're gonna fight with me."

The crowd was now cheering as Nori stated, "It would seem Machoke didn't even know Aipom was his partner, but either way, it's gotten this crowd truly excited, and the same goes for me! We've never seen Aipom in action before, so this is sure to be a real treat!"

Even Reika had a light smile on her face, saying, "Machoke's matches are always full of surprises, aren't they?" Keiko nodding and adding, "I'm actually looking forward to this. Like Aipom, Ambipom fought once when Machamp was badly injured by a villain named Electrode. He had been beaten really badly during that match and Ambipom was the only one there to fight in his stead."

"Wow, how did that turn out?" Reika asked as her mother replied, "She surprised everyone. Despite her being only a little bit taller than Aipom at the time and roughly the same age, she put up an amazing fight and ultimately defeated Electrode in the end. I wonder if Aipom will do the same."

Cici was truly amazed as Blaziken smirked, saying, "This just got even more interesting."

And once the crowd's excitement died down a bit, Beedrill pointing toward the Eastern entrance and exclaimed, "And in the blue corner, these two really shocked and amazed us all in the first round, and have even pulled out more surprises in round two! For all we know, this could very well be Machoke's second official loss, but we'll just have to wait and see! Here for you today, the Elegant Warriors!"

Some members of the crowd went wild as once again, a fancy musical score played while Vespiquen and Smeargle walked toward the ring hand-in-hand. Their outfits were even more fancy this time as Machoke lowered his eyelids, finding this pretentious now.

And once the two approached the ring, Smeargle bowed his head as Vespiquen fluttered up onto the ringside, helping her partner up and saying, "Why, thank you, kind sir," Smeargle once again kissing her hand with a more dramatic bow than before.

While this still did not feel like a fight entrance, at this point, Smeargle's fans had gotten used to it and applauded him, one saying, "These two should be on Broadway or something."

Vespiquen bowed before removing her outfit, Smeargle doing the same as Aipom thought, 'He acts so calm and collective, but I see through that. As soon as he starts fighting, he'll be as ruthless as before, I just know it. And there's no doubt in my mind that Vespiquen is responsible for all of this.'

"I have to say, I'm a tad disappointed," the bee said, folding her arms, "I was hoping you'd find a much stronger ally, Machoke, but nevertheless, I'm hoping for a good match anyway. Your reputation is quite astounding and those last two matches have certainly proven to me that you have earned it."

"Oh, um, thanks, I guess," Machoke uttered as Vespiquen added, "It would be an honour if you faced me first."

Just as the boy was about to agree, Aipom tapped him on the side and whispered, "I don't trust her one bit. Let me go first," the boy biting his lower lip before nodding. It seemed like the monkey knew what she was doing.

And as he climbed over the rope, standing beside the ring, the crowd was rather surprised as Vespiquen shrugged and turned to Smeargle, saying, "I know how much you would love to go first. Well, I suspect this one won't be that strong, so any move she has probably isn't worth sketching anyway. So go ahead."

The beagle's eyes sparkled as he nodded, replying, "Oui. Merci beaucoup," Vespiquen heading to the ringside as well, both fighters now ready to begin.

Aipom was certain she would be able to help Machoke do what the two teams before them could not. After all, Gardevoir was depending on Machoke's victory.

 

This was it. Aipom gave Smeargle a serious look as she thought, 'Alright, it's time to put my new skills to the test. I know he's strong, but I'm certain I can be strong too.'

And with that, Nori rang the bell as Smeargle sprinted toward Aipom with his tails at the ready. But just was he was about to strike, the monkey closed her eyes, seeing him coming as she leapt over his head. Before the beagle could even respond, Aipom performed a vertical flip, sending her tail fist into his skull.

The crowd went wild as the monkey took full advantage of this, clinging to his head while wrapping her tail around his neck. And unlike Kecleon's tongue, her tail was actually strong and as such, Smeargle felt pain from this as he stuck out his tongue, trying to pry the part off of him.

The crowd cheered as Nori stated, "And Aipom opens up with a hard punch to the skull and a neck hold. Already, the little monkey is off to a good start," only for Smeargle to grit his teeth, Vespiquen saying, "You know how to get out of this. This is nothing."

The beagle nodded and lifted up his middle tail, Machoke about to warn Aipom only for the monkey to leap off of Smeargle just in time to avoid the incoming strike. And she had much more planned as she balled up her tail hand into a fist again, throwing it forward between her legs thus striking Smeargle in the face.

The crowd cheered even louder as she then opened her tail hand, clutching onto Smeargle's snout. She then leaned backwards, performing a handstand while lifting him up and shouting, "TAIL FRANKENSTEINER!"

The crowd was truly amazed as she managed to not only lift Smeargle high above her head but also slam his skull hard into the canvas. What was even more shocking was that despite only having taken in a few hits, this one blow had been enough to get the beagle to cough up a bit of blood, Beedrill exclaiming, "Now it's easy to see why Aipom was Machoke's trainer all this time! She's incredible!"

Aipom stared wide-eyed at Smeargle lying on his back, a big smile on her face. As serious as she was about this match, the fact that she of all fighters had pulled this off so early was beyond exciting. She never would have believed that she would have been capable of that, at least not until her teen years.

"Way to go, Aipom!" Keiko exclaimed, Cici giving her a light smile while Blaziken shouted, "You're the bomb!" flashing her two thumbs up.

Hoopa and Diancie both stared at this as the sylph uttered, "That monkey is strong," Hoopa nodding and saying, "Yeah. She's stronger than that demon girl."

Vespiquen's eyes were wide now as she thought, 'What was I thinking? It should have been obvious! The reason she went first is because she knew there was no way either of us could take advantage of her! She's never been seen in a fight, so no one actually knows any of her abilities! Machoke couldn't have asked for a better ally!'

However, Smeargle was far from finished as he slowly pushed himself up, taking many deep breaths before glaring at Aipom, the monkey trying her hardest not to show fear. But it would certainly be difficult as the beagle rose to his feet, growling, "I'll admit, you got the drop on moi, but your skills are nothing special! Now that I've seen how you fight, I can easily win this!"

Aipom tried her hardest not to feel intimidated by this, but she knew how strong the beagle was. As such, she watched him closely as he rushed toward her with his tails at the ready.

"TRIPLE TAIL PEN BARRAGE!" the beagle exclaimed when he got close enough, Aipom leaping away from him only to be pursued.

She would have tried blocking it as having three hands, she could have easily pulled that off. However, she knew full-well that doing so would only result in her taking multiple stabs to said spots.

'If I can keep this up, I can get him to use up his energy,' the monkey thought after dodging twenty jabs, 'My monkey DNA gives me the energy to go on for a long time, and while dogs are known for their energy as well, theirs is much more limited.'

However, it seemed Aipom had lost complete focus as she wound up tripping over her left foot, her eyes widening as she skipped backward, barely keeping her balance. She ultimately managed to regain her footing, but she had also been slowed down enough to take a stab to her shoulder.

The crowd looked horrified as Smeargle continued his onslaught, Aipom realizing she had little choice as she held up her arms and tail hand in front of her face. And just as she predicted, this dealt considerable pain to her as Smeargle sent all three tails into her tail hand, blood flying out as the monkey tried her hardest not to cry out in agony.

"OH MY GOD, ARE YOU OKAY!?" Machoke spat as Aipom nodded and backed up, taking a deep breath and thinking, 'Is this what Machoke always deals with? No wonder he used to be so scared of combat.'

Vespiquen implied a devious smile and said, "Good job, Smeargle. You managed to make up for the pain you took in earlier. Though honestly, I think you can do better. Why not have her fall victim to a move she's all too familiar with? It'll not only shock her, but Machoke will be devastated to see this used on his beloved trainer."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Machoke remarked with confusion, "I already know what finishing moves Smeargle has sketched. And just so you know, we've been coming up with counters for all of them."

"Well, that's nice," Vespiquen remarked, "But that knowledge won't help you. Smeargle, use finishing move number three."

The crowd was confused as Reika asked, "Wait, move number three? Does she mean the third move he sketched? Which one was that again?"

Aipom did not wish to find out as when Smeargle charged at her, she leapt to the side with her fist at the ready. However, the beagle saw this coming as he took hold of her tail, the monkey's eyes widening as the beagle leaned back, planting his foot into her gut and sending her flying above the ring.

The crowd gasped as Smeargle ran toward the ropes, leaping off of them and tucking himself into a ball. Machoke's eyes and mouth were wide open as he spat, "NO WAY! HOW CAN HE POSSIBLY KNOW THAT ONE!?"

And sure enough, just as Aipom was about to hit the mat, Smeargle flew into her back, reverting to his normal state and reaching his arms and legs back. He then took hold of the monkey's ankles and wrists, spinning like a wheel as the crowd stared in horror.

"We're witnessing something truly amazing right now!" Nori exclaimed, "Despite Machoke having not even used it once during the match, Smeargle seems to have mastered his infamous Sunset Slam!"

And it seemed so as the beagle and monkey headed toward the mat, Smeargle shouting, "SUNSET SLAM!" planting Aipom's gut into the mat before taking hold of her head and slamming it hard against the canvas.

Due to her lack of muscles, this actually seemed like it might have been enough as Aipom lay there, her body not moving an inch. With that, Beedrill blinked and uttered, "This could very well be the shortest match so far. If one member from either team is knocked out before the tornado tag portion, both of them lose."

Machoke trembled as Vespiquen folded her arms and thought, 'That is a touch disappointing, but at least we got results,' Hoopa gritting his teeth and grunting, "Damn you, Vespiquen! You could have at least taken out Machoke! At least then, you claiming victory over him instead of me would have been less annoying!"

Diancie stared at the genie with confusion but shrugged her shoulders, knowing better than to question this as Nori started the ten count. Reika stared in shock, uttering, "It can't be over yet, can it?"

"Hate to say it, but this makes sense," Blaziken growled, "Aipom may have some good skills, but she's nowhere near as strong as us. Even Mawile has more resistance to pain than she does."

However, just as Nori reached eight, she stopped and gasped when Aipom opened her eyes, placing all three hands against the mat and pushing herself up. She took many deep breaths and grunted, "That was nothing!"

The crowd cheered for the monkey as Smeargle stared in horror. How could someone so weak get up from something like that? Sure, that was the only impressive hit he had made so far, but even so, it should have been enough.

Even so, his shock faded as he let out a sigh and said, "You should have stayed down, Mademoiselle Aipom. Now that I know you can still stand, I'm going to unleash even more pain upon you."

The monkey bit her lower lip as Machoke held out his hand, exclaiming, "Aipom, you wanna tag me?" Aipom letting out a sigh and nodding. She hated to admit it, but right now, she certainly needed to take Machoke's place if they were to stand a chance.

With that, she ran toward the boy as Smeargle charged at her with his arms and tails at the ready, shouting, "NON!" but just as he got close, Aipom proceeded to turn around, latching her tail onto one of the beagle's hands and taking hold of the other with her normal hands.

She could see Smeargle attempting to use his tails and thus knew she would need to act fast. As such, she proceeded to lift him up, leaning backward and shouting, "TRI-HAND SUPLEX!" slamming his head hard against the mat while the crowd cheered wildly.

"And Aipom surprises us once again!" Nori exclaimed as the monkey thought, 'All that extra training actually made that easier to pull off,' a light smile on her face as she ran over to Machoke, tagging him in as the boy gave her a thumb up, taking her place.

"So far, Aipom has really proven herself a force to be reckoned with," Beedrill stated, "Not only has she landed quite a few impressive hits so far, but she even got up after taking in the mighty Sunset Slam, arguably Machoke's most powerful finishing move."

"Speaking of which, I need to ask you something?" Machoke stated with a frown, "How did you learn that ability? I can understand if you had sketched my other finishing moves during my previous fights, but it's like Nori said, I haven't used Sunset Slam during this tournament once."

Vespiquen implied a smirk and replied, "I can field this one. In all actuality, Smeargle was unable to sketch your abilities while watching you fight before as he wasn't close enough for the ability to work. As such, I had him watch every recorded moment of you using your finishing moves. I figured since he would be close to the image on the screen, it might be possible for him to pull it off, and it would seem I was right."

Machoke's eyes widened as he uttered, "So he knows all of my finishing moves now?" Aipom replying, "It's okay, Machoke. Don't forget, you faced an opponent who was able to turn your abilities against you in round two," the boy nodding and putting on a more serious look.

"She's right," Machoke stated, "Besides, I swore to Gardevoir that I'd put you in your place and I intend to do just that after the way you betrayed her!"

In the hospital, just as was predicted, Gardevoir was awake to watch this match right now. Upon hearing these words, the girl had a light smile while thinking, 'I know you can put him in his place, Machoke. I want my friend back,' Gallade and Hitmonchan both hoping for the same. As for Kirlia and Ralts, they unfortunately had to return to Paris as their vacation time was up.

Smeargle's eyes widened briefly in response to this but he quickly put on a more serious look, charging toward the boy. Machoke saw this coming as he quickly dodged to the right, sending a roundhouse into the side of the beagle's head.

Unfortunately, Smeargle ignored this completely as he sent one of his tails into Machoke's ankle, piercing his flesh as the boy cried out in pain, Smeargle's fans cheering while the others looked in horror. And it would only get worse as Smeargle proceeded to bend down, swinging Machoke with his tail before flinging him hard into the turnbuckle.

Reika winced at the sight of this, blood trickling down Machoke's ankle as Aipom whimpered, "Machoke, are you alright?" the boy grinning and rubbing the back of his head, replying, "Come on, you know me better than that."

With that in mind, the boy raced toward Smeargle. Once he was close, the beagle sent his tails forward only for the boy to dodge to the right. And as Smeargle redirected one of his tails toward the boy, Machoke saw this coming as he took hold of it, lifting the beagle high above his head and leaning sideways, slamming the side of his head hard against the mat.

The crowd went wild as Nori stated, "After taking in quite a powerful hit from Smeargle, Machoke follows it up with an impressive counter. He fully intends on getting back at the dog for what he did to Gardevoir and it shows."

And with that in mind, Machoke refused to let Smeargle get up just yet as he leapt into the air, aiming an elbow drop toward his side. Unfortunately, Smeargle would not allow this as he gritted his teeth, sending one of his tails into the very part aimed at him.

The crowd gasped as Machoke cried out in pain, Smeargle using this opportunity to plant his other tails into the same spot, swinging them sideways as Machoke's side was slammed against the mat. He then removed his tails and said, "I'm actually a tad disappointed right now, Monsieur Machoke. I've seen your matches, heard all about your family and their incroyable skills, and yet so far, your abilities are a lot simpler and easier to exploit than Aipom's."

Blaziken and Aipom both gritted their teeth as the beagle sent his tails rapidly into Machoke's gut, shouting, "Aipom may be weaker than you, but at least her pattern was far more creative! You, on the other hand, rely on the most basic of moves, but I guess that can't be helped! After all, you're only a fighting type! You don't have anything special in your arsenal!"

The crowd watched in horror as Machoke's body was covered in holes now. However, it was still too early in the match for him to possibly fall to this as he gritted his teeth, holding up his arms and allowing them to be pierced by two of the beagle's tails.

"One thing you've forgotten is how unpredictable I can be!" the boy stated with a smirk before throwing his arms back, Smeargle's eyes widening as he found himself flung over the boy, his head hitting the canvas while the crowd cheered.

However, it was not over for Smeargle yet as Vespiquen sighed, "Smeargle, you've done a good job so far, but I think it is time for me to take a shot at this. We only have a little over a minute before the tornado tag portion and I would like you to be in better health for that."

With that, the beagle let out a sigh and nodded, springing up to his feet and sprinting toward Vespiquen. Machoke would have tried to stop him, but it was too late as he tagged in his partner, the bee taking his place.

"And after all that, Smeargle has switched places with Vespiquen," Beedrill stated, "But can she possibly do a better job than him? She is full of surprises, but her physical strength isn't quite on his level."

However, Machoke knew better than to take Vespiquen lightly. She was clearly the mastermind behind this team, the one who had brought Smeargle to this point. She was not to be taken lightly, not for a second.

'Alright, this could be tough,' Aipom thought, 'As far as basic moves go, she's nowhere near as dangerous as Smeargle, but there's still one glaring problem, that string of hers. So far, it seems practically unavoidable. If Machoke gets caught in it, he might just be a sitting duck until the tornado tag portion starts.'

The boy was fully aware of this as he did not even wait for Vespiquen to make the first move. He was almost one-hundred percent sure she would try her Attack Order, and he did not wish to deal with that as he ran to the side.

It seemed Vespiquen was more prepared for this than one would have expected as she immediately lifted up her arm, aiming her claws at the boy's shoulder. Machoke dodged it just in time as the bee frowned, releasing her bees. But as the small, fake bugs flew toward Machoke, he knew right away that being near Vespiquen right now was a bad idea.

As such, he immediately backed away from the bees, Vespiquen flying toward him as he attempted to dodge to the left. However, this was exactly what the bee wanted as she flew to where he was headed. And with Machoke too distracted by trying to dodge her strings, she proceeded to scratch his shoulder, the boy wincing as he knelt down, the bees flying around him as he was soon bound in place.

"No! Machoke!" Aipom screeched as Vespiquen implied a smirk, saying, "You were smart to see this move coming, but it seems like it didn't help you in the end," the bee then flipping herself backwards while shouting, "ATTACK ORDER!" slamming Machoke's face hard against the canvas.

Her fans cheered while the rest of the crowd winced, Nori saying, "And once again, Vespiquen gets the upper hand with her infamous Attack Order! It seems like no one will find a way around this!" Blaziken gritting her teeth and growling, "Dammit! I wish I could have thought of something!"

Gardevoir watched this from the hospital and bit her lower lip, wondering if anyone could figure out how this move worked. Gallade gritted his teeth and cursed, "Dammit, that move is so cheap! I don't care if it's a part of her! It should be illegal!" Hitmonchan sighing, "Well, Machoke has a knack for getting out of these situations. Maybe he'll find a way around it."

He could certainly need to pick up the pace as Vespiquen twirled with him still bound up, much like what she had done when she trapped Gothitelle and Mawile. She then flew over to the nearest turnbuckle, Machoke squirming to free himself but to no avail, his head rammed repeatedly against the pole as Vespiquen exclaimed, "ATTACK ORDER CAROUSEL!"

As the boy took in the multiple blows, Aipom bit her lower lip, rubbing her temple and thinking, 'Come on! There's gotta be a way around this!' Nori stating, "So far, it's not looking good for the Student Teacher Combo. What started off favourably took a turn for worse when not Smeargle but Vespiquen entered the ring. Can Machoke be the first to find a way out of those strings?"

At that moment, Cici remembered something as her eyes widened, the blue-haired girl squealing, "Hey, Machoke! I know what you can do!" the boy now ignoring the pain to his head and directing his eyes toward her, the girl adding, "Remember how you escaped from Giratina's grip when he had you trapped! You were about to take in his Ominous Wind Suplex, but you pulled through!"

"That's right!" Machoke exclaimed as he took a deep breath, thinking, 'I remember it taking quite a bit out of me, but if it helps me escape from this move, it's worth it,' everyone staring as Aipom uttered, "Will that actually work?"

With that, Machoke gritted his teeth and focused as hard as he could, Vespiquen sighing, "What are you trying to do?" when suddenly, she noticed the boy's muscles start to expand as they pressed up against the strings, pushing them out a little bit to the point where people could actually see them now.

However, as of now, he had only used a small fraction of the force he had used to escape from Giratina's clutches, and yet this seemed to be enough as two of the bees spun around each-other making it clear that the strings attached to them had been untied. That was all the boy needed as he reverted his muscles to normal, leaping up before he could be bound a second time.

However, escaping from Vespiquen's grip was not all he had planned as he sent a flying kick with both feet into the bee's face, the crowd going wild as he then propelled himself backward, flipping vertically and landing in front of the smaller bees, which were all lying on the ground now. As such, a smirk formed on his face as he proceeded to lift them up, Vespiquen's eyes wide with horror as Machoke swung her around, flinging her into the turnbuckle.

The crowd went wild as she coughed up a small bit of green blood, Reika clapping and shouting, "CICI, YOU'RE A GENIUS!" the blue-haired girl blushing lightly and uttering, "Well, I'm sure anyone else could have come up with that in due time."

Keiko chuckled and replied, "No need to be so modest," as Aipom breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, 'Good thing he didn't use too much force, though I'm sure he knows that using that technique again could cost him the match. It's a great defensive manoeuvre but also requires a great deal of energy.'

Even so, things were finally starting to look up as Vespiquen grunted, breathing heavily and retracting her strings. But as Machoke was ready to go in for more, Nori rang the bell thus signalling the start of the tornado tag portion. With that in mind, Aipom and Smeargle both leapt into the ring.

With Machoke's back turned to the beagle, he failed to notice him setting up for a counter. But just as his attack was about to land, Aipom spun her body around, sending her tail fist hard into the side of his head, knocking him on his side while the crowd cheered even louder.

"And with that, the Student Teacher Combo has the advantage back!" Nori stated, "But with Vespiquen and Smeargle working together, can this last?"

Aipom smiled at Machoke and lifted up her tail fist, saying, "Great job," Machoke nodding and adding, "Thanks for the save," both pounding their fists together.

The crowd still had so much trouble believing this. With Aipom being so short and not coming close to Machoke's physical strength, this seemed like a bad combination, and yet so far, Aipom had proven herself a very good ally for the boy. But even so, she had only done well by herself so far. Hopefully she and Machoke would do a good job together otherwise the Elegant Warriors could very well get the upper hand back.

 

So far, the match between the Student Teacher Combo and the Elegant Warriors had been back-and-forth. The Elegant Warriors had dealt many powerful blows and yet Aipom and Machoke had made quite a few comebacks. However, now that both members of each team were fighting together, just how would this match play out?

So far, it looked favourable as Machoke and Aipom had managed to deal damage to each opponent's head. But even so, Smeargle and Vespiquen had proven themselves to be formidable as both glared at the two heroes before them.

"I'll admit, this match has been interesting, but I think it's time we show them who the real winners are," Vespiquen stated as Smeargle nodded and asked, "Should I use move number quatre yet?"

The bee implied a smile and replied, "Yes. But use it on Machoke when the time comes. I'll help you set up for that, but don't forget, that Aipom is capable of getting in our way. We'll make sure that doesn't happen, yes?"

"Oui," Smeargle replied with a nod as Aipom tapped her chin, using this time to come up with a strategy, Machoke asking, "So, any ideas?"

"I'd say go on the defensive, but with these two, that's hardly a good idea," Aipom replied, "Each one has at least one move that can easily bypass our defences. I say we catch them off-guard with a little team move, don't you think?"

Machoke nodded with a grin as he noticed Vespiquen and Smeargle had finished their conversation. With that in mind, he wasted no time lifting up Aipom by her tail, the crowd interested as he flung her forward, Vespiquen readying herself to counter. After all, the Queens of Darkness had used a similar move of them before.

However, just as it looked like the monkey was going to use an obvious tactic, the crowd gasped when Machoke leapt toward her, taking hold of her tail again, using the momentum to spin vertically with her, the two forming a big wheel and rolling along the mat. The crowd went wild as the two spat, "BIG MONKEY BOULDER!" striking the bee hard in the chest, causing her to cough up a bit of green blood as she flew backward into the ropes.

As Smeargle readied himself to counter, he was unprepared for what happened next as Aipom leapt out of the formation, spinning vertically into the ropes and bouncing off. Smeargle was too focused on Machoke to notice the monkey fly toward him, ramming into the side of his head as his eyes and mouth widened with shock. And it would only get worse for him as Machoke retracted from his wheel-like state and leapt at him with his arm out, taking hold of his neck and knocking him on his back.

Nori beamed and exclaimed, "And the Student Teacher Combo lands a rather complex yet really effective team move! Though I have to wonder why Machoke had to release Aipom first. Didn't that make the move more difficult to pull off?"

"Yes, but I can see why they did it," Beedrill replied as he pulled a chart out of nowhere, pointing at an example of what would have happened if Machoke had clung to the tail the whole time, saying, "The problem is that due to Aipom's small size and lack of physical strength, had Machoke held onto her, she wouldn't have been able to spin as Machoke would have been too heavy for her. But since she started spinning before he took hold of her tail, she had already built up incredible speed thus both were able to use the momentum to form a living wheel."

Smeargle gritted his teeth and exclaimed, "NON!" before sending all three tails up before Machoke could leap off of him.

However, the boy saw this coming as he reacted just in time to get away from the beagle, Vespiquen glaring at the two. Just from that one move, she could tell that setting them up for whatever move they had planned would not be easy.

But even so, there was no way she would allow them to land another hit as she said, "Alright, Smeargle, we're going to have to hold off on move number four. When the time comes, I'll let you know," the beagle nodding as Vespiquen flew toward Aipom.

The monkey prepared herself as Smeargle rushed at Machoke, the boy preparing himself as well. But just as it looked like the two were ready to counter, the Elegant Warriors both nodded at one-another before shifting around, each one aiming for a different target.

"Wait, what?" Machoke uttered as Vespiquen sent her arm hard into his neck, knocking him on his back while Smeargle leapt sideways toward Aipom, sending all three tails into her skull thus causing her to lose balance and fall on her face.

Smeargle's fans cheered, but the rest of the crowd was dumbfounded as Nori said, "Here's something we haven't seen yet in this tournament. In order to confuse their opponents, the Elegant Warriors switched targets and it seems their tactic worked!"

And it would only get worse from here as Vespiquen proceeded to float above Machoke, releasing the big orange stinger from her abdomen and shouting, "NOW STAY DOWN!" descending toward him and adding, "FELL STINGER!"

Machoke found himself unable to dodge in time as he took the stinger to his gut, coughing up blood as the crowd gasped. Reika trembled and uttered, "No, they were doing so well," as Keiko took a deep breath, replying, "I'm sure he'll get up from this. He's dealt with worse before."

However, he would certainly need to get up soon as Aipom was currently overwhelmed. She had miraculously recovered and sprung to her feet before Smeargle could strike her while she was down, but now she was once again dodging his Triple Tail Pen Barrage, having even more trouble than before as the damage dealt to her caused her to lose a bit of energy.

Just as she had built up a slight momentum, Vespiquen immediately flew at her from the side, striking her shoulder before she could respond. With that, the monkey whimpered as she found herself unable to avoid taking in more stabs, what originally started as small wounds opening up and becoming worse.

Even Smeargle's fans were having trouble watching this. Sure, they wanted him to win, and they knew full-well how brutal these matches could be, but seeing him deal this kind of damage to the only participants not in her teens was painful. Aipom may have been a hero and knew what she had gotten herself into, but this still seemed extreme.

'I knew he was going to be a challenge, but I thought for sure my fights with the wise simians would prepare me for this,' Aipom thought while trying her hardest to resist the pain, 'Those three can't even compare to Smeargle right now!'

Luckily for Aipom, though, Smeargle eventually stopped his assault. But it seemed this was merely so Vespiquen could wrap her arms around the monkey, lifting her up and leaning backward thus planting her head into the canvas.

As if this was not enough, that hit seemed to have knocked Aipom out cold, though most of the crowd was not too surprised. After all, it was a miracle she had even resisted as much damage as she had up to this point.

Gardevoir bit her lip while watching this, whimpering, "Please get up, Machoke!" the others hoping for the same thing.

And just as Nori was about to start the ten count, it seemed their wish came true as Machoke opened his eyes and propelled himself back up. However, no sooner after his recovery did he notice the horrifying sight of his trainer passed out, Vespiquen and Smeargle both turning to face him with maniacal looks in their eyes.

"Aipom certainly surprised us, but as far as partners go, she was by far the worst you could have asked for," Vespiquen stated, Machoke gritting his teeth as Smeargle could tell she was only saying this to get under the boy's skin.

Though unlike the bee who had seen Aipom's true potential before, the beagle wondered if she was correct or not. After all, both Hawlucha and Golduck had sustained far more damage and still remained standing for the most part.

Even so, Machoke was determined to end this, with or without the monkey. He turned to her and thought, 'You rest now. I'll finish these two for us.'

With that, the boy rushed toward the two with fire in his eyes, Vespiquen thinking, 'This is too perfect,' but just as she was about to retaliate, the boy leapt high above her head, planting both of her feet into her skull.

The crowd cheered as Smeargle tried to retaliate only for Machoke to propel himself off of Vespiquen's face, sending a roundhouse into the beagle's forehead. Then with both distracted, he proceeded to take them by the arms and spin around, flinging each one into a turnbuckle.

"And it seems Machoke fully intends to make up for the damage dealt earlier!" Nori exclaimed, "Just like how Golduck held her own when he was knocked out during the match with the Transforming Terrors, Machoke is doing his absolute best to take these two all by himself!"

Reika breathed a sigh of relief and sighed, "That's our Machoke, always worrying us and making comebacks," Keiko nodding and replying, "Yep, just like his father."

However, it seemed his moves had not had nearly the kind of impact that Golduck's had as Vespiquen and Smeargle easily recovered, nodding at one-another. With that, Vespiquen flew toward Machoke as the boy readied himself.

However, he was shocked when Smeargle started darting back and forth, the boy trying to follow his movements. As a result, he lost focus on Vespiquen as the bee used her claws to slash him in the back.

The boy cried out in pain as Blaziken groaned, "Oh no," Machoke unable to respond now as Smeargle got behind him, locking his arms in place and saying, "I could just as easily use one of your more famous techniques, but you probably know how to counter both of them. Non, I intend to use the one move no one has found a counter for yet."

Panic filled Machoke's friends as Cici whimpered, "He doesn't mean that move, does he?" Tsuya groaning, "I think he does!"

Back in the hospital, Gallade and Hitmonchan were both terrified as they knew what was coming. And of course, Gardevoir was just as scared as she whimpered, "Please, Smeargle, don't do it!"

With that, the beagle leapt high above the ring, latching his legs onto Machoke's ankles and pulling back, spinning like a twister. He then proceeded to lean backward so both of their heads were facing the mat, Machoke terrified out of his mind. And to make it worse, the world had only seen him land the completed version of this, so this was the one Smeargle had sketched as he pulled extra hard, bending the boy's back.

The two fell toward the canvas Smeargle exclaimed, "MUSCLE TORNADO!" slamming the boy's face hard against the surface.

All went silent as Machoke's nostrils were bleeding horribly, Smeargle releasing his hold on the boy and allowing him to collapse. His eyes were now rolled to the back of his head as even Smeargle's fans were unsure of how to react to this.

"And after that amazing recovery, Machoke has just taken in his most recent finishing move," Beedrill stated, "He may not be able to get up from this one, folks," Nori starting the ten count.

Vespiquen implied a proud smile with her eyes and said, "Excellent job, Smeargle. You've truly proven yourself the ultimate ally," Hoopa staring at this and nodding, saying, "You know what? As much as I wanted that match, seeing him fall to his own finishing move is pretty satisfying," Diancie breathing a sigh of relief. She was worried the genie might very well turn on Vespiquen for this.

Seeing this, Gardevoir stared in horror and squeaked, "MACHOKE! GET UP!" Gallade patting her on the head and uttering, "He can't hear you," before groaning, "But seriously, pull off another miracle, man. You have a knack for that."

And just as Nori was about to reach ten, it was not Machoke but Aipom who had made a shocking recovery, the crowd gasping as the monkey slowly rose to her feet, breathing heavily. She then looked over at Machoke with a look of concern, screeching, "Machoke!"

"He put up a valiant effort, but ultimately, he couldn't handle the two of us," Vespiquen stated with a look of annoyance, "Take my advice and just give up right now, Aipom. You can't handle the two of us by yourself and you know it."

The monkey stared silently, biting her lower lip and starting to consider it. However, she also knew that she could not let Machoke down and as such, she sported a more serious look and retorted, "You can tare me limb from limb, but I will never run from a fight!"

The bee let out a sigh as she said, "Smeargle, you can take her yourself," Reika gritting her teeth and growling, "I wish that was me in the ring! I'd show that smug bitch a thing or two about respect!" Blaziken nodding and replying, "You and me both."

Smeargle raced toward Aipom as the monkey scowled and thought, 'Alright, good, Vespiquen's over-confident. If I just focus on one of them, I can at least stall them until Machoke recovers.'

With that, she waited for the beagle to get close before leaping over his head, flipping vertically and shouting, "TAIL HAMMER!" ramming her fist hard into his skull.

She then wrapped her tail around his neck, landing on all fours before lifting the beagle up, the crowd cheering as she started to swing him around. Seeing this, Vespiquen gasped as she thought, 'This isn't possible! How can she still have so much energy!?'

But before Vespiquen could move in and help, Aipom flung the beagle hard into her gut, the bee falling on her back while the crowd went wild, Nori stating, "It's almost like all that pain from earlier meant nothing! Aipom's managed to pull off two incredible moves! Clearly she intends to carry this team by herself, just like Machoke tried to do when she was unconscious!"

"Way to go, Aipom!" Reika exclaimed, "She's so cool!" Keiko nodding and replying, "Ambipom would be proud."

However, the monkey was still worried as Machoke had not moved an inch during that time. As impressive as that had been, she was unsure whether or not she could possibly keep that up. Not only that, but she had no idea how much pain she could handle at this point.

Even so, she could not allow Smeargle and Vespiquen to have their way as she lunged at them before they could make a full recovery, sending a hard punch into Smeargle's forehead. She then leapt back right before the beagle could respond, the Elegant Warriors rising and glaring at her.

Aipom tried her best not to look scared as Gardevoir closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and thinking, 'That's right, Auntie taught me how communicate to Machoke without being there. I think it is time to help him out once more.'

Hitmonchan stared at the girl, uttering, "What's your sister doing?" Gallade staring and asking, "Wait, is this that thing Psyla taught you to do?"

Since Gardevoir needed full focus, she could not answer the question. Sure, this would be more difficult as when she used this ability before, Psyla had been there to give her a boost in power. Despite this, she placed her hands together, sticking each pointing finger up as suddenly, her eyes shot open, only now they were purple as Hitmonchan yelped, falling off of her chair and on her back.

Gallade gasped, "You okay, honey!?" helping her up before turning to Gardevoir and thinking, 'I really hope this will work.'

And Aipom would certainly need it to as she had lost her advantage, Smeargle binding her while Vespiquen sent a barrage of punches into her face. Sure, they could have switched and had the beagle pierce Aipom instead, but after all the wounds she had sustained earlier, that could potentially kill her, and doing that would have the duo disqualified thus their victory would not count as one.

After a while, the bee nodded and said, "I think it's time to finish her for good. But to be ironic, let's do it with move number one, only use the updated version."

"Oui!" Smeargle replied, knowing Aipom lacked the strength to counter this move like Lucario and Talonflame had done in the past.

With that in mind, Smeargle flipped Aipom upside-down and leapt high above the ring. He then took hold of her legs, wrapping his legs around her arms. Aipom used this moment to ball her tail up into a fist, ramming it repeatedly into the beagle's back but to no avail.

She then let down a light tear, thinking, 'Sorry, Machoke. I hope I was good enough,' her eyes widening when she noticed what looked like Gardevoir standing right next to Machoke, only her body was bright and almost transparent. It was just like when Machoke almost lost to Ninetales.

And much like before, no one else in the crowd could see Gardevoir's spirit there as she looked down at Machoke with concern, asking, "Are you okay, Machoke?" the boy hearing her voice and slowly opening his eyes, much to everyone's shock.

His eyes sparkled as he asked, "When did you get here?" the girl giving him a sweet smile and replying, "I'm not really here right now, but I figured I'd help you to the best of my abilities."

Beedrill blinked and uttered, "What's Machoke looking at?" Nori shrugging and replying, "This happened in the Olympic semi-finals too, and it made about as much sense back then."

With that, Gardevoir turned and said, "I'd love to stay and talk some more, but right now, Aipom needs your help," Machoke turning his gaze as Vespiquen failed to notice he had regained consciousness, the boy's eyes wide as Smeargle started to descend toward the mat.

With that, he bowed his head toward Gardevoir's spirit and sprang to his feet, the crowd going wild as Nori exclaimed, "And Machoke makes a shocking recovery!" Vespiquen's eyes wide with terror as she turned just in time for Machoke to leap toward her with his arm out, striking her hard in the neck and knocking her on her back.

Reika let down light tears as Smeargle paid the boy no mind, shouting, "MUSCLE TOMBSTONE MACH TWO!" but just as he was about send Aipom into the canvas, Machoke leapt up and sent a roundhouse into his side.

"YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Blaziken exclaimed as Smeargle released his hold on Aipom, flying sideways into the turnbuckle while Machoke took hold of the monkey's tail, asking, "Ready for another team move?"

Aipom smiled wide, light tears rolling down her cheeks as she nodded, Machoke tossing her slightly above his head as she opened up her tail hand, pointing it toward the boy's back. Machoke then proceeded to send both of his feet hard into the downed Vespiquen's gut, shouting, "ANVIL KICK!"

As if that was not enough, Aipom landed atop Machoke's head with her tail hand pushing down, adding even more pressure to the bee as she cried out in pain. Smeargle growled and charged toward the two, ready for vengeance when Aipom took hold of Machoke's right hand, swinging him around as he held his left arm out, the two shouting, "MONKEY-GO-ROUND!" the boy's arm striking the beagle hard in the cheek when he was close enough.

The crowd cheered even louder as Smeargle flew sideways, a bit of blood escaping from his mouth as he fell on his side, tumbling along the mat before ramming back-first into the turnbuckle. Needless to say, this was a huge comeback as even Nori and Beedrill were cheering despite the fact that they were supposed to be neutral.

Gardevoir gave Machoke a sweet smile and blew him a kiss, her spirit vanishing as the boy nodded with a warm smile of his own, thinking, 'Thank you, Gardevoir. You may not realize it, but you helped more than you could ever imagine.'

"This is truly incredible!" Beedrill exclaimed as Nori nodded and said, "Both of those moves were so simple yet they packed an incredible punch!"

Vespiquen slowly recovered, growling, "Yes, that is a good point. How can such basic moves be so powerful?" Smeargle rubbing his cheek and rising to his feet, Machoke saying, "It's because of the speed and strength added by Aipom and I working together. Aipom's body may not be that strong, but her tail certainly is. When the force of her tail is combined with my strength, it results in a force more powerful than you could imagine."

Aipom blushed lightly and uttered, "I didn't think I could add that much force, but yeah," Vespiquen narrowing her eyelids and saying, "I see then. I suppose we'll have to kick things up a notch."

However, Smeargle was much more distracted by something else. Due to his bond with Gardevoir, he had briefly seen her spirit before it vanished. He knew that she had helped Machoke rise to his feet, and despite him supposedly having stopped caring about his friendship with her, this seemed to anger him greatly.

As much as he wanted to beat Machoke, a big part of him also wanted to kill the boy. In fact, he was currently devising a plan that after sending him to the hospital, he would pay him a visit and murder him right there. At the very least, he could not kill Machoke here without being disqualified, not to mention Vespiquen would not approve, but if he did it after the match without being caught, it would be the perfect revenge.

"I don't like the way he's looking at me," Machoke uttered with a look of fear, Aipom nodding and saying, "Something tells me there's more on his mind than winning this match now."

"Oui," Smeargle replied as Vespiquen implied a smile, saying, "Yes, he and I have been more serious about this match than any other. See, when we found out you were in this tournament, Machoke, you were our biggest target," the beagle turning to her and saying, "Actually, I have another reason, and it's that Machoke sickens moi!"

Everyone stared in stunned silence, Machoke groaning, "Oh, great, another opponent with a personal vendetta against me!" Smeargle retorting, "This is not petty hatred like the others! Non, you have always sickened moi ever since the day I met you! The way you were the one who made Gardevoir stronger than moi, the way you became her boyfriend! She was the only one I could truly relate to, a loser like moi, but you ruined everything!"

"What!?" Machoke spat as no one knew what to think of this, Aipom uttering, "Wait, are you jealous?"

Smeargle said nothing more as Gardevoir gasped upon hearing this in the hospital, Gallade uttering, "Wait, what? Is that what this is about?"

Gardevoir put on a more serious look and grunted, "That does it. I need to be there," the girl trying to rise only to feel pain in the rest of her body, wincing as Gallade exclaimed, "Sis, don't put pressure on yourself! You're still recovering!"

"But-" Gardevoir remarked as Hitmonchan nodded and replied, "Yeah, we'll gladly help you out," turning around and signalling Gallade to place Gardevoir on her back, the boy nodding and gently helping her up, a light smile forming on the girl's face as light tears rolled down her cheeks.

After all, Florges had failed to bring Smeargle to his senses while Machoke and Aipom had trouble doing so. If anyone could talk some sense into him, it was Gardevoir.

Back at the Tokyo Dome, Smeargle still had a look of fury as he said, "You've been a pain on our side so far, Monsieur Machoke, but mark my words! You will pay for taking my meilleur ami away!" Vespiquen noticing his green aura appear once again, nodding her head and thinking, 'This is good. His envy is giving him even more strength.'

Aipom bit her lower lip and looked up at Machoke with concern, the boy looking more terrified than before. Could he and Aipom possibly keep up their advantage when Smeargle had become this powerful?

 

While the Student Teacher Combo had made an impressive comeback, Smeargle looked more ferocious than ever before while Vespiquen was still able to continue fighting. And to make matters worse, Smeargle now had a grudge against Machoke, and those with a motive to target him over all other heroes were often the scariest opponents for him.

Before the boy could regain focus on the match, Smeargle charged at him as Aipom screeched, "Look alive, Machoke!" the boy nodding and dodging an incoming strike only for Smeargle to perform a handstand, swinging his tails around and shouting, "PAINTER'S FLAIL!"

Blaziken winced as Machoke took in a strike from each tail to the cheek, the boy flying into the turnbuckle while the crowd gasped. After hearing his whole reason for wanting to defeat Machoke, even his fans were not sure whether to support him or not. His entire motive struck them as nothing more than petty jealousy.

Aipom tried to help out only for Vespiquen to unleash her bees, the fake bugs flying around the monkey until she was bound by the strings. The monkey gritted her teeth, trying to fight it like Machoke had, but as had been mentioned before, she lacked the muscle to do it.

"Word to the wise," Vespiquen stated, "Next time I knock you out, stay down!" before flipping herself a full three-hundred and sixty degrees, shouting, "ATTACK ORDER!" Aipom's face soon making contact with the canvas.

Seeing this, Machoke's eyes widened as he charged at the monkey only for Smeargle to fly at him, shouting, "VESPIQUEN TOLD ME TO DEFEAT YOU WITH YOUR ABILITIES, BUT I THINK IT WILL BE MORE HUMILIATING TO HAVE YOUR GIRLFRIEND'S POWERS FINISH YOU OFF! AND I'M GONNA START WITH MOON HOOK!"

Machoke had no time to respond as Smeargle rammed his arm into his neck, knocking him hard on his back, Nori exclaiming, "And Smeargle strikes Machoke with Gardevoir's first official finishing move! I wonder if he plans to use them in order!"

Vespiquen slammed Aipom's back hard into the mat while her strings were still bound the monkey, turning to look at her pupil as she thought, 'I figured using those moves wouldn't help him too much, but it seems like this might actually work.'

Strangely enough, Smeargle's green aura seemed to get bigger as he lifted up Machoke by the head, leaping high above the ring as Blaziken spat, "COME ON, MACHOKE, DIDN'T YOU SAY YOU AND AIPOM CAME UP WITH COUNTERS FOR THESE!?" and yet currently, the boy was still shaken up from the Moon Hook and thus was unable to respond as Smeargle applied enough force to lower Machoke's head so it was facing the mat.

The beagle then allowed his upper body to float above his head as he barked, "METEOR BOMB!" slamming Machoke's head hard against the canvas, the crowd once again mortified. And like before, even Smeargle's own fanbase was uncertain whether they should cheer or not.

Seeing this, Aipom gritted her teeth and squeaked, "NO! I GOTTA HELP MY STUDENT!" only for Vespiquen to spin her body around, shouting, "ATTACK ORDER CAROUSEL!" sending the monkey flying head-first into the turnbuckle, her skull bleeding as she coughed up blood.

"Just when it seemed Machoke and Aipom could do it, it looks like this could very well be Machoke's second loss," Nori stated as Beedrill really hoped for another miracle from the boy. Sure, he did not realize Vespiquen was a villain, but even so, he wanted to see Machoke at least make it to the finals again.

Hoopa, meanwhile, grinned and said, "Oh man, this is too good! Smeargle just keeps getting better and better!" Diancie nodding and saying, "Good thing we won't have to face him if he makes it to the finals," the genie nodding and replying, "That's right. Once Vespiquen wins, she's going to forfeit the championship to us. That was our agreement."

With that, Smeargle took hold of Machoke's hands and said, "Now to finish you with Gardevoir's strongest technique. The fact that I'm using moves that I borrowed from her will surely make your relationship with her awkward thus making you not want it at all!"

Suddenly, Machoke ignored all the pain dealt to him as he blinked, retorting, "What!?" Smeargle leaping high above the ring once more as the crowd stared in horror. But just as the beagle was ready to start spinning, Machoke gritted his teeth and lifted up his legs, kicking him in the midsection thus causing him to release his hold.

"Those may be Gardevoir's moves, but Gardevoir is not the one using them!" he exclaimed before spinning the beagle around and locking his arms and legs in place, the crowd going wild as Nori exclaimed, "And it seems that Machoke has set up Smeargle for the very move he succumbed to earlier!"

Machoke spun as he added, "Besides, in case you've forgotten, I used Moon Hook on Lucario in the Olympic finals! You're not the only one who's replicated it, only unlike you, I learned it naturally!"

With that the two descended toward the mat, Vespiquen's eyes wide with shock as she thought, 'No!' Machoke grunting, "And what is wrong with you, anyway!? Are you saying that Gardevoir becoming a true hero is a bad thing!? That her finding other friends and love are all bad things!? Would you have preferred it if she spent her whole life timid and weak!? Is that the sort of future you would wish upon your best friend!?"

As Smeargle was about to use his tails to free himself, his eyes and mouth widened as the boy's words had actually started to sink in. Deep down, the beagle knew Machoke was right and thus allowed his head to be slammed hard against the canvas, coughing up blood as Machoke exclaimed, "MUSCLE TORNADO!" before he released his hold and allowed him to collapse.

The crowd went wild as Nori exclaimed, "And with that, Machoke seems to have beaten Smeargle! But, was that really enough to keep him down?"

Vespiquen could see this was not enough as Smeargle continued to breathe with his eyes open. However, it seemed as if he was unwilling to get up, like he was waiting for his partner to be knocked out so Nori could start the ten count.

And with Machoke and Vespiquen being the only ones currently standing, it seemed like that could happen as the bee frowned and snapped, "What are you doing, Smeargle!?"

The crowd looked confused as one member asked, "Does she not realize he's unconscious?" another exclaiming, "Hey, show some respect! It's not his fault that blow to the head knocked him out!"

Reika nodded as Blaziken frowned, saying, "I don't think he's unconscious," the others staring as Vespiquen confirmed this by saying, "You may think I'm being too hard on him, but look at his eyes!"

With that, many looked closer as Beedrill nodded, saying, "Going by his breathing and the position of his eyes, I think it's safe to say he's still able to move, so why isn't he?" Machoke now curious himself.

"It's because Monsieur Machoke is correct," Smeargle stated as the crowd gasped, some of them actually having trouble believing he really was conscious until he spoke, "Vespiquen, I can't thank you enough for showing me my true potential, but he's right. I've been a jealous fool throughout this whole tournament. I turned on both Gardevoir and Florges just because I envied them. I do not deserve to make it to the finals, let alone win this tournament."

Vespiquen's eye twitched as the beagle added, "If you manage to defeat Machoke, well, I will congratulate you on your win, but like he has done in every round so far, you will have to find a new comrade because once this is over, I will resign from the tournament and beg mes amis for forgiveness."

Light tears rolled down his cheeks after he said this, the rest of the audience tearing up as Beedrill sniffed, "That was beautiful," Reika sighing, "Good old Machoke. I knew he would do it."

Hoopa surprisingly did not look too distraught by this as Diancie asked, "Why aren't you upset?" the genie replying, "Hey, if Vespiquen loses, I get my match with Machoke and that would be awesome," the sylph resisting the urge to face-palm.

However, it seemed Vespiquen had not yet given up hope as she scowled and said, "You disgust me, Smeargle," the beagle blinking as the crowd could not believe what they had just heard, the bee adding, "You're letting mere words get the better of you? You have proven yourself far better than the world could have ever believed, and you're going to give that all up just because of some stupid speech that your opponent made up on the spot?"

Smeargle blinked as she gazed down into his eyes, adding, "Besides, do you honestly believe that Florges and Gardevoir will want to be your friends after what you did to them? Of course not, and not because you deserve it but because deep down, they're most likely jealous that you're better than they could ever hope to be! You think they're your friends, but they're not! It's as I told you before! They both looked down upon you! They never had confidence in your abilities!"

"Don't listen to her!" Machoke retorted as Vespiquen ignored him and added, "If Florges really wanted you as her partner, she wouldn't have chosen a replacement so quickly and so casually! And if Gardevoir was such a good friend, she wouldn't have held back when she fought you during your match!"

Machoke gritted his teeth, really hoping that Smeargle would not listen and yet much like before, the sincerity that Vespiquen showed in her eyes convinced the beagle that she was right. As such, he slowly rose back to his feet, grunting, "Oui. And she also wouldn't have sent her spirit here to help Machoke when he was knocked out. She should have been okay with me winning this match, but she clearly wasn't!"

Machoke was now terrified as he backed up, uttering, "Smeargle, listen to yourself! From what Gardevoir has told me, this isn't the real you!" the beagle retorting, "Well, she is right about one thing! This was not the real moi before, but you know what!? The old moi was nothing more than a pushover! I'd much rather be as I am now than that punching bag nice guy I used to be! Or have you not heard that nice guys always finish last!?"

Aipom's eyes had opened while he said this, though she currently did not have the strength to move. Even so, what happened next was a truly shocking sight.

Smeargle's aura suddenly doubled in size as he let out a loud roar, his canine teeth growing in size as his muscles expanded a tiny bit more. Now his fans had officially lost all respect for him as he charged at Machoke, shouting, "IF THE MOVES OF OTHERS WON'T FINISH YOU OFF, I'LL USE A LITTLE SOMETHING OF MY OWN!"

Vespiquen implied a wicked smirk as Machoke tried to dodge to the right. Unfortunately, Smeargle managed to wrap his arms around him, stretching out his tails even more than he was able to before and wrapping them around the boy as well. And before anyone could figure out what was going on, the beagle leapt into the air, leaning backward and shouting, "TAIL BIND SUPLEX!" planting the back of Machoke's head hard against the mat as he coughed up blood.

The crowd winced as Reika shouted, "MACHOKE!" Aipom trying desperately to rise to her feet as she thought, 'I have to help him! I can't let this continue!'

As it just so happened, the suplex had not quite been enough to defeat Machoke as Smeargle turned to Vespiquen, saying, "He's still breathing. What say we finish this with the Asteroid Harpoon?" the bee nodding and replying, "Yes. That sounds like the best way to end this."

With that, Vespiquen took to the sky and lashed out her big orange stinger as Smeargle leapt up to her level, took hold of her shoulders and applied pressure, the two shouting, "ASTEROID HARPOON!"

But just as it was about to land, the crowd was shocked when Machoke was pulled out of the way by a certain hand, Vespiquen's eyes widening as her stinger wound up stuck in the mat. She tried to retract it, but the material prevented her from doing so as she grumbled curses under her breath, shifting back and forth.

Smeargle stared in absolute shock, leaping off of the bee's shoulders as Machoke groaned, rubbing his head and sitting upright. However, his look of pain soon turned to one of pure joy, the rest of the crowd cheering as Aipom stood before him with a big smile on her face, saying, "Good thing I wasn't too late."

Machoke grinned and exclaimed, "YOU'RE THE BEST TRAINER EVER!" picking her up for a hug as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, the boy's eyes about to pop out of their sockets.

Nori let down light tears and exclaimed, "This match is just one surprising event after another! Every time it looks like the Student Teacher Combo is going to lose, they get back up and give it another go!"

However, the moment came to a close as Vespiquen fumed, Smeargle prying her out of the mat as she growled, "I don't know if you're aware of this, but you haven't won!" before pointing at Aipom and adding, "And why can't you stay down!? You are such a pain in the ass!"

Machoke smirked and said, "You've never dealt with me and my friends before. We can handle this kind of thing."

Smeargle growled as Aipom said, "Machoke, I'll take care of Vespiquen while you deal with Smeargle. I may not have been completely awake, but I overheard the conversation earlier. You almost got through to him."

Machoke nodded and replied, "Yeah. I'm sure if I knock him out for good, that'll help him see the light."

Vespiquen would not allow this as she flew toward Aipom, wanting more than ever to keep the monkey down for good. After all, she had recovered far more than she should have and it had gotten on the bee's last nerve.

With that in mind, she unleashed her small bees and exclaimed, "There's no way I'm releasing you from my strings this time!" as Aipom's eyes widened. She finally saw it, a way to avoid the string.

With that in mind, she placed her tail hand against the mat, lifting herself up with it, almost as if her tail was a stool. And once the bees started to circle around her, she lowered herself before shouting, "MONKEY POGO STICK!" leaping just high enough to avoid being bound, the bees flying all around one-another thus resulting the strings tangling while Aipom landed right behind them.

Vespiquen's eyes widened as she shook her head, trying desperately to retract the bees. However, the knot was far too tight as Aipom said, "I knew it. Without a target, your strings only have themselves to bind."

Before the bee could even retort to that lame speech, Aipom formed a fist with her tail hand and sent it hard into the smaller bees, sending them flying into their owner's face. She then leapt toward Vespiquen, grabbing hold of her head with the same hand and leaping into the air, the crowd shocked that the monkey was able to lift someone twice as tall as her that high above the mat.

With that, the monkey started to spin vertically, pulling Vespiquen with her and shouting, "MACHOKE, NOW!" the boy nodding as Smeargle attempted to strike him only for the boy to take hold of the beagle's arms, turning him around and allowing himself to fall on his back. He then latched his ankles against Smeargle's, holding him in a bridge formation as the crowd cheered wildly.

With that, Aipom and Machoke grinned and exclaimed, "BRIDGE BOMBER!" Aipom sending Vespiquen's back hard into Smeargle's belly, only her body was faced sideways, thus when her back hit that very spot, it wound up bending as she coughed up green blood, her eyes wide open as she could not even muster up the strength to cry out in pain.

The crowd went silent as Smeargle took in pain from this as well, coughing up blood of his own as Machoke released his hold on his ankles, kicking him in the back and sending him flying away from him, the beagle's chin hitting the mat hard. With that, the crowd went wild as Machoke rose his arms in the air, Reika and Cici applauding him as Blaziken rose her fist in the air.

"And with yet another impressive team move, the Student Teacher Combo seems to have knocked out the Elegant Warriors!" Nori exclaimed as Beedrill nodded, the woman starting the ten count.

The crowd watched in anticipation as Hitmonchan, Gallade and Gardevoir had arrived at this exact moment. A light smile formed on Gardevoir's face as she saw the results of what had happened while the three were headed to the Tokyo Dome. At the very least, it seemed that Machoke did not need further support from her.

And this was made very clear as Nori reached the number ten, ringing the bell and exclaimed, "And after a long and very close match, the Student Teacher Combo has won this round!" the crowd going wild as Machoke and Aipom grinned at one-another, Gardevoir letting out a loud cheer as the boy turned, shocked to see her there. Though the fact that Hitmonchan was currently carrying her told him that she had not quite made a full recovery yet.

Suddenly, all went silent when Aipom slowly lowered her eyelids, uttering, "That was awesome. I'll just take a little rest now," the monkey falling over onto her side with her eyes closed, Machoke sighing with a light smile. After all, Aipom had been through a lot, so it only stood to reason that she would not be able to move, let alone fight for a while.

Reika's eyes widened as Keiko sighed, "It's okay. Aipom will be fine," Cici nodding with a light smile as Heracross scratched the back of his head, saying, "I dinnae about you guys, but I'm more surprised to see Gardevoir here right now."

The boy then smiled and said, "Thanks, Gardevoir. You really helped me out of a tough spot," the girl nodding as Machoke just wanted to exit the ring right now and give his girlfriend as big kiss.

But just as he was about to do so, the crowd gasped when they saw Smeargle slowly push himself up, breathing heavily as the green aura continued to surround him. Beedrill gulped and immediately got up, flying into the ring and landing in front of the beagle.

"Okay, take it easy there!" the wasp exclaimed, "The match is already over! You l-" only for Smeargle to shove him out of the way and stomp toward Machoke, growling, "I cannot accept this! I will not accept this!"

The crowd was truly terrified as Machoke trembled, backing up and waving his hands in front of his face, uttering, "Hey, man, he's right! How are you even standing right now!?" Smeargle growling, "This match is over when I say it's over! Now that Gardevoir is here, I'm going to murder you right in front of her face!"

But just as he had his tails at the ready, Gardevoir suddenly lowered herself off of Hitmonchan's back, surprisingly able to move her legs without feeling any pain despite the doctors saying she would need at least one ore day to recover. She then made her way toward the ring, squeaking, "STOP IT, SMEARGLE! STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"

"Quoi?" Smeargle remarked, turning to her, Machoke also in shock as he uttered, "Should you be moving on your own right now?"

Gardevoir climbed up into the ring with a serious look in her eyes, replying, "As you can see, I'm perfectly fine, but thanks for your concern," the girl marching over to Smeargle who growled and rose his tails threateningly toward her.

But just as it looked like he was about to attack, Gardevoir proceeded to lift up her arm, sending a hard slap into his cheek. The crowd was truly amazed as Smeargle's head was forced sideways, his eyes and mouth wide with shock. While the slap had not caused the aura to vanish, it had at the very least weakened it.

Tears then welled up in Gardevoir's eyes as she shocked everyone by wrapping her arms around Smeargle, holding him in a tight embrace. The beagle had no idea how to respond to this as she sniffed, "I'm sorry if I ever made you feel inferior! I didn't become a hero to make you jealous! I did it because I wanted to protect people, to help my allies! If I knew you were jealous of me, I would have helped you find your true potential!"

"You would have?" Smeargle uttered as she nodded with a big smile, adding, "I'm glad you've become strong, but I don't want you using your new powers for revenge! You hurt Florges really badly, and that's not you! The real you would never do that!"

The aura started to weaken even more as the girl added, "You're right, Machoke is very dear to me, but so are you. The truth is, I consider everyone of my friends to be my best friend, and that includes you. Please don't stop being my friend because I don't want to stop being yours."

Smeargle looked deep into the girl's eyes as he could tell she was telling the truth. As such, the green aura vanished as he took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug. He then patted her on the back, exclaiming, "Je suis desole! I really was a fool!"

Soon enough, the entire crowd teared up, Reika's eyes sparkling as she sniffed, "Oh my god, this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" Keiko nodding and thinking, 'Machamp's matches often ended with new friendships forming, but it was never this touching.'

Beedrill watched this and folded his arms, breathing a sigh of relief and sighing, "Thank god. I was worried I'd actually have to drag him out of the ring."

Machoke smiled warmly as medics rushed into the ring to take Vespiquen to the hospital. However, what surprised the boy was Aipom being loaded up as well as he uttered, "Excuse me, sir, but I think all she needs is a little rest."

"Oui," Smeargle replied with a nod, "She was still standing when the match ended," the medic shaking his head and replying, "I'm sorry, but she expelled too much energy. I'm not really an expert, but if I had to guess, I'd say she's gonna be out like a light for at least more than a day."

"Wait, what?" Machoke uttered as he watched her being taken out of the area along with Vespiquen. He would have gone to the hospital with her, but he knew he had to see the next match to know what he was getting himself into. All he could do right now was hope that the monkey would be okay in time for the finals.

With that, Gardevoir patted him on the shoulder as he gave her a warm smile. Since Hoopa and Diancie had not been exposed, Machoke honestly believed at this point that the biggest threat had been taken care of. Although there was a chance he would once again have to find himself a new partner. Why he was the only one who had to deal with that so far was anyone's guess.

Even so, with the match over, Beedrill stated, "Well, folks, that was certainly a great way to open up the semi-finals! So much suspense, drama and rekindled friendship, but don't forget, there's still one more match! Though before that, we will have a two hour break, but don't lose track of the time otherwise you may just miss the final match of the day!"

With that in mind, Heracross and Lopunny pounded their fists together before walking off to train. They intended to use the first hour specifically for that purpose. After all, they knew how strong their opponents were and there was no way they would let Talonflame and Scyther down.

 

With two hours before the match between the Bouncing Biceps and the Demonic Angels, it only stood to reason that Machoke may as well use this time to catch up with Blaziken and Gardevoir, what with them finally having recovered. And since the boy felt like most of the pressure had been taken off of him, he was finally able to fully enjoy himself without the fear of facing an opponent he absolutely had to beat no matter what.

As such, he and the others were enjoying lunch as Gallade said, "It's still amazing that you can walk so well right now, sis. You weren't supposed to be up and running for another day," Machoke glaring at the boy and retorting, "Are you saying this is a bad thing?"

Gallade laughed nervously, a sweat drop forming on the side of his head until he and Machoke laughed louder, Hitmonchan smiling at Gardevoir and saying, "Still, that was really cool what you did back there. Smeargle was gonna kill Machoke and yet you stood up to him and calmed him down."

"Yeah, Gardevoir's the best," Machoke said, resting a hand on her shoulder and kissing her on the cheek, the girl's cheeks flushed pink as Reika looked around, asking, "Say, why isn't Smeargle joining us anyway? He actually has the strength to do it."

Gardevoir nodded and replied, "He said he wanted to visit Florges in the hospital. He feels really bad after injuring her like that," Machoke nodding and sighing, "And thank god. Maybe when he's done, I can get to know the real him."

Cici nodded and replied, "Yeah. I couldn't help but get the feeling he was only acting that way because of Vespiquen," Gardevoir sighing, "Well, he did admit that he wasn't lying when he said he always envied me," a light smile on her face, "I can't help but find it funny, now. Back in the day, I always envied Gallade, but now I have someone who envies me."

"Not to mention you're a much better fighter than your brother, now," Machoke replied as Gallade let out a sigh, Hitmonchan and Gardevoir both patting him reassuringly on his shoulders.

Reika then put on a more serious look and stated, "Still, Machoke, I wouldn't get too comfortable if I were you. You may end up facing the Demonic Angels in the final round. As you've seen, they can't be taken lightly," Machoke groaning, "Oh yeah. I almost forgot how strong they were."

Even so, one other thing bothered him as he uttered, "Oh yeah, I might need someone to replace Aipom. Seriously, I've gotta be the only one in the universe whose had to get a new partner for every single round!"

"What about Hawlucha?" Gardevoir asked, "He's out of the hospital now," Machoke sighing, "Yeah, but since he wasn't in the tournament for the last couple of rounds, his agent is treating that like him quitting, so he's scheduled to do a bunch of commercials. Though on the upside, our victory in the first round has earned him extreme recognition."

Blaziken grinned and stated, "Well, there is always me. After all, your daddy and my mom teamed up for the first tag team tournament," Machoke nodding as a wide smile formed, the boy exclaiming, "That could actually work!"

He then got up along with Blaziken, the two pounding their fists and clasping their hands together, Blaziken exclaiming, "Their old team name was The Raging Bulls! That is pretty badass, but I'm sure we can do better!"

Machoke nodded and added, "Yeah, we'll think of something really cool, like the Blazing Muscles!" Blaziken shrugging and replying, "That's way too similar to your first two team names. I was thinking something more along the lines of the Rampaging Bison, you know, an upgrade of the original."

With that, both laughed as Machoke said, "We'll think of something, but first, let's work on some kickass team moves, eh!?" the chicken nodding and replying, "Hell yeah!" Gardevoir giving them a sweet smile. Right off the bat, this team-up seemed perfect, possibly better than the Fiery Beauties.

During this time, Smeargle sat next to Florges in the hospital and had done just as Gardevoir said he had set out to do. The flower girl was thankfully awake for this as the beagle sighed, "Could you ever forgive someone as foolish as moi?"

The flower girl gave him a sweet smile and replied, "Mais oui," before signalling him to come closer, Smeargle nodding and leaning forward, the two holding each-other in a light embrace.

However, Smeargle was rather surprised to receive a peck on the cheek, his cheeks flushed pink as he rubbed that very spot, Florges chuckling in response to his reaction. Sure, it was normal for the French to kiss there, but that was mostly done for greetings. Could Florges have meant something else by this?

Whatever the case, the flower girl let out a sigh and groaned, "Still, I feel so bad for Masquerain. She might never be able to fight evil again," Smeargle nodding and growling, "If I ever find the one responsible, I'll-" only for Florges to hold his hand, replying, "Maybe later. You've kicked enough butt for the time being. Besides, I have a feeling that Machoke already took care of the culprit."

Smeargle took a deep breath and grinned, replying, "Good old Machoke. I can see why Gardevoir likes him so much," Florges glad to see that the beagle was no longer jealous.

All the while, Lopunny and Heracross were hard at work, each one lifting heavier weights than usual. The rabbit used her ears while the the rhino beetle used his horn, both fully confident in their abilities. Sure, they had never quite been on the level of Scyther and Talonflame before, but they were determined to finish what they had started all the same.

Heracross tossed his weights behind him when their hour of training was up, the beetle taking a deep breath and asking, "You ready for this?" Lopunny twirling her weights around on the tip of her ears to show off how much stronger those parts had gotten, a big grin on her face as the beetle shrugged, seeing that as a 'yes'.

She then let out a sigh and set them down, uttering, "Still, I really hope we can do this. I mean, you and I both know that Scyther and Talonflame have always been better than us. Heck, it was Scyther who taught me how to fight. You remember how much of a loser I was back then, right?"

"That's why we gotta strive to surpass them!" Heracross replied with a grin, "Trust me, with your speed and my strength, we can do this!" the rabbit nodding and pounding her right ear against his fist.

Meanwhile, Hoopa and Diancie were resting up, Hoopa sighing, "Yep, once we take down those two, Machoke will be ours," Diancie nodding as she uttered, "So, why specifically do you want to beat Machoke?"

"I figured it would be obvious, but alright," Hoopa replied with a grin, "See, if I defeat Machoke in the finals, the world will know just how fearsome we can be. Seeing their beloved hero and saviour fall to our hands will earn us fear and respect, the likes of which no one's ever seen. We'll be more well-known than Giratina himself!"

Diancie nodded and smiled lightly, saying, "Well, you know that your happiness is all I care about," the genie nodding and saying, "That's why I like you so much," pinching her cheek as both those parts turned pink.

The genie then floated toward a concession stand, purchasing himself something to eat before his match, a grin on his face as he thought, 'And just think, when we take over, we'll be able to eat stuff like this all the time for free.'

He then noticed his opponents walk up to the stand, Heracross ordering himself a hot dog as he could not fight on an empty stomach, Lopunny ordering herself a salad. But while the two waited for their food to be prepared, they noticed Hoopa floating there and turned.

All three remained with the same looks on their faces until both meals were ready, Lopunny slowly pulling some money out of a change purse she had brought with her and placing it on the counter. Then she and Heracross took their food and made their way back to their table, not taking their eyes off of Hoopa until they were far enough away from him.

"They think they can beat me," Hoopa said with a smirk before chuckling and floating over to Diancie, the girl having brought herself a lunch from home as Hoopa sighed, "You know you don't have to make lunch when there are concession stands, right?"

"I can't help it," the sylph replied, taking a bite of an egg salad sandwich, "Not only does it save money but the ingredients I use are most likely healthier than what they use here," Hoopa rolling his eyes and saying, "Suit yourself," taking a big bite out of a burger.

Upon doing so, though, his eyes went wide as Diancie uttered, "You know, I wouldn't mind trying one of your fries, though. I'll give you one of my carrot sticks in exchange," holding one up as the genie smirked, saying, "Just to see you eat a fry, I'll take one of those sticks of yours."

With that, each one ate what the other had offered, Diancie smiling wide and sighing, "That's really good," Hoopa, meanwhile, trying his hardest not to gag from eating the carrot stick, thinking, 'Women love this stuff? Good lord, this is the worst thing I've ever tasted!'

During this time, Heracross and Lopunny spotted Machoke and his friends, the two waving at them as Machoke beamed bright, waving back. With that, the beetle and rabbit walked over and took a seat, the others giving them a nice hello.

"Machoke, you were awesome as always!" Lopunny squealed as the boy sighed, "Well, I really couldn't have won that match without Aipom."

"Speaking of which-" Heracross uttered as Blaziken cut in, saying, "Don't worry, Machoke and I have decided to rekindle that teamwork our folks had back in the day."

Lopunny and Heracross stared wide-eyed as Gardevoir nodded and squealed, "They're gonna team up in the next round!" Heracross whistling and saying, "Man, just facing Machoke was one thing, but going up against him and Blaziken? I'm starting to get nervous now."

Machoke blinked, unsure of how sincere the beetle was with that statement as Lopunny sighed, "Honestly, I don't care which one of us wins or loses the final match. I'm just glad I get a chance to face you under fair circumstances, Machoke."

The boy nodded as Reika said, "Oh yeah, I remember your match and how the only reason Lopunny almost won was because of outside interference. Honestly, I'm amazed people happily enter that park after witnessing such a thing."

"I wouldn't worry too much about the rabbits," Lopunny replied with a light chuckle, "I assured them you're a good guy, Machoke," the boy laughing nervously and uttering, "Well, that'll be good to know if I ever decide to go back there."

Gallade hated to be the one to rain on their parade right now, but he had to at least bring it up as he said, "Don't forget, if you're gonna face Machoke in the finals, you have to beat the Demonic Angels," Lopunny nodding and replying, "Don't you worry about a thing. We're gonna wipe the floor with them."

"Damn straight!" Heracross exclaimed with a grin, "After all the training we've done, we'll put up an even better fight than Talonflame did! They won't know what hit them!"

The group then laughed before continuing their conversation, the group now focused on more simple subjects. After all, with less than an hour to spare, it was nice to think about something other than the tournament for at least a little while.

And soon enough, the hour was up as the bleachers were filled. While Machoke's match may have been arguably the most exciting one so far, people still looked forward to seeing just how Heracross and Lopunny planned to avenge their comrades. After all, Scyther had made it farther than Lopunny in the Olympics and Heracross did not even make it to the fighting portion.

Once the audience seemed at ease, Beedrill stated, "I hope you all enjoyed your two-hour break, but now it's time for Machoke's opponents for the finals to be decided. And in other news, I have just received a message stating that he and Blaziken will be teaming up for that match."

The crowd went wild as Blaziken grinned, cupping her hands together over her head and waving them, Nori stating, "As has been said many times, both Machamp and Combusken were also teammates for the last two rounds of the first ever tag team tournament for heroes."

"Last two rounds?" Machoke uttered as Reika blinked and asked, "You mean he, too, had to switch partners?"

"Oh yes, Dad told me all about that," Beedrill explained, "Machamp's ally in the first round was Xatu, the wise master who taught him how to fight to the best of his abilities and no longer rely on luck to win most of his matches. We actually have a recording of their victory."

With that, the crowd turned to a big TV where Machamp and Xatu had set up a purple gremlin-like ghost named Gengar and what looked like a grey hybrid of a bat and a scorpion named Gliscor for the Muscle Coffin, both knocked out cold by this move. But while Machamp looked beyond happy and energetic after his victory, Xatu seemed a tad out of it. He still had a smile on his face, but it looked forced.

The reason was made clear when Beedrill stated, "Unfortunately, Xatu passed away shortly after the match due to heart failure," Machoke wincing and groaning, "Oh god! How old was he!?" Cici replying, "He was eighty."

The others stared at the blue-haired girl as Reika gasped, replying, "Oh, right, you did that famous heroes report on Xatu last month, didn't you?" her friend nodding.

Now Machoke felt like Xatu should not have fought in that match at all while Beedrill stated, "But in the end, Combusken, who had lost in the first round when fighting alongside Sudowoodo, joined him for the rest of the tournament. At first, she did it as a dying wish from Xatu, but after the two won the semi-finals, she realized that not joining Machamp from the get-go was a mistake."

Blaziken blinked and uttered, "That's not too far off from us, is it?" Machoke asking, "Why didn't Dad ever tell me about this?"

Even so, Beedrill had delayed the start of the match long enough as he said, "Either way, seeing their offspring teaming up for the finals is certainly something to look forward to, but let's not forget the match taking place in this very ring!"

Nori nodded and pointed at the Western entrance, exclaiming, "In the red corner, these two have combined their individual strength and speed to create a powerful team! Having defeated the Boxing Brawlers and the Vanishing Muscles with ease, give a round of applause for the Bouncing Biceps!"

The crowd went wild as Heracross and Lopunny decided to go for a Scottish theme this time seeing as they went with an Egyptian one last time. An authentic melody played in the background while Heracross and Lopunny both dressed in traditional highland outfits, both performing a Scottish dance while making their way toward the ring.

While this was odd, the crowd seemed to love it as Machoke whistled and exclaimed, "Looking good, Lopunny!" Gardevoir nodding and saying, "Yeah, she looks really good in a kilt."

With that, the two leapt high into the air before landing firmly against the ring, Lopunny grinning and saying, "This was a great idea," Heracross nodding and replying, "Thank ya, lass. I've been waiting for a chance to do this."

With that, the two removed their outfits and tossed them out of the side of the ring, Nori saying, "Well, that was certainly interesting."

She then pointed at the Eastern entrance, stating, "And in the blue corner, two fighters who have really proven themselves a force to be reckoned with. Not only did they defeat the Olympic champion, Lucario, but they even took down his former partner in crime, Talonflame. Maybe they'll meet their match today or perhaps the Bouncing Biceps should prepare for the same fate as their comrades! So, without further ado, the Demonic Angels!"

Many members of the crowd cheered as Hoopa and Diancie headed toward the ring, this time trying something more flashy than they usually did. Hoopa spun his hands around like one big baton over his head while Diancie had formed her waist gems, spinning like a ballerina. And once the two got close to the ring, they stopped their routine and leaned sideways, placing their hands together.

Machoke blinked and said, "That lacked so much imagination. I think they would have been better off sticking with the more simple approach," Gallade shrugging and replying, "Hey, it could very well have been their first time trying to be showy."

Whatever the case, the audience certainly seemed to love it as the two entered the ring, Hoopa grinning and saying, "I'm going to enjoy wiping the floor with you two," Lopunny frowning and asking, "May I take the first crack?"

Heracross nodded and replied, "Wipe that smug grin off his face," the rabbit nodding and pounding his fist.

With that, Hoopa once again decided to go first without a second thought. And just like the first two rounds, Diancie stood by the side of the ring, knowing he would not require her help until the tornado tag portion. Even the audience had come to accept that at this point.

Heracross grinned and said, "Hey, Lopunny, I got an idea," the rabbit blinking as he added, "As much as I want a crack at this guy, I think the best thing you could possibly do is take him out before the first five minutes are up."

"Really?" the rabbit asked as the beetle nodded and replied, "Surely you've noticed it too. Hoopa's so full of himself that he never lets Diancie fight during the normal tag portion. If we can deal enough damage to him before the tornado portion comes up, we'll win the match easily."

Lopunny smiled and nodded, fully intending on doing just that. And with all of her training, she was certain she could pull it off.

With that, Nori rang the bell as Lopunny wasted no time leaping toward Hoopa with her legs out. The genie could not even respond as both feet were planted into his gut, Hoopa falling on his back while the crowd cheered wildly.

The genie could not believe how much that hurt as Lopunny continued her descend, landing on top of him. She then proceeded to send a barrage of punches into his face with her ears, the crowd cheering even louder as Nori stated, "And already, the Bouncing Biceps are off to a good start with Lopunny just whaling on Hoopa!"

The genie gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the pain as he snapped his right fingers, his left hand forming behind the rabbit. However, Lopunny knew he would try this as she leapt over the incoming fist, once again landing on his belly and causing even more pain.

"Hoopa, are you okay!?" Diancie squeaked as the genie had now resorted to covering his face so the punches could not hit that spot anymore, the crowd truly ecstatic as Beedrill said, "And just as it looked like Hoopa would hit her with the counter that caught Lucario off-guard, Lopunny was more than ready for it."

"YEAH, KEEP IT UP!" Machoke exclaimed with a big grin as Gallade whistled, saying, "Wow, I knew she was tough, but damn," Hitmonchan nodding and uttering, "Yeah, Lopunny's cool."

However, there was no way Diancie would just allow this as she bit her lower lip, her necklace glowing as the crowd gasped, diamonds shooting out of it as she exclaimed, "DIAMOND STORM!"

Lopunny was truly unprepared for this as one diamond struck her in the face, more following as she took in an onslaught of hits, the crowd gasping as Nori stated, "And once again, Diancie takes advantage of the ten second rule using yet another move we've never seen from her before!"

This provided just enough of a distraction for Hoopa to send both of his fists into the rabbit's midsection, causing her to fly off of him and land hard on her back, Hoopa's fans cheering as one exclaimed, "YEAH, SHOW THAT RABBIT WHO'S BOSS!"

Diancie ended her assault as she knew her time to use it was up, Heracross at a loss for words. He figured they would possibly resort to this, but the only move anyone knew of that Diancie could use outside of the ring was her Gem Growth, which, if she had used it, would have struck Hoopa's back as opposed to Lopunny. No one could have predicted this.

And things would only get worse as Hoopa took full advantage of Lopunny's position, punching her multiple times in the face, shouting, "LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT!" Machoke barking, "Lopunny! Get up!" Heracross adding, "Yeah, lass! I know you can handle this!"

However, after taking in those diamonds to the face, she did not even have the strength to block the punches with her ears. What could she possibly do? The match had only gone for a minute and it already looked like her and Heracross' plan had been used against her.

 

Note: The team move that Lopunny and Heracross use is an homage to the move used by Ramenman and Buffaloman in the original Kinnikuman, Longhorn Train.

Lopunny was in a real predicament as Hoopa sent various rapid punches to her face, Nori saying, "Things started off heavily in Lopunny's favour, but after that incredible power Diancie displayed, she's now on the receiving end of her own tactic."

Heracross growled and thought, 'Dammit, we're not even close to five minutes!' Cici whimpering, "Do you think Lopunny will be okay?"

Gardevoir nodded and replied, "Yeah, she was the first one to ever defeat me while my power was activated. There's no way she'll lose this easily."

And it seemed so as after taking in a few more hits, Lopunny's eyes widened as her strength seemed to return. As such, the rabbit threw her ears in front of her face, blocking the incoming punches. She then placed her elbows firmly against the mat and lifted herself high enough to plant her feet hard into Hoopa's midsection.

Hoopa's eyes were wide open as he finally ended his onslaught, Lopunny now using her ears to propel herself up high, swinging her feet into his chin while the crowd cheered. This caused Hoopa to back up a bit as the rabbit finally rose to her feet, breathing heavily with a look of confidence on her face. After all, she knew full-well that Diancie could not use her Diamond Storm a second time or even Gem Growth without the Demonic Angels being penalized.

"Yeah, way to go, lass!" Heracross exclaimed as Machoke grinned, saying, "I knew she could do it," Blaziken folding her arms and nodding. And needless to say, the others were equally happy to see her escape from this.

"I'll admit, that certainly caught me off-guard, but I won't let you get the upper hand again!" Lopunny grunted as she sent one of her ears forward, shouting, "DIZZY PUNCH!"

Hoopa grabbed hold of the ear with a smirk, Lopunny about to take full advantage of the fact that he used both hands to block it. However, what she did not focus on was the genie swinging his head before releasing his ring, shouting, "DEMONIC RING!" as stone encased the object, Lopunny unable to respond as it hit her hard in the face, forcing her head back.

Hoopa's fans cheered while Reika groaned, "Dammit, she dropped her guard again," and it would only get worse as Hoopa took full advantage of this, lifting Lopunny high above his head and throwing his hands backward, planting her skull into the mat.

Many in the crowd were shocked as Nori stated, "And just as it seemed Lopunny would get the upper hand back, she once again finds her mighty Dizzy Punch turned against her. As a lot of us certainly remember, both Gardevoir and Machoke used this tactic against her during the Next Gen Battle, only it failed when Machoke used it. It would seem Hoopa's ring caused just enough of a distraction for this bunny to be unable to react."

Hoopa grinned wickedly as he refused to let Lopunny recover again, once again floating toward her with his fists at the ready. If anything, all those punches he dealt earlier were far more powerful than Lopunny's kicks combined.

However, the rabbit refused to let him get the drop on her as she gritted her teeth, barking, "NO!" planting the tips of her ears against the mat and pushing herself up, once again kicking the genie in the chin as he grunted, "Why didn't I see that coming!?"

Unlike last time, this provided enough force to knock Hoopa on his back while the crowd cheered, Lopunny planting her feet into his gut and shouting, "BUNNY BOUNCE!" leaping off of him and landing in front of Heracross.

"What are you doing, lass?" the beetle asked as the rabbit held up her hand, sighing, "He's seen through my tactics. If anyone can finish this guy off, it's you."

Heracross nodded with a grin and replied, "Alright, I'll do my best," the two tagging each-other as they switched places, the crowd now even more excited as Beedrill stated, "And now Heracross has entered the ring. Perhaps his superior strength will make it a lot more difficult for Hoopa to retaliate."

The genie rose back up as Heracross wasted no time flying toward him with his horn out, Diancie gasping, "Hoopa!"

But the genie was ready for this as he thought, 'Perfect. He may be stronger, but he's nowhere near as fast,' and thus Hoopa once again flung his ring forward, said object encased in stone once more. But as it was just about to hit Heracross, the beetle immediately stopped his flight and attempted to knock it to the side with his horn.

Unfortunately, the ring was moving too quickly and thus the horn missed as Heracross took the ring to his forehead, groaning in pain while Hoopa snapped his fingers thus teleporting both his left hand and horn beside the beetle. And with little time to react, Heracross wound up taking in both, his left side hurting from the first and his right having been pierced by the horn, a small trickle of green blood coming from him as the crowd gasped.

"And it would seem Heracross is having even worse luck as Hoopa has already managed to hit him without even moving from his current spot," Nori stated as Beedrill nodded, replying, "Thus is the advantage of having the ability to attack from a distance."

Diancie looked relieved while the rest of the crowd found this painful to watch, Machoke groaning, "Come on, Heracross! This is nothing! Where's that powerhouse who almost beat me?"

The rhino beetle gritted his teeth and grunted, "Aye, you're right," before placing a firm grip against the horn and prying it out, Hoopa blinking as more blood came from that very spot. The beetle then proceeded to hurl it toward its owner only for it to flip itself upright and reattach itself to the genie's head.

With that, Hoopa smirked and said, "You thought you could actually stab me with it, didn't you?" Heracross rushing toward him and shouting, "Whatever! I can still beat you anyway!"

With that, Hoopa panicked now as he dodged to the right. Luckily, Heracross saw this coming as he swung his horn in that very direction, smacking Hoopa's cheek hard with it. Just from that one hit alone, the genie coughed up blood and flew into the turnbuckle while the crowd went wild.

"And with only one hit, Heracross has more than made up for his disadvantage earlier," Nori stated as Diancie squeaked, "Are you okay, Hoopa!?"

The genie grunted, rubbing his cheek and uttering, "Yeah. It's just one hit," before recovering and smirking, adding, "Heck, it wasn't even that strong. I mean, I've heard so much about how much more powerful Heracross' horn is than the rest of his body, but that was nothing special."

The crowd was shocked to hear this, Machoke retorting, "Are you kidding me!? That horn is even stronger than Lucario's Force Palm!" Gardevoir nodding and replying, "I get the feeling Hoopa took in more damage than he's letting on."

"Yeah," Blaziken replied, "I just hope Heracross realizes that," Cici nodding and adding, "Don't forget, he tried the same thing on Lucario. Honestly, I'm surprised he'd try it again when it failed before."

Unfortunately, Heracross was a lot easier to fool than Lucario and as such, he gritted his teeth and spat, "MY HORN IS WEAK, IS IT!?" flying toward the genie with blind rage, "THIS NEXT ONE WILL KNOCK YOU OUT FOR GOOD!"

"WAIT, HERACROSS, THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS!" Lopunny exclaimed, but it was too late as Hoopa took full advantage of this, swerving to the right as Heracross' horn was rammed hard into the turnbuckle, all going silent as it came close to cutting the pole in half.

But since it had not gone all the way, the part was now lodged in there as Heracross groaned, "Oh no," trying to pry himself out while Hoopa picked up his ring and said, "As you know, I usually throw this, but I have a feeling mere punches won't inflict enough pain to you."

"Is he doing what I think he's doing?" Machoke uttered as Reika groaned, "Oh god, this is painful."

With that, spikes sprouted from the ring as Hoopa exclaimed, "DEMONIC RING BLADE!" the genie swinging it back and forth against Heracross' back, the beetle crying out in pain as not only did this deal damage, but thanks to the spikes, it opened up his exoskeleton just a little bit.

"HERACROSS, GET YOUR HORN OUT OF THERE!" Lopunny squeaked as the beetle retorted, "I'm trying my best, lassie! This isn't as easy as when my horn was stuck between the ropes!"

Machoke nodded and uttered, "Oh yeah, that was the first thing I managed to do to him when I fought him in the Next Gen Battle," Gardevoir and Blaziken both nodding. Neither had been able to see that match as back then, Gardevoir had been knocked out by Lopunny and Blaziken was fighting Talonflame at the same time.

Hoopa continued to slash at him, saying, "That shell of yours may be tough, but it's not as strong as it could be," Heracross gritting his teeth and shouting, "Screw it! I don't need to be out of this post to hit you!"

With that, the beetle lifted his legs up and sent them hard into Hoopa's gut, the crowd cheering. However, their cheers died when the genie ignored the pain and took hold of his legs, saying, "Wow, you're a dumbass."

He then proceeded to twist Heracross' legs as the beetle cried out in pain, the crowd wincing as Nori stated, "And just as it seemed the beetle could finally fight back, his own tactic has once again been used against him. Hoopa may not be as physically strong, but he is certainly cunning."

"Yeah," Beedrill replied, "Lopunny may have taken in a bad beating, but she was at least able to get out of both of her predicaments. Heracross, on the other hand, is practically a sitting duck at this point."

The beetle fumed and thought, 'No! I swore we would avenge Scyther and Talonflame's loss! There's no way I'm letting this cheater win!'

With that in mind, Heracross let out a loud battle cry, planting his hands firmly against the turnbuckle and pushing hard against it. Hoopa had a smug grin, figuring this was just a waste of time until the beetle managed to finally pry his horn out, leaning backward just far enough to plant it into the genie's skull.

The crowd went wild as Machoke spat, "YEAH, THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!" Hoopa releasing his hold on Heracross' legs and backing up, the beetle turning around and swinging his horn into the genie's cheek once again, sending him tumbling along the mat just a small ways away from the turnbuckle.

"And with only his horn, Heracross has more than made up for the damage dealt to him earlier!" Nori exclaimed as Reika breathed a sigh of relief. After all, at the very least, she wanted Hoopa to finally taste defeat.

However, just as it looked like the beetle could finally fulfil his plan of taking out Hoopa before the tornado tag portion, Nori rang the bell, thus signalling that five minutes had passed. Heracross groaned as Lopunny leapt into the ring, patting him on the shoulder and smiling, saying, "Awesome work back there."

"Aye, but that wasn't good enough," Heracross groaned as the rabbit sighed, "It's fine. We'll just take both of them down. I'm sure we can do it."

The beetle took a deep breath and nodded, a light smile on his face as Diancie joined Hoopa, asking, "Are you alright?"

The genie slowly rose up, rubbing his cheek and replying, "Yeah, I'll be fine," before thinking, 'Dammit, that Heracross is tough! I don't even think Talonflame is as strong as that horn of his!' a wicked grin forming as his mind added, 'Oh, that gives me a wonderful idea.'

However, before he could execute this, Heracross turned to Lopunny and said, "Hey, let's try that move we've been working on," the rabbit nodding as Diancie and Hoopa stared.

Lopunny wrapped her ears around Heracross' waist and lifted him up so his back rested atop her head. And with his horn pointed outward, the two were ready as Lopunny charged forward, both shouting, "RHINO MISSILE!"

Hoopa was unable to respond as Diancie dashed in front of him, taking in the strike to the gut herself while the crowd cheered. After all, Hoopa had taken in quite a bit of pain up to this moment, so it was her turn to take in some damage. And as she wanted to make the genie happy, she ignored the extreme pain dealt by the move and took hold of the horn.

The crowd gasped as Hoopa reached his hands around, grabbing onto the horn himself and saying, "Yeah, that's a good idea," Diancie blushing lightly. Sure, Hoopa had no arms, but if he did, they would be resting up against her right now.

"Wait, shouldn't she be in more pain than that?" Machoke uttered as Blaziken gritted her teeth, growling, "I get the feeling there's more to this than meets the eye."

And sure enough, both villains combined their strength to lift both Lopunny and Heracross up, spinning them around before flinging them toward the turnbuckle. Lopunny's back rammed into it as she cried out in pain, releasing her hold on Heracross who wound up flying over her head and out of the ring as a result. The fans of the Demonic Angels cheered but the others were concerned as it was just like Machoke said. Diancie should not have been able to ignore the pain to her gut to easily.

Nevertheless, with Heracross out of the ring, Nori started the twenty count. Though it ultimately seemed unnecessary as the beetle immediately rose to his feet and flew back into the ring, a look of irritation on his face as Lopunny tried her best to ignore the pain to her back.

"You alright, lass?" Heracross asked as the rabbit nodded and frowned, saying, "We need to end this. Every time we have them, they find some way to deal even more damage to us. We need to prove that we can be just as good as Talonflame and Scyther, if not better."

Hoopa, meanwhile, had a smirk on his face as he said, "I have to admit, Diancie, that was very ballsy of you to take the hit like that," Diancie nodding and trying her best to ignore the pain dealt by that horn.

It was just as Blaziken suspected. Much like Hoopa when he first took in the horn, she was putting up a front, though unlike the genie, she was trying to convince herself that the move had not been that effective.

Hoopa then looked at his opponents and said in a quiet tone, "By the way, Diancie, I have a plan. That horn of Heracross' is a real pain in the ass. It's easily the strongest weapon those two have against us. So I was thinking we should do something about that."

"But is that legal?" Diancie squeaked as Hoopa nodded and replied, "Of course it is. Look at some of the injuries fighters in this very tournament have gotten away with. Besides, in the Olympics last year, Lucario destroyed Metang's hands and dislocated Garchomp's arms. He even went so far as to shatter her spine, later doing the same thing to Machoke. I think it's safe to say the assume will let us get away with this."

"Hey, are you gonna stand around talking or fight us!?" Heracross exclaimed as Lopunny stood atop his shoulders, the beetle spreading out his wings and flying toward the duo.

Before the Demonic Angels could even respond, Lopunny leapt off of the beetle and spread her ears out, spinning horizontally while shouting, "BUNNY PROPELLER!" flying close enough to whip both opponents in the face with the tips.

The crowd cheered as Heracross came up behind both villains, planting a fist into each one's back thus adding to the pain. Then with both distracted, he proceeded to wrap his arms around Hoopa while Lopunny leapt behind Diancie, doing the same thing with her ears.

The two then leaned back, planting the backs of their opponents' necks into the canvas, Hoopa and Diancie gritting their teeth while trying their best not to let the pain get to them. However, it would certainly be difficult as after releasing their holds on the two, the Bouncing Biceps turned toward them and prepared to strike while they were down.

However, since Diancie had not taken in nearly as much pain as Hoopa had earlier, she had just enough strength to place her hands against the mat, uttering, "Gem Growth," a gem shooting up underneath each opponent and sending them high above the ring.

The crowd watched in stunned silence, Machoke and the others ashamed of themselves for not seeing this coming as the sylph recovered quickly, leaping up while encasing her hands in crystal. And once she reached their height, she lifted her arms, shouting, "DIAMOND MALLET!" sending each fist into a separate opponent's skull.

Both their heads came open as a result, blood flying from each as they fell toward the mat. Sure, Heracross could have saved himself with his wings, but he was feeling too weak at the moment to spread them out. Thus he and Lopunny fell hard on their backs as Diancie changed her legs into the big diamond that allowed her to float.

"And once again, just as quickly as the Bouncing Biceps get the advantage, it leaves them as Diancie catches them off-guard with that Gem Growth of hers!" Nori stated, Diancie positioning herself right above Heracross as Machoke spat, "HEY, HERACROSS, MOVE!"

"Dammit, get up!" Reika snapped, "I'm sure this is far from the worst you've ever dealt with!" the group then chanting his name.

Unfortunately, by the time Heracross managed to open his eyes, it seemed too late as Diancie descended toward him, shouting, "DIAMOND METEOR!"

Though what shocked the crowd was not so much Heracross taking in the strike but rather that Diancie had hit the tip of his horn as opposed to his belly like she had done to every other victim. Although it ultimately seemed to be in vain as while this did bend the horn back a bit, it did not even come close to having the results she had wanted as her eyes widened with shock.

Lopunny slowly opened her eyes at the same time as Hoopa, both staring at this as Hoopa thought, 'Well, at least she had the right idea,' Heracross smirking and grabbing hold of the diamond before the sylph could move.

She gasped and tried to free herself as the beetle slowly rose to his feet, now holding Diancie over his head as he said, "I see what you did there. You were trying to destroy my horn," the crowd even more shocked as Machoke uttered, "Wait, is she stupid or something? Heracross' horn can't possibly be destroyed."

Diancie bit her lower lip as Hoopa noticed the horn bent a bit, thinking, 'I wouldn't say that,' but both Heracross and Lopunny believed these words as the beetle said, "He's right, lass. You wasted a perfectly good opportunity to deal some serious damage back there."

With that, he leaned back and planted the sylph's back against the mat as Hoopa flew toward them, shouting, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" only for Lopunny to leap at him, planting her feet into his forehead as he fell on his back, the crowd going wild.

With that, Diancie's feet returned to normal as the beetle proceeded to climb onto her back, saying, "Unlike Hoopa, you won't be able to use cheap tactics to escape from this," taking hold of her ankles and bending her knees for a Boston Crab, Blaziken exclaiming, "Oh yeah, that's more like it!"

But just as Lopunny was ready to kick Hoopa in the gut, the genie grimaced and threw his hands forward, taking hold of both feet before swinging them downward, planting the rabbit's back against the mat. Lopunny tried to get up only for Hoopa to rise and send a hard punch into her face.

This provided just enough of a distraction for him to snap his fingers, his hand appearing behind Heracross and taking hold of his horn. The beetle's eyes widened as the hand flew back toward its owner, the beetle trying his best to continue holding onto Diancie.

Hoopa smiled as this only caused the horn to bend a little bit more, but he was even more pleased when it provided enough force to cause Heracross to release his hold on Diancie. He then flew toward Hoopa as the genie lifted up Lopunny before she could recover and held her in front of the beetle, allowing his horn to ram into her forehead thus expanding the wound dealt earlier by Diancie.

Machoke cried, "LOPUNNY!" as blood flew from that very spot, she and Heracross both on their backs with the beetle lying on top of her, Beedrill saying, "And with a rather creative strategy, Hoopa has turned Heracross' strongest part against his own ally! This is not looking good for the Bouncing Biceps!"

Diancie slowly rose to her feet with a light smile, Hoopa smirking and saying, "You may not realize it, but you did a good job striking his horn like that. Now I think it's high time I finish the job."

"Wait, what!?" Machoke spat as Gardevoir whimpered, "Oh no! I hope those two can recover soon! I get the feeling his plan might actually work!"

And it seemed so as Hoopa lifted Heracross off of his ally, flipping him onto his belly and placing a firm grip against his horn. He then proceeded to pull as hard as he could as Heracross opened his eyes, shouting, "HEY, STOP THAT!"

But just as he was about to respond, Diancie placed her palm against the mat and said, "Gem Growth," causing a diamond to form under the beetle's chin and strike him in that exact spot just hard enough to weaken him, the gem vanishing into the mat as the beetle's face hit the material hard.

Lopunny gritted her teeth as she was just about to rise back to her feet. Unfortunately, Diancie had not forgotten about her as she once again formed her diamond, floating just slightly above the rabbit and shouting, "DIAMOND METEOR!"

With that, Lopunny took the diamond to her gut as she coughed up blood, her head falling against the canvas. Due to the sylph's height, she had not dealt as much damage as she normally did, but it was still enough to distract the rabbit while Hoopa continued to pull on Heracross' horn.

"Yes, I'm gonna make history today!" the genie exclaimed, "I'll be the first fighter to overpower Heracross' mighty horn!" all going silent amongst the crowd as the horn continued to bend further and further.

Since the earlier attempts had not shown the greatest of results, no one had noticed up until now that the horn had bent back. But now everyone could see it, proof that Diancie's hit earlier had actually been effective.

Seeing this, Machoke's eyes widened as he spat, "COME ON, HERACROSS, FIGHT IT!" only for Hoopa's grin to widen as he exclaimed, "It's too late!" applying just enough force for the bottom of the horn to come open.

The crowd gasped, including Hoopa's fans, as blood flew from that very spot, Heracross crying out in agonizing pain while Hoopa held up his horn, shouting, "THERE, NOW YOUR STRONGEST WEAPON IS USELESS!" the genie letting out maniacal laughter as even Nori and Beedrill were too shocked to commentate on this. Now what could the Bouncing Biceps possibly do?

 

This was truly horrifying. As if the beating the Bouncing Biceps had taken in so far was not bad enough, Heracross had just lost his most powerful weapon, his horn. Now how could he possibly match blows with the Demonic Angels?

Since Lopunny had not taken in full damage from the Diamond Meteor, she was still conscious as she noticed this. And needless to say, she was just as mortified as the majority of the crowd. It was not so much the loss of the horn but rather the blood pouring down her ally's forehead.

"This isn't happening!" one of Heracross' fans groaned, covering her eyes as another exclaimed, "End this match, Beedrill! He needs medical attention!"

It seemed many others agreed as Machoke sighed, "I hate to say it, but he really needs to get that hole patched up," Reika nodding and exclaiming, "Yeah, Beedrill, don't just sit there! Ring the bell!"

"Yes," Beedrill replied, "Heracross' blood is coming out at an alarming rate, therefore-" but just as he rose his stinger to ring the bell, a certain Scottish voice exclaimed, "NO!"

The crowd gasped as Heracross slowly rose to his feet, the bleeding starting to slow down as he took many deep breaths, grunting, "I can still fight!" Beedrill uttering, "You sure about that? Look, there's no shame in giving up, especially in your condition."

Even Lopunny was starting to agree as she whimpered, "Yeah, just forfeit the match. I'm sure Machoke and Blaziken can beat these two," the two heroes in question nodding their heads.

Blaziken had a grin on her face as she exclaimed, "Yeah, leave them to us!" Hoopa smirking and thinking, 'This is even better than I could have ever imagined.'

Diancie, all the while, really hoped Heracross would agree to give up. As much as causing extreme pain gave Hoopa pleasure, the sylph only did it because she felt like she had to. If there was a way to win this match without hospitalizing both of her opponents, she would take it.

However, Heracross let out a loud cry as suddenly the bleeding came to a stop as he exclaimed, "There! I'm not bleeding anymore! I can continue this match!"

While most of his fans cheered for him, Machoke shook his head and groaned, "He's getting ahead of himself," Gardevoir nodding and squeaking, "He really should have taken that offer."

And sure enough, Heracross would soon regret this decision as Hoopa smirked and said, "Fine by me," striking the beetle in the face with his own horn thus knocking him on his back.

The crowd gasped as Nori stated, "And just like that, Hoopa's used Heracross' horn against him! And since the weapon was once a part of the beetle, this is perfectly legal!" Machoke gritting his teeth, fury filling him up. To see heroes rely on dirty tactics to win tournament matches was not exactly unheard of, but never had one ever gone this far to win a match.

Lopunny tried to get up only for Diancie to once again encase her hands in crystal, sending both fists into the back of the the rabbit's head. Thus Heracross was unable to defend himself as Hoopa flipped him over onto his belly and delivered a series of whacks to the back of his head with the horn. This ultimately caused that part to open up as well, even Hoopa's own fans not sure whether to support this or not.

All the while, Diancie did the same with Lopunny as she rested on her back, delivering multiple punches to the back of her head. And since her hands were still encased in crystal, this caused the rabbit to bleed as well.

Hoopa had the biggest grin on his face as he exclaimed, "Yeah, how does it feel!? How does the source of all your greatest techniques feel when used against you!?" Heracross slowly raising his hands in front of the spot being struck in a vain attempt to prevent further damage.

Seeing this, Reika got up and snapped, "COME ON, YOU TWO! IF YOU'RE GONNA CONTINUE FIGHTING, THEN STOP LETTING THEM WHALE ON YOU LIKE THIS!" people staring as the girl added, "You two were actually doing a good job up until this point! Are you gonna let the loss of a single weapon ruin that!?"

Machoke took a deep breath and added, "Yeah, she's got a point, Heracross. Your horn wasn't exactly the only thing you used against me. You're plenty strong even without it! As long as the loss of your horn isn't killing you, you can still win this!"

These words seemed to work as Heracross gritted his teeth, grunting, "Aye! He's right!" the beetle shifting his hands backward when the horn came for him again.

Almost as if Heracross knew exactly what spot it was headed toward, he managed to grab it, a grin on his face as he said, "Thanks for taking care of my horn for me, but I'll gladly take it off your hands."

Hoopa's eyes widened as the beetle proceeded to pry the horn out of his grip before rising to his feet once more. However, the genie had no time to react as Heracross wasted no time turning to face him, swinging his horn into his cheek and sending him flying away from him.

He then took a deep breath and thought, 'Machoke's right. As strong as my horn is, I need to get used to fighting without it, at least for now,' the beetle tossing it out of the ring before charging at Diancie, ramming his shoulder into her side. This caused her to fall on her side thus ending her onslaught on Lopunny, the crowd going wild.

"And just as it seemed like the Bouncing Biceps had truly lost, Heracross makes a surprising comeback!" Nori exclaimed as Beedrill nodded and said, "Though I have to say, giving up his horn when using it like a sword is perfectly legal due to a technicality is certainly ballsy on his part. Let's see if he can keep this up."

Lopunny twitched all over as Heracross knelt down, taking hold of her hand with a warm smile, asking "Are you okay?"

The rabbit looked up at him as she bit her lower lip, uttering, "Heracross, I know what we promised, but I'm sure Scyther will forgive us. And Talonflame may give us a hard time at first, but I'm sure he'll understand too."

The beetle let out a sigh and shook his head, remarking, "I'm not sure if we can actually win this match anymore, but we gotta keep trying. Scyther and Talonflame fought to the bitter end and so will we."

Unfortunately, Hoopa and Diancie started to rise back up, Hoopa snickering with a wicked grin, saying, "Nice speech. Almost brought me to tears, but it's way too late."

However, Lopunny frowned and retorted, "No it's not!" before nodding at Heracross as the beetle lifted her up, swinging her by her arm before flinging her toward Diancie, the sylph taking a hard kick to her chest, the crowd cheering as Nori exclaimed, "And it would seem Heracross' recovery was not in vain as he and Lopunny are once again dominating the match!"

Heracross then proceeded to fly toward Hoopa with his arms crossed, stating, "I don't need my horn to defeat you!"

Hoopa smirked and readied his fists only for the beetle to pick up the speed of his flight, ramming both of his arms into the genie's face. And with that, he wrapped said parts around him, binding his hands in place as he exclaimed, "ALRIGHT, LOPUNNY, LET'S GIVE THEM A PIECE OF OUR MINDS!"

"Right!" the rabbit squealed with a big grin, Machoke shouting, "Wow! I wasn't sure if they could do it, but they might actually pull this off!" Gardevoir nodding as Reika barked, "Yeah, teach them a lesson!"

With that, Heracross continued to hold Hoopa in place while the genie struggled, groaning, "Let me go, you brute!" while Lopunny wrapped her ears around Diancie, leaping high above the mat and flipping herself one-hundred and eighty degrees, the two descending from above the other two fighters.

With that, Heracross took to the sky as he and Lopunny shouted, "BUNNY-BEETLE DRIVER!" slamming the heads of both Demonic Angels into one-another. As a result, both Hoopa and Diancie coughed up blood as Lopunny and Heracross released their holds on them, allowing them to collapse while the crowd was beyond ecstatic.

Nori described exactly what had just happened as Heracross turned to Lopunny with a grin and said, "See, lass? We don't need my horn to be awesome," the rabbit nodding with a light smile and replying, "Thanks. I was just about to lose all hope."

This seemed to be enough as Nori started the ten count, Hoopa and Diancie not moving an inch. The crowd cheered even louder as Reika shouting, "YOU GUYS ROCK!" Blaziken saying, "Looking forward to our match."

However, Machoke and Gardevoir both looked uncertain as the boy uttered, "Guys, you might be getting ahead of yourselves," pointing forward as they soon noticed it. Hoopa and Diancie's hands were twitching.

And once Nori reached eight, Hoopa made a full recovery, rising back up as Diancie joined him shortly after, both breathing heavily with a looks irritation in their eyes. Hoopa had been rather enjoying taking away their advantages up to this point, but now he just wanted to match to end.

Lopunny and Heracross slowly turned to them as Hoopa said, "I'll admit, it's impressive that you two can even stand right now, but it's time for us to end this," Diancie nodding as she said, "I'm ready."

With that in mind, Hoopa swung his horn around as Heracross exclaimed, "I don't think so!" spreading out his wings only for Diancie to place her hands against the mat, shouting, "Gem Growth!"

And with that, two gems came up behind the beetle, piercing his wings as Hoopa said, "Good. Now you can't fly your way out of this move," before flinging his horn under the beetle, the vortex forming as he was pulled in.

And of course, Hoopa's waist ring was teleported above the ring as Heracross emerged from it, the genie flying up toward him as Lopunny spat, "I THINK NOT!"

But just as she was about to bounce up to his level, Diancie formed her floatation diamond and flew toward her, grabbing hold of the rabbit's ears and pointing said diamond at her back. With that, she said, "Blaziken helped inspire this one," the chicken gritting her teeth at the sound of this as the sylph shouted, "DIAMOND MOUNT!" once again driving it into the rabbit's back.

However, because she had applied more pressure this time, the diamond went through Lopunny's belly as blood flew out, though she had made sure not to apply too much force. After all, she knew what would happen if she killed the rabbit and with how skinny Lopunny was, too much pressure could have potentially split her in half. Even without the rules, Diancie did not wish to resort to that.

And while this happened, Hoopa had his hands latched onto Heracross as he had the beetle's head facing the mat, and now that the beetle no longer had his horn, the genie would not need to reposition his head to guarantee he would take in damage. And all the while, the crowd just watched in silence, Reika letting down light tears as she knew where this was headed.

"HYPERSPACE HOLE!" Hoopa exclaimed with a big grin as he slammed Heracross' skull hard into the canvas, the beetle coughing up blood as his eyes were wide open.

And with that, the genie released his hold on him and allowed him to collapse, snapping his fingers and saying, "Well, I think that wraps things up, don't you, Miss Nori?"

The woman gasped and nodded, starting the ten count as Beedrill was unsure how to feel about this. He knew he could not just make accusations without proof, but he had a feeling the Demonic Angels were not really heroes. Sure, Lucario had done some extreme things during the Olympics, but none of them had permanent results. Heracross losing his horn, on the other hand, felt too far, especially since now it would likely make fighting villains a lot more difficult for him. Even if someone could reattach it, there was no way to guarantee he would be able to increase its strength afterwards.

And sure enough, Nori soon reached ten as she rang the bell, exclaiming, "And the team facing off against Machoke and Blaziken in the finals is the Demonic Angels!" Hoopa and Diancie's fans staring briefly before smiling and cheering. After all, they were already aware of how dirty of a fighter Hoopa was, and as long as he did not kill his opponent, they would not lose their respect for him this easily.

Hoopa cast Machoke a wicked smirk as the boy shuddered, Blaziken patting him on the shoulder. Though despite that, the boy's excitement for the final match and working alongside the chicken had left him. Now he knew he would have to work harder than ever before, especially now that this actually felt a tad personal.

Diancie took a deep breath and gazed at Blaziken, but why? What reason did she have to fixate her?

Whatever the case, medics came in to load Heracross and Lopunny onto stretchers as Beedrill stated, "And that concludes the semi-finals. Both matches were very intense, but I'm sure the best has been saved for last. We'll just have to wait and see who will be victorious when Machoke and Blaziken go up against the Demonic Angels five days from now."

"Five days?" Machoke uttered as Blaziken shrugged and stated, "That's not as long as you had to prepare for the Olympic finals, but it's still a good amount of time to prepare ourselves."

"You're right," Machoke replied with a serious look, "And we're gonna make the best use of that time," Gardevoir giving the two a sweet smile and saying, "I'll help you train if you'd like."

Machoke was about to object but decided this was a good idea as he grinned at his girlfriend, giving her a big hug and saying, "You're the best," Reika chuckling at this before turning back toward the ring, watching Heracross and Lopunny being loaded up.

However, when Machoke looked back, he noticed something was off and gasped, "Hold it, medical guys!" running toward the ring as the four stopped what they were doing, one of them asking, "Sir, what are you doing?"

The boy ignored the question and approached the side of the ring, picking up Heracross' horn and saying, "I was just thinking you probably wouldn't wanna leave without this," placing the body part next to Heracross on the stretcher and taking a deep breath, saying, "Get well soon, pal."

The medics all looked at one-another, feeling a tad ashamed of themselves for not noticing something so important. After all, if they were quick enough, it would be possible to have the horn reattached to Heracross' head.

And as the two were taken out of the area, Hoopa and Diancie were still there as the sylph had a neutral look. However, the genie next to her smirked and said, "Machoke, as much of a softie as you are, I've seen more than enough proof that you are, indeed, an opponent worthy of facing me. As such, I look forward to our match."

Machoke shot him a glare as he and Diancie exited the area. And with that out of the way, the boy headed toward the exit along with his friends. There was no way he would lose the finals, even if he was unaware of the fact that he would face two villains again.

Before Machoke and Blaziken could start training, though, the group headed to the hospital to check up on Aipom. After all, she had expelled a lot of energy during the match with Smeargle and Vespiquen and taken in a lot of pain. Hopefully she would be able to at least recover in time for the finals. Machoke wanted her to be there to watch it.

And of course there were Florges and Smeargle, though they had left the hospital not too long ago. After all, Smeargle was in shockingly good health despite having taken in a lot of damage during his match with Machoke and Florges had made a full recovery. Though they did certainly plan on returning every now and then to check up on Masquerain.

As it just so happened, Lucario and Clauncher finally recovered and had also left the hospital. Upon exiting, they were immediately swamped by reporters, though they all came mostly for Lucario.

"So, it has been said that you lost once before this, but how does it feel to suffer yet another defeat?" one asked as another added, "And after facing the Demonic Angels, do you think Machoke and Blaziken stand a chance? Machoke did lose to you, after all."

Lucario let out a sigh and replied, "If I could be perfectly honest, I have hope for those two. If there's one thing I can honestly say, it's that Machoke certainly has what it takes to defeat them. He's also gotten a lot better since the time we fought. I'm even willing to bet that if we were to face off in the finals, he would probably defeat me."

The reporters were very surprised to hear this as the dog added, "Machoke, if you're listening, I believe you can win this match. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Well, there you have it, folks," one reporter stated, "Lucario fully supports Machoke, and honestly, I can't blame him."

One reporter then turned his own camera to Clauncher, asking, "Say, Miss Clauncher, how does it feel having fought alongside Lucario?" the lobster replying, "Pretty awesome. Of course, it only seems natural. The two of us did stop a pair of criminals together last year," the people now more interested in her than they were before.

Lucario rolled his eyes. After all, he was used to this sort of thing from the media anyway. All that mattered to him right now as that Machoke at least find a way to hear what he had just said as he meant every word of it. If there was anyone he truly believed could at least wipe Hoopa's smug look off of his face, it was Machoke.

During this time, Machoke sat by Aipom's side as the doctor explained that she would likely remain comatose for at least a week. Needless to say, the boy was disappointed to hear this but he also knew it could not be helped. If anything, he was amazed that his trainer would even strain herself that much just to help him make it to the finals. There was no denying that Aipom was certainly dedicated.

Gardevoir smiled and said, "You two really were amazing together. I just think it's cool that you even got such a chance. Machamp never once fought alongside Ambipom, so this really is history in the making," Machoke nodding with a grin and saying, "Yeah, I'm sure she's really glad that we won our first match together, though I do kinda wish she could watch us fight in the finals," turning to Blaziken.

The chicken nodded and rested a hand on his shoulder, saying, "If anything, the very thought of the Raging Bulls being revived in this day and age would probably make her really happy," Machoke nodding as his eyes lit up.

"I know what our new team name can be!" the boy exclaimed with a grin as the chicken nodded, saying, "I'm listening," Gardevoir equally interested.

"Blazing Muscles would be cool, but you're right when you say it sounds too typical," Machoke stated with his arms folded, "I honestly think a more simple approach would work, so how about the New Raging Bulls?"

Blaziken stared in stunned silence as Gardevoir nodded and said, "I like it. You're essentially bringing a new spin to an old team-up. I think keeping the old name makes a lot more sense than thinking up a new one," the chicken tapping her chin and nodding, saying, "You know, that's actually a good point."

She then smirked and stated, "New Raging Bulls it is," the two holding each-other's hands firmly, Gardevoir smiling sweetly.

All the while, Hoopa was resting on the bed in his and Diancie's hotel room, yawning and implying a stretch with his hands, saying, "I'm gonna take a quick nap. Wake me if something important comes up."

Diancie nodded and replied, "Okay," as the genie closed his eyes and instantly fell into a deep sleep. After all, his match today had been a lot more exhausting than he thought it would be.

Diancie smiled with her cheeks light pink as she immediately went to a computer placed on the desk. She wasted no time going to a site where people would upload almost every video and looked up Blaziken's debut match on Earth, back when she faced Onix in Osaka. And of course, before playing the footage, she plugged in a set of ear buds and placed them into the body parts they were made for.

While watching the match, she studied the chicken closely, a serious look in her eyes. While she and Hoopa knew plenty about Machoke, they had barely done any research on his friends, so all of this fascinated her.

However, by the time she finished watching the match, she hardly saw anything all that special about Blaziken. At one point, the chicken would have lost if Machoke had not interfered and distracted Onix. As if that was not enough, none of Blaziken's moves struck her as anything special aside from one slam that took so much out of her, it went on record that she never used that technique ever again.

Diancie then looked up Blaziken's match against Talonflame, back when he disguised himself as a golem named Golurk. As soon as the falcon's identity was revealed, every advantage Blaziken had up to that point left her. But at the same time, she had done a reasonable job hanging in there despite her moves still coming off as nothing special.

She then watched the Olympic qualification matches where, yet again, Blaziken displayed nothing special. Her first opponent was a purple rat name Rattata.

Thanks to his incredible speed and large teeth, he was able to put up a really good fight, yet despite this, Blaziken still defeated him. She managed to catch him off-guard as she leapt high above his head, lighting her talons on fire and sending them into his back with a move she called Blaze Kick Anvil.

Her second opponent was a red cricket with a line on his front side that resembled the middle of a violin. His named was Kricketune and despite his appearance saying otherwise, he was a shockingly powerful adversary.

As it just so happened, the line going down to his bellybutton was an actual violin string, and throughout the match, he used his bow-like arms to play upbeat Texan melodies that would force Blaziken to dance. This would always provide a distraction thus allowing the cricket to strike her multiple times.

However, Blaziken managed to fight it eventually and ultimately defeated the cricket with her Blaze Kick. Once again, nothing too special but still effective.

And after watching the final match with Rapidash, Diancie nodded and thought, 'I think I get it. The reason Blaziken won all those matches is that while her style of fighting is simple, she knows how to make it work to her advantage. I think I can take her easily.'

But this did raise the question, why was Diancie so obsessed with Blaziken right now? Machoke was the one Hoopa wanted to face, not her, so why did the chicken even matter? And furthermore, why did she not tell Hoopa about this? If anything, Hoopa was always the one coming up with the devious plans, not her.

Whatever the case, it seemed that Blaziken had to watch herself. If she was not careful, whatever Diancie had planned could take a serious toll on her.

 

With five days to go until the finals, Machoke and Blaziken were hard at work getting ready for the big event. While Hoopa still saw no need to train, the New Raging Bulls were determined to make sure he paid for all the pain and suffering he had caused their friends throughout the tournament.

The first thing they had done was study their parents' matches in the tag team tournament. As was explained before, Combusken did not work alongside Machamp during the first match, thus their kids watched the last two matches, seeing just how well they worked together.

Though at first, the two shockingly did not do so well when going up against a red cyborg with a steel helmet, shoulder, elbow and knee pads that resembled moon rocks named Forretress and a sentient mud statue with red eyes covering the middle of his head named Claydol. For the first little while, Machoke had been so disappointed not to have Xatu as his ally that he tried to win the match all by himself, Combusken constantly trying to get him to tag her in.

When Machamp became overwhelmed, Forretress sending him flying into the turnbuckle, Combusken tagged him out without waiting to see if he was okay with it and while she had a good start, she had ultimately been overwhelmed as well. It was especially bad when Claydol took Forretress' place and rammed his head into her gut, dealing insane damage.

Machoke winced at the sight of this and groaned, "Wow, they kinda sucked, didn't they?" Blaziken nodding and saying, "All Mom ever told me was how awesome she and your dad were as a team. I'm not seeing that."

However, as the match progressed, there came a point where Machamp was forced into the ring to join Combusken and suffer the same pain as her. Needless to say, this was the moment where the two ultimately decided to work together and as if all the pain dealt earlier meant nothing, they managed to get an extreme upper-hand, ultimately using the Muscle Coffin and winning themselves the match.

Seeing this, Machoke grinned and said, "Wow, seems we're not the only ones who can take in extreme pain and still pull off miracles, eh?" Blaziken nodding and replying, "Yeah, the way they just turned that around is really something."

However, the point where the two had to really pay attention was when they switched to the final match where the Raging Bulls went up against Mew and Mewtwo, two villains who had snuck their way into the tournament. Throughout the match, the psychic cats had proven themselves very powerful, but Machamp and Combusken had certainly put up a better fight now that they could work together.

It was a very intense match, one of legends. Mew and Mewtwo had almost won when each formed a dark force field around himself. The two got close enough to combine their fields, making a bigger one as they took hold of Machamp and Combusken, creating a big explosion with a move known as Psystrike, a move they had used to defeat the other two teams before them.

But just as it looked like the match had been won, Machamp and Combusken made a shocking recovery, setting the two cats up for the Muscle Coffin and defeating them for good. Watching this all the way through as opposed to just the end of the match made Machoke start to idolize his father, his eyes sparkling along with Blaziken's. Needless to say, both had been inspired greatly by this match.

And of course, both had taken notes on the other team moves Machamp and Combusken used throughout the match, Machoke asking, "So, you think you can pull off the Muscle Coffin?"

"If Mom could pull it off, so can I!" the chicken replied with a smirk as she and Machoke felt truly confident that they could defeat the Demonic Angels.

While this went on, Florges and Smeargle had gone to visit Masquerain in the hospital, the beagle sighing, "I still can't believe someone would go this far. I just really hope you're right when you say the one responsible has been put to justice."

Florges nodded and replied, "I'm certain it was Ditto. He was posing as Beedrill. He could have easily used his stingers to do this."

Both suddenly went wide-eyed as they noticed something no one would have expected, at least not this soon. Masquerain's pointing finger was actually moving, but very slowly and fidgety. Needless to say, Smeargle and Florges were not only shocked but slightly thrilled.

After all, back when Greninja suffered brain damage, it was at least a couple of months before any movement was seen at all and it would be another four months before she would fully recover. For whatever reason, Masquerain was recovering much more quickly.

However, Smeargle's smile turned to a look of curiosity as he noticed her finger shift toward the TV, which had been turned to the news network. Currently, Hoopa and Diancie were being filmed taking interviews from quite a few reporters, many asking how it felt to make it as far as the finals.

Florges blinked and uttered, "Would you much rather we change the channel?" Masquerain wanting so badly to shake her head. Unfortunately, all she could do right now was move her finger and as such, she could not fully communicate what she was trying to get across.

As such, Florges nodded and switched to a music video channel, namely MTV Japan, saying, "There, you'd much rather watch this, oui? It is your favourite channel," Smeargle blinking and saying, "Hey, they're playing that new cover for SOS. I love that song!" the two smiling and dancing along with it, figuring that this would make Masquerain happier.

Unfortunately, all this did was make her want to face-palm, but needless to say, she could not even do that. As she was, she did not even have the mental capacity to let down so much as a tear.

Elsewhere in the hospital, Reika was checking up on Talonflame and Scyther. While the falcon was still out, Scyther had amazingly recovered as she was currently having a conversation with the human girl.

"So they say I should be able to walk again soon," the insect stated as Reika nodded and replied, "That's good. You'll be able to see Machoke and Blaziken wipe the floor with the Demonic Angels."

Scyther nodded and replied, "Ja. I can definitely see them doing it. Mother told me a lot about the matches that Machamp and Combusken fought. To think those two are going to carry on that legacy."

Reika nodded and sighed, "I have to say, after the beating you took in, I'm really glad you were able to recover as quickly as you have. It gives us more time to spend together before the big match."

Scyther rose an eyebrow as the black-haired girl bit her lower lip, uttering, "It's just, well, of all my hero friends, you're the one I like spending time with the most," Scyther nodding and replying, "Ja. Same here."

Reika's eyes widened as the insect added, "You're the coolest human I've ever met. Sure, Cici's strong, but I've seen you piledrive a guy twice your size just to protect your friends. I think if humans were allowed in these tournaments, you might actually make it far. You could even be a modern day Hyun."

Reika's cheeks were bright pink as she uttered, "I'm not that strong, am I?" fiddling with her hands as Scyther nodded and took hold of them, looking into the girl's eyes.

With that, the two leaned forward and gave each-other a peck on the lips, Reika pulling back with her eyes wide open, Scyther's smile becoming warmer. Neither had to say anymore. All that mattered was that this was undoubtedly the happiest moment of Reika's life.

The next three days passed as Gallade and Hitmonchan had decided to go out for lunch, Hitmonchan smiling and saying, "You know what? I'm actually kinda glad we lost the first round. It gives us more time to spend together, you know?" Gallade nodding and replying, "Yeah, you make a good point. Just think, we could be like Machoke and Blaziken and spend all of our free time training."

He then kept up the same expression and uttered, "Training for the biggest event the world has ever seen, one so important it could get us featured in the papers," the boy's head slamming against the table as Hitmonchan patted him on the shoulder, saying, "I'm sure there'll be more tournaments."

Gallade then lifted his head and replied, "Yeah, you're right," rubbing the back of his head before adding, "Though I really hope Machoke and Blaziken can do this. Those Demonic Angels are scary. To think they'd go so far as to rip off Heracross' horn without any remorse."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that," Hitmonchan replied, "That seems a little extreme for a tournament for heroes. I mean, yes, Lucario did something very similar to Metang, but keep in mind, he still held back enough so the pieces would be big. He made sure Metang's hands could be repaired easily. It's just, well, I think Hoopa knew that removing Heracross' horn would have major repercussions. I think deep down, he was fully aware of the fact that Heracross would have more trouble fighting evil without it."

"You have a point there," Gallade replied, "Talonflame went so far as to break Scyther's arm and leg, but that wasn't permanent damage. And when Lucario disabled Garchomp, that wasn't a permanent disability either. Heck, Scyther put a big gash across my body when we fought, and I'm fine," the boy pointing at the stitching going sideways up his torso and adding, "This is the first time I've ever seen a fellow hero go this far."

After a few seconds, both went wide-eyed as they uttered in unison, "You don't think-" the two then rising up as Gallade said, "I think we should find out where Hoopa and Diancie are staying and investigate."

Unbeknownst to them, though, a mysterious woman with blood red eyes in an extra large trench coat and a fedora had been listening in on them. Though for some strange reason, the bottom of her outfit was spread out like the bottom of a dress.

She watched them leave and thought, 'So, they plan to expose Hoopa, do they? I simply cannot allow that,' before rising up and taking off, a pair of wings sticking out of her back.

Some people turned and stared as one customer turned to his friend and whispered, "Hey, is that who I think it is?" the other person shrugging and replying, "After what Machoke and Aipom did to her, I doubt she's out of the hospital yet."

Meanwhile, Blaziken and Machoke had just finished a great deal of training, the two practising a move that involved the chicken standing atop the boy's shoulders, the two spinning and forming a twister of flames. They then rammed themselves into a test dummy, burning it to ashes and grinning at their handiwork.

"Alright!" Blaziken exclaimed with a smirk, "We're more than ready for this!" Gardevoir clapping and squealing, "That was awesome! You guys rule!"

Machoke nodded with a grin as he said, "Well, not much time before the finals. Do you think we should continue?" Blaziken sighing, "Nah. We've done enough. If anything, we should save our strength for tomorrow."

Gardevoir nodded and said, "Yeah, if you overwork yourselves, you won't have any energy when the match comes," Machoke nodding and replying, "You're probably right."

It was still amazing just how eager the boy was about training. A year ago, he hated this. He hated it when Aipom forced him to train and made him come up with ways to escape from submission techniques, and yet now, he was more serious about this than ever before.

Blaziken was ready to head off as she said, "I think I'll pick up some groceries on the way home. See you tomorrow, pal," Machoke nodding and replying, "Yeah! We'll show those Demonic Angels what we're made of!"

And with that, Blaziken exited the area as Gardevoir smiled softly and uttered, "Hey, um, Machoke. We're alone right now," the boy's eyes widening as he turned and uttered, "Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

The girl nodded and replied, "Well, some of the girls at the club said now that we're a couple, this is perfectly okay," Machoke sighing, "You know there's no shame in waiting until marriage, right?" Gardevoir nodding as he shrugged and added, "Well, as long as you know what you're doing, though I'll warn you, this is my first time."

"Oh, I didn't mean that," Gardevoir replied, clasping her hands over her mouth as her cheeks turned beet red, "I meant first base," Machoke nodding and saying, "There's the Gardevoir I know."

Unbeknownst to any of them, though, someone dressed in a white trench coat with a collar and hat big enough to hide her face had been standing nearby, listening in on the conversation. Thus when Blaziken took off to go shopping, she knew exactly where to go as she sprinted off toward the nearest grocery store herself. Seeing as Blaziken was not running, she knew she would make it first, but who was this stranger and why did this matter to her so much?

Whatever the case, this would have to wait as the stranger from the restaurant had followed Gallade and Hitmonchan near an alleyway. Seeing an opportunity, she flew over to them and tapped Gallade on the shoulder, the boy turning and saying, "Hello, there," not even questioning the wings. After all, he was friends with humanoid bugs, so it was not as if such a thing was foreign to him.

"Can we help you with something?" Hitmonchan asked as the woman nodded and replied, "Yes. See, I lost my purse in the alley over here but I'm too afraid to enter. I was wondering if you would be kind enough as to go and help me find it."

Gallade grinned and replied, "Sure. Leave it to us," Hitmonchan nodding as she and her boyfriend entered the dark alley, the stranger's eyes implying a smirk as she followed them.

Meanwhile, Blaziken had arrived at the grocery store when she noticed the stranger in the white trench coat fleeing while carrying a cantaloupe with her right arm while holding a pistol in her left hand. She could just tell the fruit was stolen and thus she proceeded to pursue the stranger, barking, "HEY, GET BACK HERE WITH THAT PRODUCE!"

The woman turned and narrowed her eyelids, picking up the pace. And while Blaziken was faster than she had anticipated, she still managed to outrun the chicken long enough to reach a temple, dashing inside of it. And upon entering, she looked back and forth to make sure no one else was inside, but why did this matter so much to her?

Either way, it seemed the woman was cornered when Blaziken entered, barking, "ALRIGHT, RETURN WHAT YOU'VE STOLEN!" the woman sighing, "Such a temper, Blaziken. What's so special about a single cantaloupe?" before placing it on the floor and adding, "Don't worry, I intend to return to the store and pay for it later."

"Wait, if that's true, then why did you steal it in the first place?" Blaziken retorted, "You could have saved yourself heaps of trouble," the woman sighing, "Please, my only intention was to lure you into a place where no one could come to your aid," before removing her clothes to reveal a familiar sylph underneath, Blaziken's eyes wide open as she uttered, "Diancie?"

"That's right," Diancie remarked with a serious expression as she encased her hands in crystal, holding up her fists and getting ready to fight.

"Wait, what the hell are you doing!?" Blaziken snapped, "You know we're not allowed to fight until we enter the ring, right!?" Diancie retorting, "That's why I brought you here, so no one could witness this."

The chicken stared for a few seconds before gritting her teeth and growling, "Oh, I get it! You're planning to take me out before the big match and you waited until now so I'd have very little time to recover! I'm right, aren't I?"

The sylph nodded as stated, "I've seen how good you and Machoke are when working together," the chicken blinking and remarking, "So you've been spying on us?"

Diancie nodded once again before adding, "Simply put, all Hoopa wants is to defeat Machoke. He couldn't care less about you. As such, I intend to remove you from the picture so defeating Machoke will be a lot easier."

Blaziken stared silently for a few seconds, a dumbfounded look on her face. She then shook her head and retorted, "Are you stupid or something? Look, for starters, there's no way you're taking me down. But also, even if your plan works, Machoke has lots of friends who can easily replace me. Hospitalizing me would mean nothing."

"That's what you think," Diancie remarked, "but you weren't awake to see his quarter-finals match. While it's true that Machoke did, in fact, win, he came very close to failure. In fact, once the tornado tag portion started up, things took a turn for worse, and you know why?"

"I got brief details about that one," Blaziken replied, "Hawlucha was badly injured by Machoke's opponents, so he had to replaced by Golduck, right?" Diancie nodding and adding, "Yes, but they only had two days to work together. As such, they weren't able to come up with any team moves that could actually work. As such, Machoke barely made it out alive while Golduck suffered heavy injuries and was unable to continue. Only this time, there's less than twenty-four hours left before the finals. As such, the odds of him finding a suitable replacement in time for the match and coming up with good team moves is slim to none."

The chicken fumed and spat, "You really thought this through, but mark my words! Not only will I beat you today, but I won't report you because I know I'll be able to kick your ass again in the ring!"

With that, Blaziken raced toward Diancie as her leg caught flame, the chicken sending a kick to her face, shouting, "BLAZE KICK JUNIOR!" the sylph wincing as she found herself knocked on her back.

The chicken then latched her arms and legs around Diancie's leg, using her family's most famous submission hold. However, Diancie refused to accept this as she placed her hands against the mat, grunting, "Gem Growth!"

With that, a gem shot up under the chicken as she wound up releasing her hold and flying into the air, her back cut open as blood descended toward the floor. And it would only get worse as Diancie leapt up to her level, holding up both of her crystal-encrusted fists and exclaiming, "DIAMOND GAVEL!" planting both into the chicken's gut and sending her crashing into the surface.

She knew just how persistent Blaziken could be and as such, she wasted no time turning her legs into her floatation diamond and floating over the chicken. And once she was in the right spot, she exclaimed, "DIAMOND METEOR!" descending toward her and planting the object into her gut, Blaziken coughing up blood. Though, like before with Lopunny, Diancie had applied just enough pressure to potentially knock her out but held back so the chicken would not die as a result.

Seeing Blaziken's eyes rolled to the back of her head convinced Diancie that this had worked as she let out a sigh, thinking, 'I'm sorry, but all I care about is Hoopa's happiness. I know he would have much rather been here, but I need to show him that I can be independent.'

However, her eyes widened when suddenly, Blaziken lifted her arms, taking hold of the diamond and grunting, "Don't count me out just yet!" but just as she was about to try and remove it, she found herself in too much pain as she released her hold, her arms and head collapsing against the floor, Diancie breathing a sigh of relief.

'I have a feeling he might be upset at first, but this will make things much easier for us,' the sylph thought as she exited the area. Hopefully someone would discover the unconscious chicken soon.

And while this happened, the other stranger had revealed herself to be Vespiquen and had been fighting Gallade and Hitmonchan. Currently, she had the two knocked down with Hitmonchan on top of her boyfriend, the bee flying over them and unleashing her big orange stinger.

The two lovers tried to move but were too late when Vespiquen descended toward them, shouting, "FELL STINGER!" and planting it hard into Hitmonchan's back, sending it through just far enough to put a hole in Gallade's back.

This was more than enough as the two coughed up blood, soon out cold. The bee implied a wicked smirk and thought, 'There. That'll shut them up. And besides, the less cheering Machoke receives tomorrow, the harder it will be for him to win.'

However, her eyes widened when she turned and noticed a young woman had been watching the event with a cellphone out. And while this could very well have been mere assumption, Vespiquen could not help but assume this human had called the authorities.

With that, she wasted no time flying toward the human and hooking her neck with her arm, knocking her on her back as she held that very spot, rolling back and forth in pain while Vespiquen rolled her eyes, sighing, "Baby."

She then held up the phone and looked at the woman's call history, and sure enough, her most recent number was 'one, one, zero'. With that, the bee immediately tossed the phone hard into the woman's gut as she winced from the impact, sighing in disappointment. While she felt she had done her job, now there was no doubt she would have to flee the country. After all, without Smeargle by her side, who was to say Machoke would not defeat her a second time?

Either way, this was certainly bad as now Machoke had three of his friends out cold with barely any time to recover before the finals. Things would certainly be a lot more difficult for him now.

Eight o'clock rolled around as Machoke and Gardevoir were currently watching a movie on the aptly named Japanese Film Channel, both curled up in bed with their hands on each-other's shoulders. While they may not have gone the extra mile during their time alone, they certainly enjoyed it.

The movie came to a close as Machoke asked, "What do you wanna do now?" Gardevoir squealing, "Let's see what else is on TV before we decide what else to do!" the boy nodding and flipping channels until he came to one of the news networks, Gardevoir holding his arm and squeaking, "Look, Machoke! It's Gallade!"

Both stared wide-eyed as the boy and Hitmonchan were seen being loaded up onto stretchers and carried out of an alleyway, a reporter saying, "A young woman reported these two heroes, Hitmonchan and Gallade, being attacked by someone. She has identified the assailant as Vespiquen, who many of us are shocked to hear is not still in the hospital."

"Wait, what!?" Machoke gasped, Gardevoir whimpering, "Oh no!" the reporter holding her mic up to the young woman's face and asking, "So, you say she attacked you afterwards, correct?" the victim nodding as the reporter added, "Did you see where she went?"

The woman let out a sigh and groaned, "No. I was too weak to notice," the conversation continuing as Machoke turned off the TV and turned to Gardevoir, getting up and saying, "I think I know exactly what we're gonna do now."

Gardevoir nodded as the two got up and sprinted off toward the hospital. Sure, they would much rather not have to go there again, but this was Gardevoir's brother they were talking about. Such a thing could not be held off.

The two soon arrived and were headed to the room where Gallade and Hitmonchan were resting. But while on their way, Machoke's eyes widened when he passed by one room and noticed Blaziken, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped.

Gardevoir turned and uttered, "Machoke, are you coming?" the boy nodding and saying, "Go ahead, sweetie. I'll catch up to you in a bit," the boy running over to the chicken and uttering, "This can't be."

A nurse turned to him and asked, "Oh, you're Machoke, right? My daughter's a big fan of yours," a light smile on her face as Machoke turned and nodded, saying, "That's pretty cool," before turning back to Blaziken and groaning, "This isn't fair. She just got out of the hospital."

"Yeah, I know," the nurse replied with a sigh, "I don't know who would do such a thing. She was found in a temple nearby. She had a hole in her midsection."

Machoke breathed heavily, not sure what he could possibly do. But after a few seconds, patted the sides of his head and put on a more serious look, saying, "Don't worry, Blaziken. I'll win this match for the both of us. I'm sure I can find someone, and if I don't, I'll beat them both if I have to."

With that, he exited the room to check up on Gallade, and sure enough, Gardevoir was seated next to him, touching the back of his hand. Machoke walked over and asked, "How is he?" Gardevoir replying, "He just got badly injured, but he's not dead. Apparently, Hitmonchan's injuries were far worse when she was found."

"Still, to think Vespiquen would resort to something like this," Machoke growled, "What would she have to gain from this? And as if that's not enough, I'm almost certain she went and did the same thing to Blaziken!"

Gardevoir stared wide-eyed and squeaked, "What!?" Machoke sighing, "Yeah, Blaziken was found in the same condition as Hitmonchan. My guess is that Vespiquen's trying to make it harder for me to win my finals match."

Gardevoir had a look of concern on her face as she uttered, "That's horrible. But what are you going to do now?" Machoke sighing, "Well, after coming this far, I can't just back out. And, well, I can't really pursue Vespiquen as no one knows where she went. But hey, there are lots of heroes in the world. I'm sure someone can stop her. I just feel lucky she didn't kill anyone."

Gardevoir nodded as Machoke rubbed his chin, groaning, "But now I'm gonna have to find a new ally. I told myself I could win without one, but this is Hoopa and Diancie we're talking about here."

Hearing this, Gardevoir let out a light gasp, her eyes widening as Machoke had a similar look, both turning to one-another and exclaiming, "WE CAN BE PARTNERS IN THE FINALS!" both pausing for a few seconds as their cheeks turned bright pink, light grins forming on their faces.

But ultimately, this sounded like the next best thing. After all, not only did the two have great chemistry together, but Machoke had inspired Gardevoir to become the hero she was today. As such, both lovers would fight the Demonic Angels together.

 

While Machoke and Gardevoir would have much rather spent the last couple of hours before bed having more fun, right now, all that mattered to them was getting ready for the match. After all, they had only just decided to become a team and while Gardevoir had helped Machoke and Blaziken train, she and the boy would still need to get some more in if this was to work.

Gardevoir assured Machoke that she could at least use most of the team moves that he and Blaziken had thought up, and with the way her strength had gone up so significantly over time, the boy believed it. And it also helped that at the very least, he could definitely pull off the team move Gardevoir and Blaziken had used on Vespiquen, the Eclipse Hook.

Even with such a short period to time to train, the two lovers were more than confident that they could defeat the Demonic Angels. And thus when midnight came around, the two got ready for bed before crawling under Machoke's covers. After all, it was too late for Gardevoir to head home.

Machoke took a deep breath and said, "You know, this is the first time we've ever slept together," Gardevoir's cheeks bright pink as she nodded and squealed, "Yeah! We're only going to sleep, but I'm still feeling a little nervous!"

"Oh my god, you're just too adorable, you know that?" Machoke replied with a big grin as the two shared a brief kiss, turning off the lights and saying, "Goodnight," in unison, staring at one-another briefly before laughing.

And while this went on, Hoopa was ready for bed as well, saying, "You know, Tokyo is rather nice. Just think, we might own it someday," Diancie nodding with a light smile as the genie asked, "By the way, where did you go earlier?"

"What?" the sylph uttered as Hoopa said, "I was awake when you came home from your little trip," Diancie nodding and replying, "Oh, right. I was just out for a little stroll, seeing our new home and all that."

The genie pouted and remarked, "You could have invited me along," Diancie nervously biting her lower lip as he implied a shrug with his hands and added, "Whatever. Once we win our match tomorrow, we'll have all the time in the world to enjoy this place."

Diancie nodded, not sure whether or not to reveal what she had done. After all, he had been rather upset when Machoke was unable to fight alongside Hawlucha in the second round, though that was more due to the fact that his chance at facing Machoke had lowered because of that. Now that he was facing Machoke, surely he would be okay with the boy possibly fighting alone.

Even so, Diancie decided it may as well be a secret as she turned off the lights, her pink pupils sparkling in the darkness. Hoopa looked deep into that very spot as the sylph blushed brightly, pursing her lips. It looked as if the genie was about to kiss her.

However, she wound up disappointed as Hoopa groaned, "Okay, you're closing your eyes first. I can't sleep with that blinding light in my face," the sylph pouting but laying down and closing her eyes. The way she saw it, it might very well have been inconsiderate of her to keep her eyes open when they glowed in the dark.

And with that, the night went by as soon enough, morning came. Both Machoke and Gardevoir awoke extra early to prepare themselves for the match. Needless to say, the world would certainly be surprised to see them team up for such a big event.

Although at the same time, not having Blaziken and Gallade there to cheer them on would certainly feel weird. After all, the two of them had been with the group ever since Machoke was forced to go to Hero Planet. The only time Machoke did not have any of them cheering him on was when he faced Lopunny in the Next Gen tournament. Since then, they had always at least been able to watch his matches no matter what.

And of course, Aipom had not yet recovered and thus would not be able to watch the match either. Even when Machoke fought Lucario, the monkey did have the strength to at least watch him fight.

Even so, Machoke had to remember that all of his other friends were there as he grinned and asked, "You ready for this, sweetie?" Gardevoir nodding with a big smile and saying in a forced deep voice, "We'll turn them suckahs into roadkill," Machoke chuckling in response to this.

He still remembered way back when Gardevoir faced Scrafty in her debut match on Earth. It was the first time the girl had worn her old black jersey and spiked collar that Machoke bought specifically for her entrance. Her hair had been spiked up and she had made the same threatening statement to Scrafty as a means of intimidating him. And while no one actually took it as seriously as Machoke had hoped, that very entrance had helped Gardevoir overcome her fear of fighting.

It also meant a lot to Machoke that Gardevoir had chosen to wear the jersey and collar to every occasion, not just matches. He did not even ask her to do it. In fact, a part of him had expected her to remove the clothes, but she still kept them regardless. And when Machoke bought her a red jersey after her black one had been torn to shreds, she wore that one for every occasion.

With that in mind, the two exited Machoke's house and headed toward the Tokyo Dome. Sure, they still had a little more than three hours before the match would begin, but they wanted to be there as soon as possible if mostly to give themselves more time to train before the match.

However, before the big event, much like with the Hero Olympics, a large crowd was gathered by the Tokyo Dome to meet a few heroes from the previous generation who had travelled to Earth via spaceship. Needless to say, this was a really big deal as many reporters were there, Nori having been hired to announce their presence.

"We are gathered here today by the Tokyo Dome where some real celebrities have come all the way from Hero Planet to watch the Ultimate World Team Tournament finals!" the woman announced with a grin, "But these are not just any ordinary spectators! Oh no, each and every one of these heroes competed in the first ever Ultimate World Team Tournament."

With that, the people were all super excited when the first the emerge was Riolu walking alongside a grey cyborg named Registeel, the woman saying, "The first team to grace us with their presence is The Steel Canines. While these two definitely made for a great team, they unfortunately lost the first round just like Riolu's own son, Lucario. Let's show the footage, shall we?"

The people then shifted their attention to a big TV installed above the Tokyo Dome's entrance showing the results of that fight when they went up against the psychic cats, Mew and Mewtwo. While the two had performed well, they ultimately fell victim to Psystrike.

"I wish they didn't feel the need to show that," Riolu sighed as Registeel stated, "Hey, they were tough."

"And next up are the Sonic Muscles!" Nori exclaimed as the people all cheered for Greninja and Bouffalant, both waving to the crowd. All the while, the TV was playing footage from round two in which they defeated a grey dinosaur with a blue forehead named Rampardos and a cream yellow dinosaur with a black head that resembled a shield named Bastiodon. They did so with a move involving the frog latching her tongue around both fighters while Bouffalant swung her around, sending both opponents into the turnbuckle.

Watching this, Bouffalant grinned and said, "That was beautiful," Greninja nodding and replying, "Indeed. That was the moment where I knew teaming up with you was the best decision."

Next up was a walking thin tree with no leaves on his head but green spheres on his fingers named Sudowoodo, Nori explaining, "As has been stated already, Sudowoodo was Combusken's partner in the first round where the two unfortunately lost to Claydol and Forretress."

She then showed the footage in which Sudowoodo fell victim to a powerful one-handed slam from Forretress called Heavy Slam while Combusken was forced up against the turnbuckle by a move from Claydol. This involved him spinning toward her and ramming his head into her gut and was known as Earth Spinner.

Sudowoodo did not let this get to him too much, though it was certainly a painful moment to watch. However, the crowd was simply loving this. After all, many of them had not seen these matches in ages while the majority were not even alive when these happened.

"Now the next team up is a rather interesting one," Nori stated as Scizor and the four-armed boulder Graveler emerged, Scizor having gone back to Hero Planet a week in advance to prepare for this, "These two made up the Dangerous Boulders and were originally set to face the Sonic Muscles in the first round, but the Rampaging Dinos beat them before they could even enter the ring and took their places! Unfortunately, because not a lot of rules had been made yet, they got away with it."

Scizor went from waving at the crowd to looking beyond humiliated as they showed the footage. Both heroes only landed one hit before falling victim to a move that involved Rampardos ramming her cranium into Scizor's back, forcing her up against Graveler as both were slammed into Bastiodon's face. As the build implied, this was the only part of him that was practically invincible.

"Did they really have to show that?" Scizor groaned, "That was my most humiliating loss!" only for Graveler to laugh and reply, "Look on the bright side. At least they're acknowledging that we did technically partake in the tournament, even if it was before the first round could even start," the insect groaning, "Easy for you to say. You lost to all but one opponent after becoming a hero."

And of course, the last two to emerge were the Raging Bulls themselves, Machamp and Combusken. Both waved to the crowd with big smiles on their faces, the footage of them defeating Mew and Mewtwo being shown. Needless to say, this definitely got the crowd pumped up.

At that moment, Nori approached the two and asked, "So, how does it feel knowing Machoke will be facing off in the finals just like you did?" Machamp grinning and replying, "Well, I had no doubt he would make it that far! Though getting a different partner in every round is certainly unexpected."

Combusken did not look quite as happy about this conversation as Nori asked, "By the way, have you read this morning's newspaper? I have heard you guys on Hero Planet actually get our papers."

Combusken let out a sigh as she had, indeed, read a news report telling of how Blaziken was once again in the hospital. Needless to say, this worried her as she sighed, "Yeah. I was really looking forward to seeing my daughter compete. Heck, I wish I had time to visit her in the hospital," before replacing her glum look with a grin and adding, "But still, I'm excited to see just what Machoke will do, though I am also curious as to who he decided to replace Blaziken with."

"That is a good point," Nori stated, "It's being kept a secret until the final match starts up, but I wonder if it'll be any more surprising than him fighting alongside Aipom."

Machamp was listening to all of this when he spotted another friend of his among the crowd, namely Kirlia. As it just so happened, she had managed to get some extended vacation time to watch the final match up-close, though Ralts was not so lucky thus he could not join her.

Machamp waved at her as she waved back, Nori asking, "Oh, would you like to talk to Kirlia?" the man nodding as Combusken grinned and said, "Hey, I haven't seen the old girl in years. Count me in."

Kirlia blinked, not really expecting them to put off all of this press just to talk to her as she smiled and curtsied, saying, "Hello, you two. It's been some time, hasn't it?" Machamp nodding and saying, "You don't look like you've aged a bit," before pulling out a mirror and looking at his wrinkles, groaning, "I wish the same could be said for me."

"Hey, you still got your muscles, right?" Kirlia replied with a light giggle before asking, "So, how's Kala? You regretting your decision not to marry Keiko instead?" that last part clearly a joke as Machamp laughed and replied, "Don't you worry about us. Kala's perfectly fine."

He then cleared his throat and whispered, "Hey, not that I don't trust Machoke, but is he treating your daughter okay? She hasn't complained about him being a bad mate for her, has she? Because if he has, I can give him a lecture on successful relationships."

Kirlia laughed in response and replied, "All Gardevoir has ever told me about that is just how happy she is to have met him. They make for such an adorable couple."

Combusken nodded and suggested, "Say, we still have a couple of hours before the match. How's about we have us a little early lunch, or brunch as some would call it? After all, I'd hate to eat during the match."

"Actually, Kala wants to have lunch with me at eleven," Machamp replied, "She's gonna meet me at the concession stand," Kirlia nodding and saying, "Well, guess we'll have us a little girl time," smiling at Combusken as the two chuckled.

However, the chicken then sighed, "As nice as that sounds, I'd hate to leave the others out," before returning to the other heroes and discussing the brunch plan with them, all of them feeling more than eager. After all, it had been a while since they last met up to spend quality time with one-another.

During this time, Reika and the others were headed to the ring with the black-haired girl and Scyther holding hands, Tsuya squealing, "I'm so happy for you two! Seriously, how long did we have to wait?" Cici sighing, "You need to realize that things like this take time."

Scyther chuckled and replied, "Ja," before sighing, "Even so, I really hope Machoke can win this. You all heard about Blaziken's condition too, ja?"

Reika groaned, "To think someone would stoop to that level. And all we can assume is that Vespiquen must have done it just to lower Machoke's chances of success. After all, we did just find out she's been evil this whole time," the others nodding. And while Diancie had a similar move, not only were they unaware of her allegiance to the side of evil but they also knew that it was against tournament rules for a participant to attack another before entering the ring.

Either way, the group noticed something else as Tsuya asked, "Say, has anyone seen Gardevoir lately?" the girls shrugging as Reika said, "Now that she's out of the hospital, I thought for sure she'd be here."

However, after a few seconds, their eyes widened as they nodded, having put two-and-two together as Scyther chuckled and said, "I can't believe I didn't see it coming."

"Yeah," Reika replied, "We all thought they were gonna team up from the get-go anyway, right?" Cici nodding and saying, "I can't imagine anyone better to fight alongside Machoke for this match."

And while this went on, Machoke and Gardevoir were hard at work, doing the best they could to prepare themselves for the match. After a while, Machoke took a deep breath and asked, "You ready for this?" his girlfriend nodding and squeaking, "Yeah! We're gonna kick ass today!" before clasping her hands over her mouth, the two lovers looking at one-another before breaking out into hysterics.

Meanwhile, Hoopa was resting in the training facility while Diancie asked, "Hey, Hoopa do you think maybe we should actually train for this match? I mean, Machoke is really strong."

"Yeah, I know, but you know we don't need it," the genie replied with a smirk, "We've gotten through this whole tournament without the need for training. Trust me, we're ready for this."

Diancie nodded and replied, "Well, okay, if you say so," all the while thinking, 'He may be right anyway. After what I've done, there's no doubt we'll win.'

As it just so happened, Hoopa never read or watched news reports. As such, he was unaware of the fact that Blaziken was in the hospital. Unlike everyone else, he still fully believed that he and Diancie would face the current generation's Raging Bulls.

During this conversation, Machoke and Gardevoir truly felt ready now as Gardevoir asked, "Did you give Beedrill the new team name?" the boy nodding and saying, "I can't think of a more suitable name for us. I'm glad you thought of it," the girl giving him a sweet smile.

And soon enough, the next hour-and-a-half had passed as the bleachers were filled. The air was full of excitement as the audience was restless. They just wanted the match to start right away, but not only did they still have to wait at least ten minutes, they also knew that a speech would come first.

Scyther was seated next to Reika as she noticed Scizor seated right across from her and waved with a light smile. Seeing this, the red bug waved back but let out a light gasp when Scyther took hold of Reika's hand, showing her mother that the two had, in fact, started a relationship. Scizor was shocked for a second, but was ultimately happy for her daughter as she nodded her head in approval.

Like in the Olympics, Machamp sat in the middle row with his arms folded, only this time his human wife, Kala, sat next to him and exclaimed, "This is so exciting! We're gonna see our boy fight again! I hope he wins!" Machamp nodding and replying, "Yeah. Maybe he'll get our family's championship title back."

Kirlia, meanwhile, looked around and thought, 'I don't see Gardevoir anywhere. I wanted to watch with her.'

Riolu and Registeel sat next to each-other as Riolu said, "I wonder if Machoke's gotten better after that match with my son," Registeel nodding and adding, "I just want to see a member of the Mach family in action again. It's been too long."

Combusken nodded with her arms folded, the chicken seated behind them while Graveler sat across from her, grinning and saying, "This is so exciting. I haven't been to a tournament match in ages."

Sudowoodo was also quite interested as he said, "I just wish I could have witnessed the whole thing," Greninja and Bouffalant both nodding.

Bouffalant especially would have enjoyed seeing all of the gruesome moments he had heard about. After all, he may have been a good guy, but his love for brutality had not left him.

Beedrill soon flew into the middle of the stage and exclaimed, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE FINAL MATCH OF THE ULTIMATE WORLD TEAM TOURNAMENT!" the crowd going wild as he stated, "We have seen some amazing matches so far, but this one will decide everything! Both these teams have proven themselves more than worthy of being here, even if one particular member has had a different ally for every match so far!"

The crowd nodded as Machamp sighed, "Yeah, that seems like a cruel joke. I only had to switch partners once."

"Without further ado, what say we finally introduce the teams?" Beedrill asked as the audience went even more wild, the wasp nodding and pointing at the Western entrance, stating, "In the red corner, the one member who has consistently partaken in every match up to this point is a true hero, one that many of us adore! Not only has he saved Tokyo countless times but despite odds constantly being stacked against him, he has worked his way up to the finals! And while his originally planned partner is unfortunately in the hospital, we are certain that he has found a suitable replacement who I'm sure will be a better pick than even Aipom!"

He then pulled out a sheet of paper with their team name on it as he exclaimed, "Presenting the Glamourous Fighting Machines!"

The crowd cheered as Machoke entered but were absolutely shocked to see, of all heroes, Gardevoir following him. An epic musical score played in the background as both fighters waved to the crowd with big smiles on their faces, the cheering resuming. While the audience may have been surprised, they were also thrilled.

Kirlia gasped, a wide smile forming as he exclaimed, "OH MY GOD! WHY DIDN'T I SEE IT SOONER!?" Reika and the others nodding with their arms folded, Cici saying, "I knew it."

Though much like every other tournament Machoke partook in, he had decided not to go with an overblown entrance like he usually did. After all, he felt that this could very well be the most serious match thus he felt that a big spectacle would only ruin it.

"Wow, I did not see that coming!" Machamp exclaimed as Kala nodded and said, "Well, we've seen how good of a fighter Gardevoir is. I think he picked himself a real winner."

Beedrill seemed to agree as he stated, "I have to say, this is definitely a surprise," as Machoke and Gardevoir entered the ring, the wasp adding, "This could very well be the first time we've had an actual couple fight on the same team in a tournament."

Machoke grinned at Gardevoir as the girl nodded, feeling more confident than ever before. And while he could not show it due to his position, Beedrill was actually very excited to see how this would play out. After all, Gardevoir and Machoke had the best track record out of all four heroes stationed in Tokyo. For all he knew, this could very well be a better team-up than him and Blaziken.

Bisharp and Scrafty, who had actually recovered long ago, were also excited to see where this would go as Scrafty exclaimed, "Wow, Gardevoir and Machoke! He really did pick the perfect replacement!" Bisharp nodding and replying, "Indeed. This should be most interesting."

Even Lucario was fascinated by this as he folded his arms, Clauncher letting down light tears and sniffing, "This is so beautiful. Two lovers fighting as one."

Hoopa noticed this with confusion from the Eastern entrance, growling, "No one told me Blaziken had to be replaced! Who's responsible for this!?" Diancie biting her lower lip as the genie turned and smirked, saying, "Oh, so that's what you were doing yesterday."

The sylph was surprised by his grin as he said, "You know, you could have just told me you were planning this. Now Machoke will be even easier to defeat. I highly doubt those two have had nearly enough time to ready themselves for this."

Diancie nodded, a light smile forming. Needless to say, she was relieved that Hoopa actually approved of her underhanded tactic. After all, he mostly wanted to fight Machoke. He could not have cared less who his partner for this match was just as long as he was there.

Once the crowd calmed down, Beedrill pointed toward the Eastern entrance and stated, "In the blue corner, these two have really made it known that they mean business! So far, they have dominated major fan favourites, including Lucario and Talonflame, both of which are known for their incredible strength and resilience! With a ferocity not often seen by heroes, I bring to you the Demonic Angels!"

Many members of the crowd cheered as Diancie and Hoopa approached the ring, waving at the crowd much like Machoke and Gardevoir had. Hoopa then grinned wickedly at the boy and thought, 'Just wait. Today's the day you suffer your second defeat and Tokyo bows down to me.'

And sure enough, both fighters entered the ring as Beedrill said, "Well, the two teams are set. Anything either of you wanna say before the match," Machoke giving Hoopa a serious look and shaking his head.

"Yeah, I don't see the need for opening statements, either," Hoopa replied, "Let's just get to the match already," Beedrill shrugging and replying, "Suit yourselves."

With that, the wasp flew up toward the window where Nori sat in wait, joining her behind the desk and saying, "Well, folks, this is it! Once each team picks a member to go first, the match can begin!"

 

This was it. It was finally time for the match everyone had been waiting for, the Ultimate World Team Tournament finals. And while everyone initially wanted to see Machoke go up against Lucario, after having seen Hoopa and Diancie's skills, they were much more excited for this.

Machoke turned to Gardevoir and asked, "Hey, you've been out of the limelight since round one. You wanna go first?" the girl giving the boy a sweet smile and uttering, "I'd like that, but you've seen all three of their matches so far. I was only awake to witness one, so for all I know, I probably didn't see everything they were capable of."

Machoke nodded and replied, "You have a point there," the girl nodding back as Diancie was ready to head to the side of the ring.

However, her eyes widened with shock when Hoopa said, "Hey, Diancie, I was thinking maybe you could go first this time," the sylph turning, her cheeks bright pink as she uttered, "Me? You want me to go first?"

Needless to say, no one could believe this. After all, not only had Hoopa always gone first, but he never allowed Diancie to fight before the tornado tag portion. And there was also the fact that he was the one who wanted to face Machoke. Did this mean that he finally felt she was strong enough for this?

Whatever the case, Diancie could not have been happier as she nodded and said, "Right. I won't let you down," Hoopa floating behind the rope and giving her a thumb up, saying, "Kick his ass."

Machoke gulped and thought, 'I'm not sure who's scarier,' as Diancie encased her hands in crystal, thinking, 'Alright, Machoke, you may be tough, but so am I.'

"Well, folks, the combatants are set!" Nori exclaimed before blinking and adding, "I just realized I've never actually said that before," Beedrill nudging her as she blinked, uttering, "Right," before ringing the bell thus signalling the start of the match.

Machoke refused to allow Diancie a chance to strike. After all, while she was always on the sidelines for the first five minutes, whenever she did enter the ring, she often came off as more threatening than Hoopa, especially considering most of her signature moves could pierce human flesh.

With that in mind, the boy immediately charged at her as she readied herself to strike him. And when Machoke was close enough, Diancie threw her fist forward only for the boy to dodge to the right, sending a karate chop to the side of her head. And it did not end there as he sent a roundhouse kick to her back.

The crowd cheered as Diancie faltered forward a bit, Machoke wrapping his arms around her and lifting her up. He then bent backward and planted the back of her neck hard against the canvas, Diancie's eyes and mouth wide open as the boy allowed her to collapse.

The crowd cheered even louder as Nori exclaimed, "And with little effort, Machoke has already knocked Diancie onto her back!" the boy grunting, "That's right," flipping the sylph over and spreading himself across her back, adding, "While you may look frail and weak, I know just how strong you are. And I know that if you use that cheap Gem Growth of yours, it'll end up striking you in this position," the boy grabbing hold of her chin and pulling up, the crowd beyond ecstatic.

"Way to go, Machoke!" Gardevoir squealed as Reika breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "He really thought that through, didn't he? Maybe Hoopa would have been better off going first as usual."

However, Hoopa did not look the least bit concerned as he thought, 'Yes, that's why I picked her to go first this time, Machoke. You've only seen her take advantage of the ten second rule, so I figured you wouldn't expect me to do the same.'

With that in mind, the genie snapped his fingers as his left hand appeared behind Machoke. Gardevoir's eyes widened as Hoopa only made things worse by teleporting the horn that did not have a ring around it next to Machoke's shoulder and started to swing the ring attached to his other horn around.

"MACHOKE, LOOK OUT!" Gardevoir squeaked as the boy was about to react only for the horn to fly into his shoulder, Machoke crying out in pain as a small bit of blood squirted out.

And it only got worse when Hoopa's fist planted itself into the back of his head, the genie then shouting, "DEMONIC RING!" and flinging said object toward Machoke, the ring encased in stone as it struck the side of his face, ultimately causing him to loosen his hold on Diancie.

"And just as it looked like Machoke had this in the bag, Hoopa responds by taking full advantage of the rule that allows partners to assist for ten seconds as long as they remain outside of the ring!" Beedrill stated as Cici whimpered, "Oh no! I was hoping he wouldn't fall for that!"

Hoopa then smirked and exclaimed, "You know what to do, Diancie!" the sylph nodding and swinging her upper body around just enough to send her crystal-encrusted fist into Machoke's side, the boy coughing up blood as he fell hard on his other side, some members of the crowd cheering for Diancie.

"MACHOKE!" Gardevoir squeaked in terror as Diancie took a deep breath, rising to her feet and thinking, 'Thank you, Hoopa,' the genie nodding his head as Machoke slowly started to rise to his feet, trying his hardest to ignore the pain only for Diancie to send her elbow into the back of his neck, knocking him on his belly.

"Oh no!" Reika groaned, "Why didn't anyone see that coming!?" Keiko sighing, "Don't worry. This is Machoke we're talking about. This is just a minor setback for him, right?"

"Hey, what the hell!?" Machamp spat, "That was totally cheating!" Kala nodding and barking, "Come on, that can't be legal!"

Combusken let out a sigh and remarked, "You know that was also allowed when we fought in this event, right?" Machamp growling, "Yeah, but they should have changed the rules to forbid this."

Gardevoir whimpered, wishing she could just go in there and help Machoke right now as Diancie transformed her legs into her big diamond, floating above him and saying, "Hoopa has granted me an amazing opportunity. I will save the finishing blow for him, but I will take full advantage of the chance he has given me."

Hoopa grinned wickedly and thought, 'That's what I like to hear,' the sylph ramming her diamond into Machoke's back and shouting, "DIAMOND METEOR!" the boy coughing up even more blood as the crowd winced, Nori exclaiming, "While Diancie did apply significantly less force than usual, her Diamond Meteor still packs a serious punch!"

Gardevoir had a look of pure horror in her eyes as it did not end there, Diancie bending her upper body just low enough to take hold of Machoke's chin, pulling on it and grunting, "Let's see how you like it!" the boy crying out in agony. As if the stab to his back was not bad enough, having it bent while the sharp object was still piercing it was much worse.

"Damn," Clauncher uttered, turning to Lucario, "Even your London Bridge wasn't that deadly," the dog nodding and growling, "And just think, Machoke wouldn't even be in this mess if Hoopa hadn't interfered!"

However, as the boy felt immense pain, many members of the crowd concerned, Scyther rose up and snapped, "HEY, MACHOKE!" the boy looking up as she added, "I can imagine how much pain you must be in, but this is nothing compared to when Talonflame and I took in that same move! There's gotta be a way around this!"

Machoke blinked, now ignoring the pain as Diancie sighed, "You can give all the encouraging words you want, but they won't help him. I'm sure another twenty seconds or so should break his back, making this the shortest match in the tournament."

"Oh yeah!" Hoopa exclaimed with a wide grin, "But remember, you promised to save me the finishing blow!" Diancie nodding with a light smile as Gardevoir bit her lip, trembling.

But just as everyone was about to lose faith, Machoke planted his hands against the mat, grunting, "She's right! I can fight this!" before focusing hard enough to expand his muscles briefly. Diancie's eyes widened as he pushed himself upward into an arch, providing just enough strength to force the sylph's diamond out of his back.

The crowd went wild as Machoke leapt up to Diancie's level, taking hold of her and flipping her upside-down. Gardevoir smiled wide as the boy wrapped his arms around Diancie's diamond, his legs latched to her upper body as he exclaimed, "ULTIMATE DRIVER!"

Since he was low to the mat and Diancie had little time to respond, she was unable to avoid having her head slammed hard against the mat. The crowd was even more ecstatic now as Machoke's friends gave him a round of applause.

"You the man, Machoke!" Scrafty exclaimed, Reika adding, "Yeah, that's the kind of comeback I expect from you!"

"And while Machoke applied less force with his finishing move, much like Diancie did with hers," Nori stated, "it does not change the fact that he has escaped from her hold and countered with one of his most devastating moves."

Sure, the boy had a small hole in his back, but at the very least, he had not been pierced all the way through like every other opponent to fall victim to the Diamond Meteor. As such, he still had the energy to go on as Diancie's legs returned to normal, the sylph slowly pushing herself up with a look of disappointment.

However, Hoopa smirked and thought, 'I'm fine with this. I'd have been disappointed if he went down that easily, anyway.'

Machoke had a feeling that it might have been a bad idea to keep going and thus walked over to Gardevoir, giving her a warm smile and asking, "You think you can take it from here?" the girl nodding and replying, "Yeah. I'll make sure Diancie suffers worse pain than you did," the two giving each-other a high five.

"And after once again pulling off a miracle, Machoke has tagged in his partner," Nori stated, "Let's see if Gardevoir can make Diancie suffer even worse than Machoke did."

"YEAH, SHOW HER THE MIGHT OF BEAULIEU FAMILY!" Kirlia squealed with grin as Reika uttered, "So that's her last name. Come to think of it, I didn't think beings like you actually had surnames," turning to Scyther and adding, "I mean, every one of you has a first name that no one else has."

"Ja, our first names are uncommon, but I can assure you, we do have last names," Scyther replied, "In fact, my last name is Adler," Tsuya staring silently and uttering, "I'm no German expert, but doesn't that mean 'eagle'?"

Whatever the case, this hardly mattered as Gardevoir wasted no time leaping toward Diancie with her arm out, shouting, "MOON HOOK!" the sylph having no time to react as she took the hard blow to her neck, her eyes and mouth wide open as she fell on her back.

The crowd cheered as Gardevoir used this opportunity to plant both of her feet into Diancie's chest, leaping away from her while performing a vertical flip backwards, landing on her feet. After all, she could not risk staying near the sylph for too long.

"And with only two hits, Gardevoir has already made up for the damage dealt to Machoke earlier," Nori stated as Machoke exclaimed, "WAY TO GO, HONEY!"

As Diancie rose to her feet, she was ready to retaliate when Hoopa said, "Hold on," holding out his hand and saying, "You've done a fine job, Diancie, but I want a crack at this."

The sylph turned to him with a look of disappointment. She had really hoped to do more for him, but she was also glad that she had been given a chance. As such, she headed toward him and tagged him in, the genie switching places with her.

"While it is surprising that Diancie went first, I guess Hoopa just couldn't stay out of the ring until the tornado tag portion," Nori stated as Beedrill added, "Let's see if he can bring the advantage back to his team."

All the while, Smeargle and Florges were watching this in the hospital as Smeargle clapped and exclaimed, "Tres magnifique, Gardevoir! Just what I would expect from someone as strong as her!" Florges nodding and sighing, "Oui. It looked close there, but she really helped turn things around."

However, both turned toward Masquerain when they noticed movement from her again, the butterfly pointing at Diancie on the screen. However, her friends once again failed to understand what she was trying to communicate as Florges nodded and said, "Oui, Gardevoir is amazing, non?" Masquerain wanting so badly to tell them what she was thinking, a light tear forming in her right eye.

Hoopa cracked his knuckles and said, "Well, Gardevoir, you did an alright job hurting my ally like that, but I can assure you, I won't be so easy," Gardevoir nodding as she raced toward the genie.

Hoopa threw his fist at her when she was close enough only for the girl to block it with her palms, placing a firm grip against the hand. Just as the crowd was about to cheer, their excitement turned to confusion when Gardevoir swung her arm around, releasing her hold on the hand.

Unfortunately, while the hand flew a small ways away from her, she gasped when she noticed Hoopa's body did not join it. It was then that the reason Gardevoir had attempted this dawned on her friends as they groaned, Reika sighing, "Of course, she wasn't here when Hoopa revealed how his arms work! She must have thought his body was bound to them or something!"

The genie snickered as the hand turned around, balled up into a fist and rammed itself hard into the spellbound Gardevoir's gut, the girl wincing. And it only got worse when Hoopa floated over to her, latching onto her right wrist from behind. Once Hoopa's left hand returned to his side, he bound that one to the respective wrist of his opponent and lifted her up over his head, planting her skull hard into the canvas while his fans cheered, the rest of the audience groaning.

"This does not look good for Gardevoir," Nori stated, "Unfortunately, it seems Gardevoir is unaware of how Hoopa's hands work in relation to his body and thus was probably expecting the rest of him to move with the hand."

Machoke's eyes widened as he thought, 'Dammit, that completely slipped my mind! I should have told her about that!' Gardevoir rubbing her head with one hand while using the other to push herself up, turning and noticing Machoke's look. She could tell exactly what he was thinking and thus gave him a sweet smile.

"It's okay, Machoke," she said as the boy blinked, the girl nodding and adding, "That didn't do all that much damage to me and now I know how his hands work, so it's all good."

Machoke gave her a light smile only for that to turn to fear when suddenly, Gardevoir was cut off when Hoopa placed a firm grip against her neck, smirking and saying, "You may know how my hands work now, but turning your back to me certainly isn't gonna help you take advantage of that!"

"GARDEVOIR, FIGHT IT!" Machoke spat as the girl placed a firm grip against the hand, trying to pry its fingers off but to no avail as Hoopa lifted her up, planting her back against the canvas with a choke slam while his fans once again cheered.

"Gardevoir did a good job against Diancie, but these two mistakes are certainly making it hard for her to land so much as a hit on Hoopa," Nori explained as Reika gritted her teeth, growling, "Come on, Gardevoir. You're better than this."

Gardevoir knew this to be true as Hoopa floated over her with his fists at the ready. But just as he was about to send an onslaught like when he fought the Bouncing Biceps, the girl was ready as she rested her arms firmly against the mat, lifting her lower body as she planted both feet hard into his chin.

Hoopa's eyes were wide, his teeth gritted as he flew up into the air, the crowd cheering as Gardevoir propelled herself up, Machoke's eyes and mouth wide in amazement as she proceeded to latch her ankles around the genie's neck, taking hold of his tail and shouting, "METEOR WARHEAD!" planting his head hard into the mat.

Reika rose her fist in the air, shouting, "YOU ROCK, GARDEVOIR!" Hoopa collapsing as Kirlia nodded, saying, "That was so cool," stars in her eyes as she added, "That reminds me of the glory days, pulling out comebacks like that."

"That was absolutely brilliant," Lucario said, nodding his head as Clauncher said, "Yeah, she came up with a new signature move without even trying. It was cool when Machoke came up with two finishers on his own, but he didn't think of them on the spot, right?"

"Gardevoir, that was amazing!" Machoke exclaimed as the girl blushed lightly, a smile forming as she squealed, "I know, right!? I can't believe I came up with a stronger version of my Meteor Bomb!" the crowd equally impressed as Nori stated, "It's just as Gardevoir said. She just thought up an upgrade for her very first slam move just like that."

Diancie gasped at the sight of this and squeaked, "Are you okay!?" the genie slowly pushing himself up and sighing, "Come on, you know I can take more than that. This was but a minor setback."

"Yeah, you're right," Diancie replied with a light smile, "I should know better," the genie nodding and remarking, "Yeah, you should," before rolling his eyes and turning back to Gardevoir.

With only a little less than a minute before the tornado tag portion, he knew he would need to at least do something before Machoke joined the fight and thus headed toward Gardevoir, the girl holding up her arms defensively. However, he saw this coming as he sent one punch into her arms while sending his other fist sideways into her side, the girl wincing. But just as her friends were about to worry, she ignored the pain and threw her arms out, forcing Hoopa's fist away from her before sending both palms into his face.

The crowd cheered as Nori said, "Hoopa was doing amazing against Gardevoir before, but now she's managed to whip out another counter," the genie backing up as Beedrill added, "It's also worth note that five minutes have passed now."

Nori nodded and replied, "You are absolutely right," before ringing the bell, signalling the tornado tag portion as Machoke leapt over the ropes to join his girlfriend, Diancie doing the same while Hoopa rubbed his face. Not only had the move caught him off-guard, but he could not believe just how strong that had been. He knew that Gardevoir was tougher than she looked, but not that much tougher.

"Great job, sweetie," Machoke said with a grin as he patted her on the shoulder, Diancie looking at Hoopa with concern as the genie smirked and said, "This is another minor setback. Now that we're working together, we can win this."

Diancie nodded with a light smile as Machoke turned to Gardevoir, asking, "You ready for a team move?" the girl nodding as the boy leapt atop her hands. Gardevoir then proceeded to propel him up into the air as he flew toward both opponents with his legs out.

However, Hoopa saw this coming as he said, "Now," sending his hands forward while Diancie followed suit, each one grabbing into a separate foot.

Machoke's eyes widened as the two threw him downward. But just as he was about to hit the mat, Gardevoir sprinted over and took hold of the boy's shoulders, stopping his descent as she winced slightly from the force of the parts she had grabbed pushing down on her hands. Luckily, due to all the strength she had acquired since she merged with her power, she was able to handle it as a light smile formed on her face, Machoke grinning and asking, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

The crowd cheered wildly as Gardevoir proceeded to lift Machoke high above her head, Diancie coming up with him due to her still holding onto his foot as Hoopa's hands were still latched to the other. The genie was just about to return them only for Gardevoir to lean back, Machoke's foot headed toward the mat as Diancie was soon slammed into that very spot, gritting her teeth from the pain while the back of Hoopa's hands made contact as well, the crow cheering wildly.

"And just as it seemed Machoke and Gardevoir's original plan failed, the Glamourous Fighting Machines respond with a much more impressive counter, the likes of which I've never seen!" Nori squealed as Machoke's friends were beyond ecstatic.

Hoopa gritted his teeth not just in response to the pain to his hands but also due to annoyance as he spat, "As if I'd let you get away with that!" having said parts apply a firm grip to Machoke's foot and pull on it, trapping the boy in place as he struggled to move, trying his hardest to shake them off.

Gardevoir gasped and knelt down to try prying the hands off only for Hoopa to swing his ring around, shouting, "DEMONIC HORN!" flinging the item into Gardevoir's back while spikes sprouted from it.

The girl cried out in pain as a small cut formed, a bit of blood flying out while Diancie rose to her feet. Seeing a big advantage here, the sylph wasted no time sending her crystal-encrusted fists into Machoke's face, blood coming from his nostrils as his friends gasped.

Diancie's fans cheered as she proceeded to leap on top of him, knocking him on his back as Hoopa finally retracted his hands, saying, "Excellent work," Diancie nodding before lifting up her arms, cupping her hands together and shouting, "DIAMOND GAVEL!" sending them hard into the boy's face.

Gardevoir gasped, "MACHOKE!" but just as she was about to help, Hoopa floated behind her and latched his hands onto her sides, lifting her up and leaning backward, planting her head hard into the mat.

While the Demonic Angels' fanbase was happy, everyone else was beyond concerned now as Nori stated, "While that counter was certainly effective, it is nothing compared to the might of Diancie's diamond material and Hoopa's ability to shock and amaze. Can the Glamourous Fighting Machines get out of this one?" a part of her really hoping they would. After all, this was Machoke and he had a knack for that sort of thing.