Earth's Protectors

Machoke and Gardevoir seemed to be in a real predicament now as Diancie sent a barrage of punches into Machoke's face. All the while, after having knocked Gardevoir to the mat, Hoopa was pulling up on her chin with a smirk on his face, the girl trying her best to overcome this.

Golduck was watching this from her bed in the hospital, gritting her teeth and growling, "Come on, Machoke, fight it!" Talonflame having recovered just enough to see this, the falcon gritting his teeth and cursing, "Dammit! Why don't I have the strength to get up yet!? I should be there!"

And needless to say, Smeargle was worried as well as he groaned, "Oh, I hope Gardevoir can fight that," Florges replying, "I'm certain she can. Remember, she took in a lot before falling to you," the beagle nodding as Masquerain stared at the screen, glaring angrily at the sight of Diancie dominating. If only she could move and talk, she could have the sylph disqualified and all of this would end.

However, after taking in twenty punches to the face, Machoke gritted his teeth and grunted, "No!" holding up his hands and taking hold of both fists, Diancie gasping in shock.

Sure, the added strength of the crystal coating caused Machoke's hands a bit of pain from blocking this, but he managed to ignore this as he grunted, "I'm not gonna let you walk all over us!"

Before Hoopa could figure out what was going on, Machoke proceeded to lift up Diancie before hurling her into the genie. Hoopa's eyes widened as a result as he fell on his side, Diancie landing on top of him as he winced, Gardevoir breathing a sigh of relief while the crowd cheered.

"And as is expected, Machoke counters Diancie's onslaught," Nori stated as Beedrill nodded and said, "Leave it to a member of the Mach family to get out of a situation like that."

"Damn straight!" Machamp exclaimed with a grin as Kala chuckled, "Just like his father," smiling at the man.

Machoke approached Gardevoir and asked, "You okay?" reaching his hand toward her as she nodded and took hold of it, the boy helping her back up. However, it seemed things would not be easy for them yet as Diancie rose to her feet, uttering, "Sorry, Hoopa," the genie grunting, "It's fine, okay?" getting up and smirking at Machoke.

"Why's he smiling like that?" Machoke uttered as Gardevoir scowled at Hoopa, the genie thinking, 'Yeah, just keep pulling out surprises like that. It'll make your defeat much more satisfying.'

While Machoke did not like the look, Gardevoir turned to him and said, "Come on, Machoke, you're used to that kind of look from opponents by now. He's just trying to scare you," the boy nodding and replying, "Right," before grinning and adding, "Come on, let's give them another taste of teamwork."

Gardevoir nodded as she and Machoke charged toward their opponents. After all, they knew how annoying these two could be when given enough time to act.

But as the heroes got closer, the Demonic Angels seemed more than ready for this as Hoopa held up his fists, ready to strike Machoke with Diancie readying her waist gems. However, it seemed as if their countermeasures would be rendered meaningless when this time, Gardevoir leapt atop Machoke's shoulders, the crowd confused when she leapt off of them and landed behind Diancie.

Before the sylph could even figure out what was going on, Gardevoir proceeded to send both of her palms hard into the back of her head while Machoke sent a kick to Hoopa's side, the Demonic Angels grunting from the pain. And it did not stop with that as Machoke took hold of the Genie's horn, Gardevoir grabbing onto Diancie's wrist.

The duo then proceeded to swing the Demonic Angels around before releasing their hold, forcing them to collide with each-other while the crowd cheered. And their excitement only got higher when Machoke and Gardevoir leapt at their opponents with their arms out, shouting, "ECLIPSE HOOK!" ramming both arms into Hoopa and Diancie's necks.

This caused each to cough up just a little bit of blood as Gardevoir and Machoke nodded at one-another, each one using this as a perfect opportunity to latch onto a respective opponent. Both leapt high above the ring, Machoke keeping Hoopa's hands trapped in place so he could not counter.

"Are they setting up for the move I think they are!?" Nori asked with excitement in her eyes, Beedrill nodding and replying, "Looks like it!" as Machoke spread out Hoopa's arms, latching his ankles around his neck while Gardevoir had leapt high enough to position herself above Machoke's head, binding her arms to Diancie's legs and her ankles around her neck, resting the sylph's head up against Hoopa's tail.

The Demonic Angels probably could have escaped from this by now, but both were still feeling a tad winded from the Eclipse Hook and thus were unable to respond when Machoke and Gardevoir exclaimed, "MUSCLE COFFIN!" ramming Hoopa's head hard into the mat while Diancie had more pressure applied to hers thus taking in more pain.

Both Demonic Angels were stunned, their eyes and mouths side open as the Glamourous Fighting Machines allowed them to collapse, big smiles on their faces as they looked at one-another. With that, the two gave each-other a high five as Nori exclaimed, "And it seems we were right! Hoopa and Diancie have just fallen victim to that amazing team move thought up by the Raging Bulls back in the day!" the woman then starting the ten count.

Reika threw her arms up into the air and exclaimed, "ALRIGHT! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Scyther nodding and saying, "Ja, that was a good comeback," Lucario smiling as Clauncher said, "That was even cooler the second time."

Machamp and Kirlia both grinned with pride, happy to see their kids pull off such a good combination like that. But at the same time, they had a feeling this was not the end.

And it seemed so as Diancie slowly shifted her hand, her eyes slowly opening as she gritted her teeth. However, Gardevoir immediately spotted this and tapped Machoke on the shoulder, both nodding as they knew what was coming.

And it seemed their intuition was correct when a gem shot out of the mat under each of them, the two leaping to the side just in time. It seemed Diancie was prepared for this as she had another gem appear right behind each one, their backs slamming up against the material as they winced from the collision.

And it did not end there as Diancie had another gem form underneath each fighter, sending them flying above the ring as Nori stated, "And just as it seemed someone had finally avoided Diancie's Gem Growth, is would seem as if she already knew that was coming," the sylph rising to her feet and leaping up to their level, grunting, "I won't let you win! Hoopa's been waiting for this and I'm gonna help him achieve his goal to the bitter end!"

Hoopa slowly recovered shortly afterwards, blinking before a grin formed on his face, the genie thinking, 'Oh, Diancie, you are such a valuable tool,' the sylph reaching the level of the Fighting Machines. But rather than setting them up for Diamond Hammer, the weaker version of her Gavel technique, it seemed she had more planned as she transformed her legs into the diamond and tilted herself backward so her front side was facing each fighter's back.

The crowd gasped as she exclaimed, "DIAMOND STORM!" her necklace glowing as multiple diamonds shot in and out of said spot like fists, buffeting both fighters hard in the very spot she was facing. Machoke and Gardevoir coughed up blood while Reika spat, "OH, COME ON!"

And it did not end there as after delivering thirty strikes, Diancie allowed them to fall as she latched one arm around each hero's neck, encasing her hands in crystal. And with that, she leaned backward until all three heads were pointed upside-down, her legs returning to normal as she shouted, "FALLING STARS!" slamming Machoke and Gardevoir hard against the canvas.

Both coughed up blood and collapsed as Diancie released her hold on them, breathing heavily while her fans cheered, Hoopa sporting the biggest grin as he exclaimed, "THAT WAS AWESOME!"

Cici whimpered as Tsuya uttered, "That's not it, is it? I mean, they can get up from that, right?" Reika nodding and replying, "Of course. They've dealt with worse."

Keiko had full confidence as Nori started the ten count, but just as she was about to go past two, Hoopa lifted up Machoke and said, "Hold it, lady. I wanna be the one to deal the finishing blow to this guy," Diancie biting her lower lip while thinking, 'Wouldn't it be better to just take the ten count now?'

But naturally, she did not say this out loud as she knew better than to question Hoopa's plans. After all, his happiness was the more important thing to her.

Seeing this on screen, Smeargle and Florges were concerned, but most of all, Masquerain actually managed a look of anger as she pointed forward, grunting, "Dia-" in a tone of voice that made her sound crazy.

Her friends turned as Florges gasped, "Incroyable! You just spoke!" Smeargle nodding and replying, "Oui! It seems your recovery is happening more quickly than one would expect!"

The butterfly hardly cared about their words right now as she wailed, "Diancie! Hoopa! Diancie, Hoopa! Cheat!"

The two turned to the screen as Hoopa had Machoke flipped upside-down, the boy now set up for a piledriver as Florges' eyes widened, the flower girl exclaiming, "Bien sur!" before turning back to Masquerain and asking, "Are you saying they're the ones who sabotaged us?"

The butterfly nodded weakly as Florges frowned and grunted, "It should have been obvious," Smeargle nodding as Masquerain pointed at the side of her head while using her other finger hand to point at the screen, Florges gasping, "You mean Diancie was the one who gave you brain damage!?"

The butterfly nodded once again as Smeargle and Florges both nodded at one-another, rising up from their seats. If they acted fast, they could very well make it to the Tokyo Dome and expose the Demonic Angels before it was too late.

Smeargle bowed his head to Masquerain and said, "Merci beaucoup. That must have been hard to communicate," Florges nodding and sighing, "Pardon. You were right about them this whole time."

Masquerain seemed to be okay with this as she managed to imply a weak smile with her face, but due to her condition, it was a miracle she could even show this much emotion. Perhaps she could very well recover from her state more quickly than Greninja had.

And just as the two took off, Hoopa had managed to land his piledriver as Machoke collapsed once more, the genie smirking and saying, "Alright, lady, now you can start the ten count," Nori nodding and doing just that as Beedrill stated, "And much like the last three rounds, the Demonic Angels escape from possible defeat with the help of Diancie's Gem Growth. This could be it, folks," Hoopa grinning with pride while Diancie smiled softly.

She thought for sure that him trying to get the last hit in would give at least one member of the Glamourous Fighting Machines a chance to recover, but it would seem her assumption was incorrect. If anything, all this really did was reduce the odds of Machoke recovering.

"COME ON, GET UP!" Reika spat as the others joined in, chanting Machoke and Gardevoir's names as Nori reached seven, Hoopa breaking out into hysterics and exclaiming, "What a bunch of morons!"

However, his smile turned to a look of confusion when Nori stopped at nine, the genie blinking and uttering, "Hey, why'd you stop counting?" the crowd truly amazed as Gardevoir had managed to recover, the girl slowly rising to her feet with a serious look on her face, many deep breaths escaping her mouth.

Diancie bit her lower lip as Hoopa slowly turned, staring at the girl while Nori stated, "It was yet another close call for Machoke, but since his partner is still standing, the match can continue!"

The crowd cheered as Reika uttered, "I hope this doesn't go the same route as round two. If Machoke doesn't get up soon, Gardevoir could still be in trouble," Scyther nodding and replying, "To be fair, she is at least a better fighter than Golduck. She could possibly keep these two at bay long enough for Machoke to recover."

"I really hope so," Tsuya groaned, "At the very least, I'd hate to see Machoke of all heroes go down this quickly."

Gardevoir seemed to feel very confident as she scowled at Hoopa, saying, "Don't forget that Machoke isn't the only member of this team. If you want to win this match, you'll have to defeat both of us."

The genie's annoyance turned to a smug grin as he remarked, "You should have stayed down. At least then, you could have been spared further pain," Diancie nodding and adding, "You did a good job when the match was one-on-one, but now you're facing both of us at once. If you forfeit right now, we won't blame you."

"I'd be a little disappointed, but yeah, that would be the better option," Hoopa replied as Lucario smirked and stated, "These two have no idea what Gardevoir is capable of," he and Talonflame having been there when she unleashed her new power in the Reverse World and used it to keep Aegislash and Blitzle at bay.

Gardevoir remembered that as well as she took a deep breath, a violet aura surrounding her hands as Hoopa rose an eyebrow, saying, "There's that thing she did during her match with Vespiquen and Smeargle. What is that again?" Diancie replying, "I don't know, but it did give her a slight edge against Smeargle. We might need to be careful."

"Please, caution's for weaklings!" Hoopa remarked as he flung his horn ring toward Gardevoir, exclaiming, "DEMONIC RING!" said object now covered in stone.

However, not only did Gardevoir see it coming, she managed to hold her hand out just in time to grab it. Normally, the speed of the ring would have at least had some sort of effect on her, but thanks to her power, she was able to pull this off with no repercussions.

Hoopa's eyes widened as the girl leapt toward him, twirling her body around before striking his cheek with the ring, his head forced to the side. Diancie tried to help out with crystal-encrusted hands only for Gardevoir to release her hold on the ring, grabbing the sylph's wrist and lifting her up over her head, leaning sideways and slamming the side of her head into the mat.

The crowd went wild as Hoopa sent his hands toward Gardevoir only for the girl to take hold of both hands, forming fists with them and turning them around, forcing both into the genie's face. And with Hoopa distracted and Diancie still recovering from the slam earlier, Gardevoir proceeded to latch onto the genie's head and leap high above the ring.

"And it seems like Gardevoir has her opponent set up for that amazing finisher that started her success here on Earth!" Nori exclaimed as Gardevoir flipped Hoopa over, aiming his head toward Diancie's side, her legs drifting upward as she exclaimed, "METEOR BOMB!" the girl descending toward the mat and slamming her opponent hard into his own ally.

Diancie coughed up blood as Hoopa winced from the pain, Gardevoir releasing her hold and allowing the genie to collapse, the crowd going wild. Needless to say, the girl's friends were ecstatic as Reika exclaimed, "OH MY GOD, THAT WAS AWESOME!"

Kirlia nodded and said, "Good job, Gardevoir. Psyla's training has helped you greatly. If only she could be here to witness this."

And it did not end there as Gardevoir took full advantage of the fact that the Demonic Angels were on their backs and right next to each-other, leaping high into the air before sending a knee into each one's gut. And she had even more planned as she used one hand to deliver an onslaught of palm punches to each fighter's face.

Thanks to her power, this was enough to draw blood from the Demonic Angels as the crowd cheered heavily, Clauncher saying, "You were right, Lucario. She's amazing," Gardevoir all the while thinking, 'Alright, I don't have much time until the power wears off. Hopefully this is good enough.'

However, Machoke had still not recovered as Reika groaned, "Oh god! Gardevoir's doing an amazing job, but a single fighter in a team tournament can only keep this up for so long."

And it seemed this was truly the case as Hoopa grunted, trying his best to ignore the pain to his face as he threw his hands forward, taking hold of Gardevoir's arm. And to add to that, Diancie held her crystal-encrusted hands in front of her face, blocking the hand that the girl used on her earlier. And thanks to the hard casing, this was just enough to negate the strike as she also took hold of the arm attached to that hand.

Gardevoir's eyes went wide as both combined their efforts to throw her back, planting her skull into the canvas. While Hoopa and Diancie's fans were happy to see this, Gardevoir's friends and fans were mostly surprised. After all, this power of hers made it very difficult for any opponent to overpower her, especially with such a simple counter.

Either way, this seemed to give the Demonic Angels their edge back as Gardevoir tried to get up only for Hoopa to latch his hands around her neck, pulling hard while Diancie sent both of her fists into the girl's gut.

"And just like that, the Demonic Angels get the advantage back!" Nori exclaimed as Gardevoir gritted her teeth, ignoring the pain and barking, "No! I won't let you win!" but just as she took hold of Hoopa's hands in an attempt to pry them off, the violet glow vanished as her eyes widened, the pain to her neck becoming worse as a result as she started to gag.

"Aw, come on!" Reika spat, "Of all the times!" Lucario now concerned as Cici whimpered. If Machoke did not get up soon, it really would be over.

And it only got worse when Hoopa smirked, saying, "Alright, Diancie, I got her trapped. That little upgrade of hers has worn off, so what say we have a little fun?"

"Of course," Diancie replied as she once again fired multiple diamonds from her necklace, shouting, "DIAMOND STORM!" striking Gardevoir multiple times in the gut as she coughed up blood, now even Diancie's fans feeling sorry for the green and white girl.

But just as it looked like Gardevoir would suffer defeat, Machoke gritted his teeth, finally opening his eyes as he planted his hands against the mat. But rather than rising to his feet, he pushed himself up, performing a handstand as the crowd gasped, Hoopa's eyes widening as he was could see this, Diancie's back still turned to the boy.

"Hey, Diancie, stop your attack and turn around!" Hoopa spat as the sylph blinked, bringing her onslaught to a halt.

But before she could do the other thing Hoopa suggested, Machoke propelled himself toward her and latched his legs around her neck. He then leaned backward and placed his hands firmly against the mat one more time, throwing his legs back thus lifting Diancie over his head and slamming her face hard into the canvas.

The crowd went wild as Hoopa swung his horn ring around. But just as the genie was about to send it toward Machoke, the boy ended up racing toward him too quickly with his elbow out as he planted it hard into Hoopa's face, knocking him on his back. His hands were still bound to Gardevoir, though, and thus Machoke sent a hard punch into the back of each of them thus causing them to release their hold and return to their owner.

The crowd cheered even louder as Reika sighed, "Does he always have to cut it so close?" Keiko chuckling and replying, "Well, it certainly makes his matches more interesting."

Gardevoir smiled weakly and uttered, "Thank you so much, Machoke," the boy nodding with a warm smile only for Diancie to growl, refusing to let the couple keep this advantage.

As such, she placed her hands against the mat, shouting, "GEM GROWTH!" sending two gems up from under Machoke and sending him high into the air, shouting, "JUST STAY DOWN!" Hoopa snapping his fingers and saying, "Thanks," teleporting his waist ring high above the mat.

Everyone knew what was coming as they gasped, Nori saying, "And just as quickly as Machoke got the upper hand back, he and Gardevoir seem to have lost it," Hoopa hurling his horn ring under Gardevoir, the girl completely unprepared as she was sucked in.

But since Hoopa wanted to defeat Machoke, Diancie leapt toward Gardevoir when she emerged from the top ring, setting her up for a piledriver while Hoopa floated up to Machoke, flipping him upside-down as well. He then grinned at Diancie and said, "Thanks for being so obedient," the sylph blinking but thinking little of it, both shouting, "HYPERSPACE HOLE!" slamming the Glamourous Fighting Machines head-first into the canvas.

All went silent as both Gardevoir and Machoke were out cold, Reika uttering, "No," the others staring in stunned silence.

Even Machamp was unsure whether or not his son could pull off another miracle, at least in time for the ten count. After all, it had taken him a rather long time to recover before, so if anything, he would need at least a few minutes to get up from that.

With that, Nori stated, "And once again, Diancie's gem growth turns things in favour of the Demonic Angels. How can the Glamourous Fighting Machines possibly get out of this?" Hoopa retorting, "Hey, how about you start the count so that can't happen!?"

Nori's eyes widened as she nodded and squeaked, "Right!" before starting the ten count, Beedrill sighing and thinking, 'Well, it looks like you might lose again, Machoke. Well, at least he's yet to lose to a villain.'

But just as Nori was about to count to six, a familiar French voice exclaimed, "ATTENDEZ!" everyone turning to see Florges and Smeargle right by the entrance, both breathing heavily as Smeargle stated, "Stop the count! These two deserve to be disqualified and we have reasons!"

The people all stared in shock as Beedrill asked, "What are you talking about?" Hoopa's eyes twitching as he glared at Smeargle, reiterating in a much more annoyed tone, "Yeah, what are you talking about?" before thinking, 'Don't tell me he found out that Vespiquen was working for us.'

That was not the case, but he and Florges still had incriminating facts as Smeargle stated, "Masquerain has regained enough movement to let us know what these two have done since the Ultimate World Team Tournament started!" Lucario now interested as he said, "Well, what do you know? I may have actually been right about those two," Clauncher's eyes wide with shock.

Hoopa smirked and said, "These two are obviously making up bullshit so their friend, Gardevoir, can win, but alright, let's hear these crackpot theories of yours," Diancie biting her lower lip, sweat pouring down her face now as she was clearly nowhere near as confident as Hoopa.

"Yes, do tell," Beedrill uttered, trying to ignore how rude Hoopa was being as Smeargle pointed at the genie, saying, "First of all, he was the reason Florges fell off the cliff during the wall climbing race. He used his Demonic Ring to knock her and Masquerain off of the side, and we can't help but think he probably did that to some of the other teams that fell off. Since his ring is so fast, it only makes sense that no one noticed."

Hoopa laughed and retorted, "That's way too convenient!" as Florges remarked, "Can it! You also had Diancie put her in the hospital for brain damage, didn't you!?"

Diancie trembled as Keiko uttered, "As much as I want to believe that, this does seem too convenient," Cici pointing at Diancie and uttering, "Wait, look."

When the others saw it, that look of guilt on the sylph's face, there was no doubt in their minds that Florges and Smeargle were telling the truth. But would everyone else realize it?

Unfortunately, it seemed this was not the case as Beedrill sighed, "While your theories do indeed make sense, there's no proof. Unfortunately, all of the footage we took of Hoopa shows him doing no such thing. Plus, the one who attacked Masquerain was never found. How do you know it was her specifically? It easily could have been Ditto seeing as he copied my stingers."

The crowd seemed to agree as some even saw Smeargle and Florges as nothing more than Gardevoir fans who just wanted her to win, be if by default or not. However, just as the beagle and flower girl were starting to lose faith, Diancie gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyelids, exclaiming, "They're telling the truth!"

The crowd gasped as the sylph added, "Yes, it's true! Hoopa and I cheated during the wall climbing race! Though it wasn't so we could succeed but because Hoopa wanted Machoke to make it to the fighting portion so he could publicly defeat him!" the genie laughing nervously and growling, "What are you doing, Diancie!?"

"Wait, you mean you two violated the 'no attacking other heroes' rule?" Beedrill retorted as the sylph nodded and added, "And that's not the only thing we've done," Reika, Cici and Tsuya staring in shock as Machoke and Gardevoir started to move, a look of anger on the boy's face.

"Just like you suspected, I was the one who put Masquerain in the hospital," Diancie explained as the crowd could not believe what they were hearing, the sylph adding, "She knew our secret and we couldn't let her report us to the staff, so I made sure that she wouldn't be able to until the tournament was over. We didn't know about Ditto having snuck in with his sister, but the fact that he was posing as you, Beedrill, made it easier for us as everyone was quick to assume he was the one responsible."

Panic spread among the crowd as Hoopa growled, "Shut the hell up!" Diancie ignoring him and adding, "I also violated the rule that forbids participants from fighting the competition outside of the ring! I was the one who injured Blaziken yesterday, not Vespiquen!" the crowd truly shocked, Diancie's fans now ashamed of themselves for ever supporting her. Some who had bought clothing related to her even tried to cover up the fact that they had ever done it in the first place, which was easy for those who only bought headbands and bracelets but no so easy for those who bought T-shirts with Diancie's face.

Hoopa gritted his teeth as Beedrill asked, "Why would you do that? It's not like your opponents were villains," Diancie about to say it when Hoopa smirked and let out a low chuckle, that chuckle soon expanding into a big maniacal laugh, the genie shouting, "Wow! What a stupid question! And the award for dumbest question goes to the chairman of Hero Planet!"

Everyone was shocked as the genie sighed, "I was going to reveal this after our victory was confirmed, but it's too late now! Diancie and I are evil!" the crowd gasping as Lucario gritted his teeth, growling, "I knew it. I knew there was something wrong with those two."

Hoopa folded his hands and added, "And also, Vespiquen was working for me! Our plan is to take down the strongest heroes in this tournament and prove that villainy deserves to reign supreme! Once this was all over, you were to bow down to us and accept us as your new leaders! Even if Beedrill disqualifies us, it won't change the fact that we have defeated the only heroes in this tournament who could possibly stop us!"

No one even knew how to react to this. Even Beedrill was frightened as the genie had a point. The wasp could just as easily disqualify the Demonic Angels for breaking three major rules, but would it really make that much of a difference?

However, his fear turned to hope when Gardevoir and Machoke slowly rose to their feet, breathing heavily as Hoopa's eyes widened, the genie turning around as Diancie looked down with shame. Hoopa then turned to her and snapped, "Hey, Earth to Diancie! Our opponents are up!"

The crowd cheered wildly as Diancie refused to respond to this, Machoke gritting his teeth and saying, "I would have eventually accepted a loss to you before, but now that I know you're evil, I can't let you walk out of this ring!" Gardevoir nodding as the crowd cheered even louder.

"And as is expected, Machoke refuses to take a free victory and would much rather defeat these two villains here and now," Beedrill stated, all the while thinking, 'Yep, I do know you too well, Machoke. Every time a villain sneaks into a tournament, you'd much rather fight to the bitter end than let them be disqualified so they can fight another day.'

"Well, this is fine," Hoopa stated with a grin, "We knocked you out twice already and we can do it again, right, Diancie?" before turning to her and noticing the sylph glaring at him, the genie sighing, "Look, I forgive you for exposing our secret. Hey, we still got away with it."

However, even the audience seemed rather confused as Diancie did not wish to go along with Hoopa's plan anymore, but why? What had changed her mind and would this mean that Hoopa was doomed to lose in the end?

 

While Hoopa was glad that he would not be disqualified from the match and would still get his chance to defeat Machoke, he looked rather annoyed when he noticed Diancie did not seem nearly as ready to continue. With this in mind, the genie waved his hand in front of her face, exclaiming, "Hey, Earth to Diancie! The match is still going on! We haven't lost!"

"We should just give up right now," the sylph murmured as the genie blinked, remarking, "What?" Diancie turning to him with a look of concern and reiterating, "We should give up right now."

The crowd gasped, Machoke just as surprised to hear that as they were while the sylph continued, "Hoopa, we've gone too far. If you just want to live in Tokyo and have respect from people, you don't need to do it by scaring them. We don't have to carry on this life of evil. We can join the heroes and help protect peace."

"What the hell are you going on about?" Hoopa retorted, "Did that blow to the head earlier scramble your brain?" tears forming in Diancie's eyes as she retorted, "No one was supposed to know our secret until the match was over, but now that they know, there's a chance we could spend our lives in prison if Machoke and Gardevoir defeat us! My biggest shame is that I didn't see it sooner! I should have known this wouldn't last long enough!"

"Wait, you mean she didn't realize that before?" Machoke uttered as Gardevoir blinked, asking, "You know, Diancie. You don't seem evil at all. Why did you try and help Hoopa achieve his goal of enslaving humanity?"

Diancie let out a sigh and was about to respond only for Hoopa to cut in, sighing, "It's because you're a pushover, right, Diancie?" the sylph staring wide-eyed as the genie smirked and continued, "I don't know exactly why, but this girl here has been attracted to me ever since the day we first met."

"Wait, you knew about that!?" Diancie squeaked, covering up her mouth as Lucario shrugged and replied, "I had my suspicions," Reika nodding and adding, "Yeah, you didn't really hide it that well."

"Exactly," Hoopa replied as he remembered their first meeting like it was yesterday.

As it so happened, Hoopa used to be trapped in an oil lamp like most genies were. But that would all change when a certain sylph discovered his lamp being sold at a local Arabian market, her eyes sparkling as she wasted no time purchasing it.

When she brought the lamp home, she noticed it was rather dusty and decided to give it a wipe, bringing out a damp cloth and using that to clean it. But as she did so, just like the legends said, this was all it took for Hoopa to emerge.

The genie stared at the sylph and blinked, Diancie's eyes widening as he cleared his throat, grinning and saying, "Hey there, little lady. You are quite lucky to have discovered me, Hoopa, the genie of the lamp!" waving his hands around in a circle above his head.

Something about him seemed perfect to Diancie. Her cheeks were bright pink as she gazed up at him, Hoopa grinning and thinking, 'Perfect,' before stating, "For awakening me, I will grant you one wish."

"Wait, isn't it supposed to be three?" Diancie asked as Hoopa remarked, "You'd think that, but no, you are only allowed one wish."

Now the sylph was really stumped as she uttered, "Wow, that's a hard one," as Hoopa nodded before saying, "Well, if I was the one making the wish, I'd wish to be free from this lamp, no longer having to grant wishes to people," forcing a rather pathetic look and giving the sylph big sad puppy dog eyes.

Diancie did not even need to think twice about this one. She knew exactly what to wish for, and from that moment on, the two were partners.

While looking around the city one day, Hoopa had the biggest, most fiendish grin on his face while Diancie's cheeks were flushed pink, the sylph seeing this whole thing as her first date. Just the fact that Hoopa had chosen to stay with her instead of flying off on his own told her that maybe this was destiny, that the two were fated to spend their lives together.

Hoopa, meanwhile, was not thinking that at all. No, he saw how nice this world was and wanted to have it all for himself and thus he turned to Diancie and asked, "Say, Diancie, what would you do to make me really happy? Like, how far would you go?"

The sylph gave him a sweet smile and replied, "I'd do pretty much anything," the genie nodding and asking, "So, say I wanted control of a whole city, maybe even the world, and just had everyone bow down to me and respect me? Have them grant me wishes instead of the other way around. Would you help me do that?"

Diancie's eyes and mouth were wide open when she heard this, but when she gazed into Hoopa's eyes and saw just how serious he was about this, it was much harder to refuse. A part of her knew this was a bad idea, but it just felt right.

Deep down, she knew what Hoopa was going through. Doing nothing but grant wishes before being trapped in an oil lamp for all eternity sounded uneventful and boring. She wanted Hoopa to have his own life. For whatever reason, his happiness was the only thing that mattered to her.

As such, the sylph nodded and smiled, replying, "Yes. I'll help you. Together, we'll be able to pull this off. I even know of a secret location where villains train to fight heroes."

Hoopa had not expected a goody-two-shoes like Diancie to actually know that, but either way, this was perfect. And from that moment on, not only had the genie gained respect from a few villains but he also felt like he could defeat anyone with the knowledge he had obtained. And it also helped that he had formed an alliance with Vespiquen, the bee seeing him as perfect leader material.

Even Diancie, after a while, found herself liking a lot of the villains she and Hoopa worked with. Some were more friendly than one would have imagined and she was even surprised by just how many female villains there were, glad to know she was not among a minority. After a while, the sylph genuinely liked being a villain.

And her liking increased even more when she won her first match. When given her final exam to see if she was ready to go off and take on heroes, she went up against a creature that resembled a mongoose combined with a cat. Her name was Zangoose and she was a rather tough contender, to say the least.

She dished out a wide assortment of moves, striking Diancie constantly while barely taking in any hits herself. Nearing the end of the match, she had managed to knock the sylph on her back with her elbow before leaping high into the air and flipping herself upside-down with her claws pointed toward her belly, shouting, "DEATH CLAW!"

But just as she was about to strike, Diancie looked over and saw Hoopa folding his hands, shaking his head in disapproval at her performance. Seeing this, Diancie gritted her teeth and refused to let herself lose, encasing her hands in crystal and using them to block the incoming strike, her eyes wide open as she had no idea she could do that up to this point.

She then used this opportunity to force her opponent off of her, Zangoose flying into the air as Diancie performed a handstand, her legs transforming into her floatation diamond. And it would only get worse for her feline adversary as she exclaimed, "DIAMOND HARPOON!" piercing the creature's belly as she coughed up blood, passing out.

From that moment on, a life of villainy just felt right for her, and as long as it made Hoopa happy, she would continue to do this. But the two were uncertain how to debut their skills before noticing a tournament for heroes, this very Ultimate World Team Tournament. Hoopa saw this as the perfect opportunity. If they could pass off as heroes and defeat the strongest in the world, the people would have no choice but to fear and serve Hoopa.

"You were so easy to manipulate," Hoopa stated back in present time, Diancie not even sure how to feel at this moment as he continued, "Did you really think I had feelings for you? Come on, I only pretended to respect you because you were a valuable asset! In fact, before I saw the way you handled your first opponent, I was even considering ditching you for someone who would help me more in combat, but your skills were simply amazing and only got better from that point on! That was when I knew that your naivety was the greatest thing to ever happen to me!"

The crowd could not believe this as Machoke gritted his teeth, growling, "This guy just pisses me off even more," Gardevoir nodding and uttering, "I feel really sorry for Diancie."

The rest of the crowd seemed to agree. All this time, Diancie was not truly evil, just manipulated. One could only guess how devastated she must have been to find out Hoopa did not share her feelings and was only taking advantage of her.

And it only got worse as Hoopa added, "Even if I did find you attractive enough, I still wouldn't have fallen in love with you! I honestly think love is a waste of time! It gets in the way of what's important! It makes people change their entire lives, and I would never wish for that to happen! Oh, and when I told you we genies only grant one wish, that was a lie. I could have actually granted you two more, but you freed me from the lamp before I could."

Reika got up with fury in her expression, shouting, "LET ME AT HIM! I WANNA SOCK THAT GUY IN THE FACE!" Scyther nodding as Cici uttered, "I'm pretty sure you won't need to."

"Hey, Beedrill," Diancie uttered, turning toward the chairman as he blinked and asked, "Uh, yeah?" the sylph sighing, "You said that because Machoke accepted us breaking the rules, this match would be allowed to continue, right?"

The wasp nodded and replied, "Yeah, that's right," as the sylph turned to Hoopa and said, "You're right, this match will continue, but it'll be even harder for you because I'll be fighting alongside Machoke and Gardevoir," the Glamourous Fighting Machines smiling wide in response to this.

Hoopa frowned and retorted, "You can't do anything on your own, can you?" Diancie blinking as he gritted his teeth, a strange sensation coming over him as his body started to twitch, the genie exclaiming, "Well, fine! I don't need you anyway! You'll regret your decision to turn on me!" everyone else staring as Smeargle uttered, "What's going on?"

At that moment, Hoopa's skin turned blue as his teeth became sharp, those on the lower left and right side of his mouth becoming too long to stay in his mouth. His hands also changed as his big top fingers split in half, creating two thinner fingers, his thumbs transforming to look exactly the same. Black claws also formed on the ends of those very parts while his forearms started to look more human-like despite the hands still floating as opposed to being attached to him, the wrists and backs of the forearms covered with golden rings. And to top it all off, four more hands appeared, giving him a total of six.

But his transformation did not end there as his horns grew to six times their original length, now pointed outward as opposed to being arched upward. He also sprouted a pair of legs with feet that resembled ancient Arabian shoes, two rings bound to each ankle. His tail also grew in size to resemble that of a lizard, a spearhead formation appearing on the tip.

"Hoopa?" Diancie uttered as the genie's body started to grow until he was twice Machoke's size, his physique much more impressive. His ponytail became much larger and bushier as thin, purple fur appeared on the sides and back of his head, his chin becoming longer and slanted. In the middle of his face formed a pointed black snout, six tufts of pink fur that resembled flower petals covering the sides of his torso. And to top it all off, what appeared to be a small black hole appeared on his forehead while a much bigger one formed on his belly.

The crowd stared in horror, many kids in the audience looking uneasy as Diancie shook her head, uttering, "What happened to you?" Machoke remarking, "You mean you don't know?"

Looking at his new hands and gazing down at how much shorter everyone was compared to him, Hoopa grinned before letting out a loud, maniacal laugh, shouting, "OH MY GOD, THIS IS TOO PERFECT! I always felt like I had a greater power hidden within me, and now I know it's true! Yes! Now I really can rule this world all by myself! I might even be greater than Giratina himself!"

The crowd gasped as Machoke trembled and uttered, "No," Gardevoir biting her lip nervously. Even she was unsure whether or not they could stand up to him now.

However, Diancie put on a serious look and said, "I let you take advantage of me long enough. Now I'm going to help Machoke and Gardevoir defeat you," the two nodding as Machoke said, "Right, there's three of us now. That'll make things much easier."

"Well, in some odd turn of events, it looks as if Hoopa has transformed," Beedrill uttered as Nori asked, "Even with Diancie's help, can the Glamourous Fighting Machines possibly win this match?"

Machoke took a deep breath and gave Diancie a warm smile, saying, "Yeah, I think we can do this," the sylph nodding and letting down light tears, sniffing, "I'm sorry for all the horrible things I've done. We haven't gone as far as murder yet, but-"

"It's okay," Gardevoir replied with a sigh, "The point is that you realize what you were doing was wrong," the sylph wiping a tear and sniffing, "Really?" the girl nodding as Machoke shrugged and replied, "This isn't exactly a first for me. Ninetales was much worse than you were. At least you knew what you were doing was wrong."

It seemed many others in the audience were ready to give her a chance as well, Reika nodding and shouting, "Come on, Diancie! Show that guy just how wrong it is to break a girl's heart like that!"

Diancie had a light smile on her face as Hoopa rolled his eyes and remarked, "As if that's gonna happen!" the crowd gasping when the hole on his belly seemed to be an actual black hole as wind started to travel into it.

The sylph gasped as the genie pulled her in, wrapping his top to hands around her forehead, the lower hands around her midsection and the last two around her legs, exclaiming, "As I said earlier, you'll pay for turning on me!"

Before Machoke and Gardevoir could help their new ally, Hoopa proceeded to leap high above the ring before leaning backward, descending toward the mat and shouting, "BLACK HOLE SUPLEX!"

The crowd stared in horror as Diancie's head hit the canvas hard, Hoopa releasing his hold and leaping one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, landing on his feet and allowing the sylph to collapse, a big grin on his face. As if that was not enough, the collision with the mat had put multiple cracks in the diamonds atop Diancie's head, many surprised to see that breaking those was even possible when no one had even come close to that before.

Machoke trembled in terror as Diancie did not seem to be able to move after that, Beedrill saying, "What appears to be a simple suplex has been made much more powerful by the added force of Hoopa's additional hands. Will Diancie be able to get up from that?"

Luckily, the sylph had managed to recover, but she felt rather weak as Hoopa smirked and said, "Guess that wasn't quite good enough. Oh well, guess I'll have to take it one step further," only for Machoke and Gardevoir to leap at him, shouting, "OH NO YOU DON'T!"

Both rammed their arms into the back of Hoopa's neck, shouting, "DOUBLE MOON HOOK!" the genie wincing in pain but not falling like he would have before. And to make matters worse, he was more than ready to retaliate as he had one of his top arms swing around and take hold of a separate hero's face.

With that, he lifted them up and slammed both of their faces into the mat as the crowd grimaced, Reika trembling and uttering, "Oh no. Even with the extra help, he's become too strong," Florges and Smeargle trembling while embracing one-another.

All the while, in the hospital, Gallade, Hitmonchan, Blaziken and Aipom had suddenly recovered, all four witnessing this on the screen with looks of terror. Aipom, especially, wished she could move right now and head to the Tokyo Dome just to give Machoke some kind of support.

Even Talonflame tried to get up only to fall forward as his head still hurt too much, a nurse running in and gasping, "Mister Talonflame, sir, you need your rest!" the falcon retorting, "CAN IT!" slapping her hand to the side only to fall to one knee, breathing heavily and growling, "You'd better win, Machoke! You showed me the light! I'm sure you can do the same for him!"

Golduck was hoping the same thing as were many others tuning in from across the world. They did not wish to have someone so horrible rule over them, even if he did it all by himself. But not only that, they wanted Diancie to have her revenge.

Even Masquerain hoped that Diancie would win. Sure, she was uncertain whether or not she could ever forgive the sylph for what she did to her brain, but at the very least, she wanted to see a new hero take down this menace.

Diancie gritted her teeth and tried to help, but since Hoopa's other hands were still free, he managed to take hold of her arms with his middle hands while saying, "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this," before sending one of his lower fists into her gut, the sylph coughing up blood.

And it only got worse as Hoopa sent multiple punches into that exact spot, his upper hands returning to their original spot as he proceeded to use those on her face. Each second, more and more blood was drawn as the audience could do nothing but watch in stunned silence, Machoke and Gardevoir about to get up only for the genie to smack his tail hard into each one's back.

"Oh man, having a long tail is awesome!" the genie exclaimed with a maniacal laugh, using this chance to send the occasional punch into the diamonds atop Diancie's head. After all, now that he had cracked the material, he knew it would be weak, and it seemed he was right as the cracks continued to get bigger. Even the diamond on her forehead started to crack as she gritted her teeth, shouting, "DIAMOND HORN!"

This caused that particular diamond to stretch forward, creating a sharp spike thus piercing the next fist that hit it. As a result, Hoopa winced in pain, tightening his hold on her arms as he grunted, "No, I'm not going to let you go!" before chuckling and saying, "Oh, you wanted to hear me say that for so long, didn't you? Too bad I didn't use it in the context you would have liked."

Seeing the genie distracted by his own distasteful joke, Diancie's necklace glowed as she spat, "DIAMOND STORM!" sending diamonds out of it and into his chest at a rapid speed. This caused a tad more pain as Machoke and Gardevoir were able to recover, both nodding and taking hold of his tail.

Hoopa was about to ignore the pain and strike them both when Diancie managed to take advantage of the distraction, prying her arms out of his hands. She then landed against the mat and placed her hands against it, shouting, "GEM GROWTH!"

And sure enough, two small gems formed under Hoopa's feet, causing him to trip as Machoke and Gardevoir pulled back on his tail, causing him to fall flat on his chin while the crowd cheered. Even Nori was applauding this as she exclaimed, "And with their combined efforts, the Glamourous Fighting Machines have managed to bring Hoopa down!"

With that, Diancie started to breathe rather heavily but ignored this as she nodded at Machoke and Gardevoir, saying, "Come on, before he gets up," the two nodding back with big grins on their faces.

With that, Diancie leapt high above Hoopa, once again transforming her legs into her floatation diamond, positioning herself right above the genie. And it did not end there as both Machoke and Gardevoir leapt up to her level, flipping themselves upside-down on separate sides and placing their hands on her shoulders.

The crowd went wild as Nori exclaimed, "And it would seem the trio has decided to finish off Hoopa in the same way he and Diancie took down Lucario and Clauncher!" the dog nodding and saying, "That might actually be enough to finish him off," Clauncher replied, "Yeah! It was painful, but it was also pretty awesome!"

Bisharp nodded and stated, "It would seem Diancie was the perfect ally for them," Scrafty sighing, "At least she didn't wait until the match was over to come around like we did."

The rest of the crowd was beyond ecstatic as the trio descended toward Hoopa's back, shouting, "DIAMOND METEOR!" but just as they were seconds away from piercing Hoopa's flesh, he regained consciousness just in time to swing all six of his arms back, binding them to Diancie to stop her descent.

The crowd gasped as luckily, he had not managed to completely stop her. Thanks to the combined weight of Machoke and Gardevoir, she managed to plant half the diamond into his back as blood squirted out.

However, her aim had been to go straight through, and it seemed failing to do so had in fact prevented the move from dealing nearly as much damage as she hoped it would. Thus Hoopa was able to pry her diamond out, Diancie struggling to free herself from his grip while Machoke and Gardevoir attempted to pry the hands off. That was soon put to a stop when Hoopa sent the backs of each top hand into their faces, applying just enough force to send them flying off of him, the two falling on their backs.

And once Diancie had been completely pried from his back, Hoopa had a look of anger on his face as he said, "I have to say, I'm actually impressed," before rising back up and flipping the sylph upside-down, "But you made a mistake using all of those diamonds earlier. You know as well as I do why you can't just use moves like Diamond Storm and Gem Growth repeatedly during matches."

Diancie gasped as Reika uttered, "So there is a reason she can't use those abilities at any given time," Hoopa nodding as sweat poured down Diancie's face, the genie adding, "Look at you. Just using those two abilities has sapped your strength greatly, and using that Diamond Meteor took even more out of you. You can't even fight me anymore, can you?"

Diancie trembled, a look of sadness on her face as Machoke and Gardevoir got up. However, Hoopa refused to let them interfere as he turned his backs to them, shouting, "SPEAR SWING!" whipping his tail back and forth while the spearhead formation put gashes on each one's torso, Gardevoir's red jersey ripped open in many areas now.

"Maybe if you'd chosen to oppose me at the beginning of the match, before all that damage was dealt to you, you could have stood a chance," Hoopa stated, "You still would have lost, but at least you would have put up a better fight!"

The crowd was truly in panic now as Hoopa ended his assault on Machoke and Gardevoir, leaping high above the ring as both tried their best to recover so they could help their new friend. But unfortunately, it was too late as Hoopa stated, "I just got me a great idea. I think I'll combine Machamp's most famous finishing moves."

No one could believe what they had just heard, but it made sense. After all, Machoke could not use Muscle Tombstone to its fullest effect due to him only having two arms, and while Machamp had a second pair, without a third, he could not pull off a combination of the Muscle Tombstone and Ultimate Driver and thus always kept both moves separate from each-other. But since Hoopa had six hands, this was definitely possible for him.

With that in mind, Hoopa latched his ankles around Diancie's neck, using his middle hands to pry her arms out. He then latched his upper hands around her torso while latching his lower hands to the area just under her arms.

And before anyone could figure out how to possibly get out of this, Hoopa exclaimed, "ULTIMATE MUSCLE TOMBSTONE!" planting her head hard into the mat as the cracks expanded, all of the diamonds on her head now shattering into many tiny fragments, her head bleeding as Hoopa released his hold on her, allowing her to collapse.

Machoke and Gardevoir both stared in horror at the sight of this, Hoopa grinning and snickering before breaking out into hysterics, shouting, "YES! DO YOU SEE THIS, WORLD!? THIS IS MY NEW POWER!" Machoke backing up as Gardevoir tried her best to comfort him despite feeling terrified herself.

Not only was Hoopa insanely powerful in this new state of his, but Diancie seemed to be down for the count. How could the Glamourous Fighting Machines possibly win?

 

Things had truly taken a turn for worse now. Hoopa had become even more frightening than ever before and had even destroyed Diancie's diamonds. And to top it all off, it seemed as if he had truly defeated her, the sylph unable to move.

All went silent among the crowd as Machoke and Gardevoir both stared at Diancie with concern and fear, Beedrill stating, "Hoopa was already a major threat before, but now it'll take a great amount of effort and strength to take him down. It looks as if he's already knocked out his own ally, so Machoke and Gardevoir will need to be careful to say the least."

Hoopa grinned wickedly at the duo and said, "That's gonna be you soon enough, Machoke. I'll admit, you are a strong adversary, and your partner's not half-bad either, but face it, you never stood a chance."

Gardevoir gritted her teeth and grunted, "Come on, Machoke, we can beat him!" the boy taking many deep breaths before nodding, saying, "Right. I'm not gonna let Diancie's efforts be in vain."

With that, Gardevoir leapt up onto the boy's hands as he propelled her high into the air, the girl aiming a two-legged kick for Hoopa's face. And while the genie prepared to counter this, Machoke headed toward his midsection. However, he realized this was a bad idea when suddenly, wind started to travel into the hole on his belly again, Machoke losing his balance and flying into it, now stuck in place as Hoopa latched his hands onto him like he had Diancie.

However, it seemed he had even more planned as suddenly, the hole on his head started to inhale air as well, Gardevoir squeaking in panic as her feet were soon lodged into that very spot. Kirlia got up and spat, "GARDEVOIR, GET OUT OF THAT!" Machamp shouting, "COME ON, SON, FIGHT IT!" the rest of the crowd cheering them on as well.

The two nodded as Gardevoir sent her elbows hard into Hoopa's skull, Machoke focusing hard and trying to expand his muscles like he had against Vespiquen. But the genie would not allow this as he leapt high into the air, saying, "Your efforts are useless."

He then leaned backward, descending toward the mat and shouting, "TWIN BLACK HOLE SUPLEX!" sending Gardevoir hard into the canvas seeing as she was still stuck in his forehead. And to make matters worse, Machoke's head was planted into her belly, thus not only did he take in pain from this, but the damage dealt to Gardevoir had been increased as she coughed up blood.

However, Hoopa did not intend to release his hold on the two yet as he continued to hold them in place with his black holes. And with that, he removed his hands from Machoke and rose to his feet, spinning around in a circle before ending the suction, sending both heroes into the turnbuckle. Machoke hit up against it first followed by Gardevoir slamming up against him, the boy cringing from the intense pain.

The crowd was horrified as Reika groaned, "Oh god, I thought for sure with all three working together, this would be easy! Hoopa's too strong! I don't think any hero would be strong enough to beat him!" Cici and Tsuya both holding onto each-other and trembling, Scyther just as uncertain that the Glamourous Fighting Machines could win this.

However, Keiko had a calm look on her face as she sighed, "Look, at the very least, Machoke will not fall. Trust me, the Mach family has a tendency to pull off true miracles, and not just because they're lucky but because when they get down to it, when the world is in true peril, they possess a spirit unmatched by anyone in the universe. Machamp showed it when facing his most powerful adversaries and I'm sure it'll be the same for Machoke. Don't lose hope yet."

With that, Machoke and Gardevoir slowly recovered, taking many deep breaths as the boy uttered, "You okay, honey?" Gardevoir nodding and replying, "Yeah, I think I can manage."

Hoopa broke out into hysterics, shouting, "OH MY GOD, THIS IS JUST RICH! YOU HONESTLY THINK YOU CAN ONE-UP ME IF YOU KEEP TRYING! COME ON, YOU CAN'T EVEN LIFT ME UP WHEN WORKING TOGETHER! WHAT CHANCE COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE!?"

Machoke refused to let this get to him as he spat, "Shut up! You may be strong, but I've faced many strong opponents before! And with Gardevoir by my side, you can't win!" Hoopa wiping a tear from his eye and sighing, "You're just too much."

With that, while Gardevoir's power had been wasted earlier, she felt a strange increase in strength along with Machoke. With that, both raced toward Hoopa as he readied his hands to counter them. But when he sent them forward, both picked up the pace just enough to avoid being grabbed, Hoopa's eyes widening as the two rammed their shoulders into his chest.

The crowd cheered as not only had the move hit, it had actually dealt more damage than Hoopa thought it would. And things got even better when the duo leapt up onto his shoulders, taking hold of them. Both then applied all of their might to pull on said parts, Hoopa's eyes widening as after a few seconds, the Glamourous Fighting Machines managed to pull him back, knocking him hard on his back, the genie wincing in pain.

And it did not end there as Machoke grinned, turning to Gardevoir and saying, "Come on, let's show him that team move we created," the girl nodding as she leapt high above the ring, arching her body back to resemble a quarter moon.

And soon enough, Machoke did the same as he leapt up to her level with his back facing hers, both latching their wrists and hands before spinning vertically, forming a big grey and green wheel in the air. Hoopa was just about to right himself back up when the two heroes descended toward his chest, shouting, "SOLAR MOON SLAM!" Machoke's belly ramming hard into that very spot.

The crowd cheered wildly as Hoopa coughed up blood, his eyes and mouth wide with shock. Even in his new state, his opponents had actually managed to draw blood. That should not have been possible no matter how much force they were using.

Reika's eyes sparkled as she exclaimed, "Wow! That was awesome!" the others nodding in agreement.

At the hospital, Gallade smiled and thought, 'Great job, sis,' Hitmonchan saying, "Wow, those two are so badass together."

Aipom had a light smile on her face as she thought, 'I definitely wouldn't have thought of that. Machoke, you've grown so much since I first met you.'

Talonflame and Golduck of course applauded all of this, but happiest of all to see such results was Masquerain. Her dimples implied a light smile as she really hoped this had been good enough to end the match once and for all.

Smeargle and Florges both hugged one-another, shouting, "TRES MAGNIFIQUE!" Lucario folding his arms and saying, "Well, not the most creative concept for a move, but it was clearly effective," Clauncher nodding with a big smile.

Everyone else was more than pleased with this as Nori stated, "And Machoke and Gardevoir have just found a way to double the strength of Machoke's Sunset Slam. Granted, they didn't use it entirely like one would expect them to, but they still pulled it off."

Gardevoir had a big smile on her face as Machoke turned to Hoopa, a look of shock when he noticed the genie did not seem to be moving. Had that been enough to finish him off? After all, he had taken in a lot of damage prior to his transformation, so maybe he did not have as much strength left as one would have expected.

Seeing this, Nori immediately started the ten count, the crowd now silent. This was truly intense as everyone hoped that the genie would not rise back up.

However, once Nori reached seven, Hoopa's eyes shot open as he immediately shifted his top hands behind his head, using them to right himself back up. His middle hands also pushed on his back once it was high enough not to potentially crush them.

The crowd gasped as Hoopa snapped his neck back and forth, Reika groaning, "Oh, come on! You're telling me after everything they've done, that wasn't enough!?" Keiko sighing, "Chill, Reika. I'm sure they can do more," Scyther nodding and replying, "Ja. That right there was a miracle in itself. I'm sure they can pull off more."

However, it was looking uncertain as Machoke's teeth chattered, the boy uttering, "Hey, honey, any ideas?" Gardevoir frowning and replying, "Nothing now, but we can't stop trying."

Hoopa snickered and turned to them, saying, "I have to admit, I'm actually impressed. I mean, I know you two have quite the reputation here in Tokyo, but man, I didn't think you'd be able to draw blood from my new, much stronger state! But, mark my words, this will be the last time you pull that off!"

Just as the Glamourous Fighting Machines were about to attempt something else, Hoopa proceeded to snap the fingers of all six of his hands, shouting, "HYPERSPACE FURY!" all six hands vanishing as their rings flew over to Machoke and Gardevoir, floating next to them on various angles.

Before anyone could even guess what was coming, the hands suddenly shot out of the holes like bullets in the form of fists, punching each hero hard. One struck Machoke in the cheek while another hit him in the gut, a third one punching him in the back. Meanwhile, Gardevoir took a punch to her shin, her forehead and her shoulder.

However, this was far from the end as the fists started to circle around the duo at a speed so fast, all anyone could see was blue streaks, the fists sending a barrage of hard punches to the heroes. Gardevoir held up her hands in an attempt to block them but to no avail while Machoke tried to wrap his arms around himself only to take a strike to each of those parts every time he tried.

"Oh no!" Reika groaned, "This is terrible!" the others not sure how either hero could possibly get out of this. Deep down, they just hoped the assault would not last until neither were able to stand.

Hoopa laughed maniacally, shouting, "Look at you! You're sitting ducks! I should have used this earlier!" the genie starting a breathe a bit harder as he thought, 'Oh, guess I can't keep this up all day after all. It's sapping my strength.'

With that in mind, Hoopa leapt in front of the Glamourous Fighting Machines, the rings returning to their respective hands as said parts latched onto their targets. The top hands were clasped onto each fighter's head, the middle ones held onto their waists and the lower hands held onto their legs.

"You two have been a much bigger pain than anticipated, but it's over now," Hoopa said with a smirk before leaping high above the mat, the crowd staring in horror while the genie flipped his opponents over, shouting, "TWIN CENTIPEDE PILEDRIVER!" slamming both their heads hard against the mat.

Everyone stared in horror as Machoke and Gardevoir's eyes rolled to the backs of their heads, Hoopa releasing his hold and allowing them to collapse.

Was this really the end? After all, Diancie still seemed to be out cold while the Glamourous Fighting Machines had clearly taken in too much damage to continue.

"You see this, people of Tokyo!?" Hoopa exclaimed with a big grin, "Even with all of their efforts combined, these three could not defeat me! People said Giratina was the biggest threat to all of mankind, but I've proven them wrong by defeating Tokyo's greatest hero! He put up a good fight, but in the end, this was inevitable!"

Nori and Beedrill both trembled, neither sure whether to bother with the ten count or not. It seemed official. Machoke and Gardevoir would not get up soon.

However, the odds of them getting up at all were starting to lower as Hoopa pointed his fingers as their chests, saying, "By the way, don't bother ringing that bell. I intend to kill these two right here and now. You can deny me the championship prize all you like because I couldn't care less about that. Having the planet at my beck and call is more than enough to make up for that."

At that moment, Reika got up from her seat and snapped, "COME ON, GUYS, GET UP! I KNOW THIS ISN'T ENOUGH TO TAKE YOU OUT FOR GOOD!" Tsuya and Cici nodding as they started to chant Machoke and Gardevoir's names.

And sure enough, the entire crowd was cheering for them, Scrafty barking, "Come on, Gardevoir! Where's that warrior princess who dealt me my first defeat!?" Bisharp adding, "And where's that powerful soldier of the ring who showed me the error of my ways!?"

Lucario nodded and barked, "Come on, Machoke! You took in my Riolu Torment and continued to stand! Surely this isn't enough to defeat you for good!"

Machoke started to twitch along with Gardevoir, the crowd smiling only for their happiness to turn back to fear when Hoopa lowered his fingers toward them, shouting, "AS IF I'D GIVE THEM ANOTHER CHANCE TO RECOVER!"

But just as the claws were moments away from piercing their flesh, Hoopa and the crowd gasped in shock when a familiar female voice came from behind him shouting, "DIAMOND ROCKET!" a certain diamond piercing his back in the exact same spot that had been hit earlier. It still was not enough to pass all the way through him, but it certainly dealt pain as the crowd cheered wildly, absolutely amazed to see Diancie having recovered from all the pain dealt earlier.

"No," Hoopa uttered, his eyes and mouth wide in shock as Diancie shifted her upper body high enough to reach his chin, pulling back on it as Nori stated, "Not only has Diancie made a shocking recovery, but she has managed to catch Hoopa in a submission hold very similar to the one she had used on Machoke earlier."

Just as quickly as Hoopa's shock came, it left him as he smirked and said, "Oh, poor, naive Diancie. You of all people should know how stupid it is to use a submission hold on me!"

Diancie gasped, her eyes wide with shock as she knew the genie had a point, and this had been proven in the first round when Lucario had tried a submission hold of his own on the genie. And sure enough, Diancie met a similar fate as Hoopa's hands floated behind her, balling up into fists and ramming hard into her sides.

However, since her diamond was still stuck in his flesh, Hoopa had four of his hands grab hold of her waist and arms, prying her out. The crowd winced at the sight of blood flying out of that very spot, but Hoopa ignored it as he laughed, saying, "You are hilarious. I'm impressed that you were able to get up after all of that, but for your own good, you should have stayed down."

At this point, Diancie was too angry to be scared. Not only had Hoopa betrayed her trust, he had broken her heart. There was no way she would let him get away with that.

With this in mind, Diancie's eyes started to glow as she managed to free herself from the genie's grip, Hoopa turning to her and staring in stunned silence, the audience just as confused as he was. It seemed as if the sylph was undergoing a transformation of her own as the diamonds atop her head grew back, only the emerald on her forehead was shaped like a heart now. Two long earrings also appeared in the appropriate spot with two smaller diamonds floating near the bottom as if they were attached to a thin chain. Her dress widened on the bottom, the backside long enough to double as a wide tail, while the sleeves vanished, revealing delicate arms with the width of twigs. Her floatation diamond had been replaced by a big pink and white emerald while long gems grew out of the sides of her dress all the way to the back. Finally, two long wedding veils appeared on the sides of her head, going all the way down to her lowest diamond and floating in the air.

Hoopa stared in stunned silence, the rest of the crowd truly amazed as Nori said, "Not sure how it happened, but Diancie has undergone a transformation of her own," Beedrill nodding and adding, "One can only guess how this match will play out now."

However, Hoopa's shock left him just as quickly as it had appeared, the genie smirking and snickering. No one could believe this as it soon grew into maniacal laughter, Hoopa shouting, "What the hell is that!? Is this supposed to scare me!?"

Diancie stared in confusion as he continued, "Come on, my new form gave me muscles and extra hands! All yours did was make you look even more girly than before! Is this supposed to impress me!?"

"No, it's supposed to make you pay for everything you've done!" Diancie retorted, "I still can't believe it! All this time, you knew I was in love with you and you used me! But you know what!? I don't even care about that anymore!"

"Wait, you don't?" Hoopa uttered as the sylph sighed, "Yes, that is nothing more than a petty grudge. I simply can't allow you to enslave humanity. I can only assume it must have been horrible spending your whole life granting wishes for selfish people, but the fact that you're free from doing that should be enough! Making them serve you doesn't make you any better!"

Hoopa folded his hands like arms and blinked, asking, "You done? Seriously, did you honestly think I didn't know that?" Diancie sighing, "Well, as long as you're aware that what you're doing is wrong, I have no choice but to defeat you."

With that, the sylph spread her dress diamonds out, twirling toward the genie as he readied his hands to grab her. Sure, he knew his hands would bleed as a result of grabbing them, but that was a small price to pay to stop them from hitting his torso.

But when he took hold of them, Diancie continued to spin, his eyes wide with shock as the momentum provided more than enough force to cleave his thumbs, all six of those parts falling to the mat as the crowd cheered, Diancie shouting, "SUGARPLUM FAIRY SLASH!" putting a huge gash in Hoopa's midsection.

The genie winced, shocked by how much this hurt as Diancie's necklace glowed, the sylph shouting, "DIAMOND STORM!" sending multiple diamonds forward into Hoopa's face, the genie coughing up blood. His snout started to bleed as well, the crowd going wild as Nori exclaimed "And it seems this new form has increased Diancie's strength exponentially!" the sylph ending her assault by sending a diamond twice the size of the others hard into his forehead, causing him to fall hard on his back.

"Oh my god, Diancie might just win this!" Reika exclaimed as Cici nodded, squealing, "You're so cool, Diancie!" the sylph blushing lightly in response to this, the rest of the crowd cheering for her.

After having served evil for so long, she figured no one would be able to forgive her this easily, but she had the support of every member of the audience. There was no way she would let them down.

As such, she floated high above Hoopa and spread out her dress diamonds, the big emerald pointed at his midsection as she stated, "It's time to end this once and for all!" before descending toward him and barking, "EMERALD ASTEROID!"

But just as the stone was seconds away from striking the genie, Hoopa's eyes shot open as he immediately threw his hands upward, taking hold of Diancie's shoulders, sides and waist, pulling up with just enough force to stop her descent. All went silent as a smirk formed on his face, Diancie trembling while struggling to free herself.

The genie then rose to his feet and said, "I have to admit, you're a lot tougher than you look, but I'm still far superior to you in every way. Admit it, you never stood a chance against me, not for a second!"

Light tears rolled down Diancie's cheeks as the genie leapt high into the air, latching onto her neck, torso and area under her arms, spreading out those very parts just like he had done before. The crowd stared in horror, knowing exactly what was coming as he spat, "THIS TIME, ACTUALLY STAY DOWN! ULTIMATE MUSCLE TOMBSTONE!" ramming Diancie's head hard into the mat.

That was that. It seemed as if all hope was lost now as Diancie passed out, reverting back to her original form, the stones on her head once again gone. There was no doubt about it. The sylph was down for the count as Hoopa broke out into hysterics.

"Yes!" the genie exclaimed with a big grin, "Now nothing can stop me!" only for his grin to fade when he heard a familiar voice retorting, "Hey, we're still here, you know!" the genie slowly turning as the crowd cheered, Machoke and Gardevoir having just regained consciousness. However, it took a lot just for them to stand, and it showed as both were breathing heavily, trying their hardest to stay up.

Hoopa let out a sigh and shrugged his hands, shaking his head and asking, "Why can't you just accept your fate? I mean, look at you," the crowd unsure how to feel about this, "It's obvious that just standing is taking every ounce of strength you have left. If you surrender, I might actually spare your lives. Heck, it'll be fun whipping you two around and giving you orders."

Hearing this, Machoke gritted his teeth as he spat, "No!" clenching is fists, "You can tare us limb from limb, but we're not giving up! My father may not have always had his head in the game, but when lives were at stake, he would do everything in his power to make sure the people could live their lives in peace! I would rather die than see the world bow down to you or any other villain for that matter!"

Gardevoir nodded and squeaked, "I didn't train all this time to let people like you walk all over us!" the crowd cheering as Reika nodded and said, "Well spoken."

Kirlia folded her arms, thinking, 'I'm so proud of you, Gardevoir,' while Machamp and Kala both applauded their son, though they also hoped that he could back up his words. After all, he had suffered three very close calls throughout the match up to this point. It was clear that Hoopa really was the strongest opponent he had ever faced.

Even so, there was no way Machoke and Gardevoir would lose as the strange flow of power shown earlier returned, only it was much more prominent. Each fighter's muscles expanded just enough for Hoopa to notice a different, the genie thinking, 'No, it's not possible! I won't let them get the drop on me again! Even without thumbs, I can still defeat them!'

With that, Hoopa sent all six fists toward them at a rapid speed only for Machoke and Gardevoir to display a great deal of speed never seen before. Each used two hands to grab hold of two of Hoopa's, using all four to block the remaining two thus causing Hoopa to hurt himself, the genie wincing. And it did not end there as the two leapt up to his shoulders, once again taking hold of them. But unlike last time, the two pulled on said parts, forcing the genie to fall forward as they planted their feet into his gut, sending him high above the ring.

The crowd stared as Hoopa's eyes and mouth were wide open, the genie thinking, 'How can this be? How can they be this strong!? It took so much for them to do this before and yet they managed to pull it off with little effort!'

And things would only get worse for him as just as the genie was about to come up with some way to prevent himself from succumbing to further damage, Gardevoir and Machoke ran toward the opposite sides of the ring. Each one leapt atop a different top rope, the two propelling themselves toward Hoopa.

The crowd was truly amazed and fascinated to see what would come next as Machoke rolled up into a ball, spinning vertically toward Hoopa's back. While this happened, Gardevoir leaned forward, creating an arch formation and spun toward the genie like a boomerang.

Before Hoopa could even figure out what was going on, Machoke rammed hard into his back, Gardevoir's back ramming hard into his belly. And with that, the boy reverted to a more normal state before reaching his arms and legs back, latching onto Hoopa's chin and ankles while Gardevoir bent her body back, forming the same quarter moon shape she had before and latching onto his shoulders with her legs and the backs of his knees with her hands.

The crowd went wild as Nori exclaimed, "Could it be another upgrade to the Sunset Slam!?" Machoke asking, "Hey, Gardevoir, did you just come up with that?" the girl nodding and replying, "Yeah. Your ability to come up with impressive abilities on the spot has kinda rubbed off on me."

Hoopa gritted his teeth and spat, "NO! I WON'T ACCEPT THIS!" but before he could shift his hands to attack the Glamourous Fighting Machines, the two used all their might to spin his body around like a giant wheel, and thus the genie was unable to focus on moving his hands, Machoke and Gardevoir shouting, "NIGHT AND DAY MUSCLE PRESS!"

With that, all three descended toward the mat at an incredible speed, the crowd cheering wildly, Lucario grinning while the others had the biggest smiles they could muster. Machamp, Kala, Kirlia and even Combusken could not contain their excitement, Riolu trying his hardest to look professional until he noticed even Greninja and Bouffalant getting into the moment.

And sure enough, a cloud of smoke covered the area when the living wheel made contact with the mat. Everyone stared in stunned silence, Aipom watching this while biting her lower lip, thinking, 'Please let this work.'

The others were just as invested in this, Golduck saying, "That had to have been enough."

Talonflame looked at this with a smirk, stating, "The original Sunset Slam was an incredible move. That looks even more impressive."

And once the smoke cleared, it was just as everyone figured. Hoopa's skull had been planted hard into the mat while Machoke and Gardevoir continued to hold onto him. And after a few seconds, the two released their hold on the genie, stepping to the side and allowing him to collapse, his eyes rolled to the back of his head as his hands had stopped moving for good.

The area was now silent as Reika cupped her hands together, Keiko smiling, certain this had done it. And with that, Nori turned to Beedrill, the wasp nodding at her as she started the ten count. And once she reached two, the audience started to join in, all of the people counting in sync with the announcer.

Kirlia turned to Machoke as the two gave each-other a thumb up, both more than proud of their kids at this moment. And sure enough, Nori reached ten as she rang the bell, exclaiming, "And after the longest, most intense match in the entire Ultimate World Team Tournament, the winners and champions are the Glamourous Fighting Machines, Machoke and Gardevoir!"

The crowd went wild, the entire Tokyo Dome filling up with cheers and applause. Machoke and Gardevoir both rose their arms in the air, the two turning toward one-another with big grins on their faces. Some expected them to pass out much like Machoke had after his fight with Giratina seeing as they had taken in a far worse beating than the boy had during that match, and yet despite all of that, they still had the energy to bask in the audience's cheers.

"I knew they could do it," Lucario said as Scrafty exclaimed, "WAY TO GO, GUYS! YOU'RE AWESOME!" Bisharp nodding and stating, "Good show! That was absolutely splendid!"

"They really did it," Cici uttered, breathing a sigh of relief as Tsuya asked, "Was there ever any doubt?" Reika and Scyther both whistling at Machoke and Gardevoir.

However, the cheering ended when everyone noticed something even more relieving. Much like when Diancie lost, Hoopa had reverted to his original form, but unlike Diancie, the genie seemed to have enough strength to move as he slowly opened his eyes, rubbing his head and groaning, "Oh god, that was painful!"

However, he gasped when he could no longer feel his new flesh against his head, looking at his hand to notice his skin had reverted to its original colour and he now had one big finger and a thumb as opposed to two normal-sized fingers. In fact, the thumbs that had been cut off earlier had magically vanished when he changed back.

"No," he uttered, breathing heavily as Nori stated, "I hate to break it to you, Hoopa, but you've officially lost this match," the genie shaking his head as he uttered, "No! It can't be! You can't defeat me!" all of the damage taking a serious toll on him now as his eyes widened, the genie coughing up blood and falling on his back, his head tilted sideways.

Now there was no doubt about it. Machoke and Gardevoir had saved not just Tokyo but the whole world from Hoopa, the two grinning and slapping their hands together, holding them tight. No one could have asked for a better result.

 

The final match of the Ultimate World Team Tournament had been long and rough. Machoke and Gardevoir had come so close to failure multiple times and yet the two had managed to face all odds, ultimately defeating Hoopa and preventing him from taking control of the entire world. Sure, Diancie was still unconscious, but she certainly would have been happy to see this.

And of course, everyone in the crowd was ecstatic as a team of police officers from Hero Planet entered the area. As it just so happened, Beedrill had secretly called them up shortly after Hoopa's revelation just so he could be sent to prison immediately if the Glamourous Fighting Machines managed to beat him.

And sure enough, Hoopa's hands were bound together with special handcuffs, these ones carrying a third chain, its shackle attached to the genie's neck. That way he could not use his hands to attack someone with ease.

Though even if he could, he was trapped now as he was carried out of the Tokyo Dome, soon to be loaded up onto a Hero Planet ship to be taken to said planet's prison. And all Machoke could do was watch and hope that maybe someday, the genie would learn his lesson and fight for the side of good instead. After all, that had happened to so many villains defeated by Machoke over the past, so it was possible.

However, it was still hard to ignore the fact that he and Gardevoir had just been deemed the tournament champions and thus the two grinned and embraced one-another, the crowd applauding them as they shared a big kiss, Nori letting down light tears and sniffing, "Leave it to Machoke to give us the greatest match in history. And with their victory, this tournament has come to a close. Show our champions what they've won."

Beedrill nodded and pulled out a big trophy with an image of two people standing side-by-side, holding their fists high in the air. The wasp then flew over to the duo and handed them the trophy, saying, "Here's to the greatest team in the Ultimate World Team Tournament," the crowd once again going wild as Machoke and Gardevoir held the trophy up with pride, Smeargle and Florges applauding them.

However, Machoke's happiness quickly turned to shock when he turned and noticed Diancie being loaded up onto a stretcher, the boy asking, "Hey, Beedrill, are you going to send her to prison after she recovers? I know she once served evil-" the wasp sighing, "Look, she was being manipulated. It's not like Ninetales and Talonflame where they knew full-well how serious their actions were. As a criminal, she will serve time, but I will subject her to community service. Honestly, I can't bring myself to put her behind bars."

Machoke breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "Thanks, man," Beedrill nodding and saying, "But seriously, congrats on the victory. I really hope we can one day have a true rematch, one where I'm the one facing you and not an imposter," the two laughing in response to this.

And sure enough, things soon turned out a lot better. After another week, every hero still in the hospital managed to recover, save for Masquerain who still had a ways to go. But with the level of consciousness she was showing, the doctors predicted it would only take her a month to regain full control of her actions, which felt like a true miracle. Needless to say, Florges and Smeargle were very happy to hear this.

Once Blaziken, Gallade, Hitmonchan and Aipom had made a full recovery, the first thing they all did was meet up with Machoke and the others to spend time in the club. Needless to say, the owner had prepared a big party in celebration of Machoke and Gardevoir's victory. They would have held it sooner, but Machoke figured it would be unfair not to have everyone present to enjoy it.

All of the heroes invited had come dressed up for the occasion. As usual, Machoke wore a T-shirt and pants. As for Gardevoir, while her jersey had been damaged, many told her she looked cooler with it ripped in its various places and thus she decided not to have this one replaced. Gallade settled for pants as he felt no need to dress up as Hitmonchan always wore her boxing outfit anyway, so she had no need to change.

Scyther wore a nice T-shirt and shorts, she and Reika holding hands while seated next to each-other. Heracross felt no need to wear anything while Lopunny had a black T-shirt and matching shorts on. As for the rhino beetle's horn, the doctors had managed to reattach it with very strong bandages, but that was the best they could do. They had tried to sew it on, but all that did was bend the needle.

Talonflame was dressed in a cool outfit of his own, Tsuya, as usual, fawning over him. However, she decided to tone it down a bit as Cici told her not to come on so strong, the falcon actually enjoying this to a certain degree. Though it was far too early to just decide that she might be worth it after all.

Aipom had even been invited, the monkey dressed in a small shirt of her own, even sporting a baseball cap. Needless to say, everyone found her positively adorable while she was just happy to finally join Machoke and his friends here. She had always secretly wanted to come to the club but never mustered up the courage to agree to come along whenever anyone offered. After all, she always tried to pass herself off as more mature than her age suggested.

Even Hawlucha had been given time off as he and his family had come to join into the celebration. And with Isabel having warmed up to Machoke, she was more than happy to hang out with him. And of course, Smeargle and Florges had arrived as well, the two having revealed their new-found affection toward each-other a few days ago.

Bisharp and Scrafty were there as well along with Lucario and Clauncher. They had intended on taking a trip back to England soon, but with the offer of a party, it was hard to refuse. Lucario's only regret was that Amanda could not be here to enjoy this with him.

Either way, the friends were all having a great time as Heracross said, "I can see why you guys like hanging around here so much," Lopunny nodding and saying, "It's so small and simple and yet it has really nice atmosphere."

"That and a karaoke machine," Clauncher replied as Florges had spent the last ten minutes singing a variety of different songs, the people all loving it while Smeargle applauded her, shouting, "Bravo! You are magnifique as always, Florges!" blowing her a kiss.

Gardevoir gave them a sweet smile and squealed, "It's funny, I never actually detected that kind of connection between them!" Machoke nodding and uttering, "Yeah, I thought for sure they were just friends."

He was then surprised when Lucario sat next to him, holding up a glass of scotch and saying, "Cheers," Machoke blinking and holding up his fruit punch, saying, "Yeah," clinking his glass against his, the dog chuckling and replying, "Guess you're officially better than me now."

"I wouldn't go that far," Machoke replied with a shrug, "I didn't even get to face you," the dog nodding and replying, "Still, I lost to Hoopa while he was in his normal state. You beat him in a much more powerful form, you and Gardevoir," before redirecting his gaze at the girl and adding, "I guess that makes you better than me as well."

The girl's cheeks flushed pink as she uttered, "Well, he was fighting on his own at that point," Machoke nodding and adding, "She's right, not to mention Diancie helped us out as well," Lucario sighing, "Will you just take my compliment?"

The two then broke out into hysterics as Aipom pulled out her cellphone, squealing, "Alright, everyone!" tilting it sideways, "Come together for a group photo!" all of the heroes along with Reika and her friends doing just as instructed.

While it was difficult, they all managed to fit just well enough for the phone's screen to capture all of them, Aipom exclaiming, "Say cheese!" most of them saying it save for Talonflame who figured he had much more dignity than that, but not too much to give a cool smirk to the camera while Aipom took a photo.

And from that point on, things only got better. Masquerain eventually recovered, and while it was not quite as fast as the doctors predicted, the recovery still took a lot shorter than one would have expected.

With Tsuya having actually matured lately, her feelings for Talonflame extending into more than just infatuation, the falcon starting to come around and see her as a good mate. At one point, he even agreed to come to Tokyo just to go on a first date with her, though this was mostly to shut her up. However, she wound up being so much fun to be around, even having more in common with him than he would have ever expected that he eventually started to develop the very feelings no one would have ever expected someone like him to be capable of possessing.

Eventually, Diancie's community service was over as she proved herself more than worthy of being a hero on Earth, and she decided to help the community to make up for all of her past mistakes. And strangely enough, it did not take as long for her to be accepted as one would have expected. And during that time, she had grown some long pink pair to replace the diamonds that had been shattered.

As for the Hoopa, he unfortunately did not change his ways. He swore that if he ever broke out of prison, he would attempt to enslave mankind again, but luckily, his handcuffs prevented that from ever happening meaning he would be stuck in prison for life.

Unfortunately, no one was able to find Vespiquen. Wherever the bee had gone, it seemed no actions from her had been reported on the news, so at the very least, she was not exactly performing villainous deeds. But this did not change the fact that she was still a fugitive and that if anyone found her, they would do whatever they could to make sure she would be sent to prison for working with Hoopa.

And of course, during all of this time, Machoke and Gardevoir continued to love each-other. And when Gardevoir turned eighteen, Machoke presented her a wedding ring as her birthday present, the woman beyond thrilled to have received this, giving him the biggest hug he had ever received.

Needless to say, Machamp was absolutely thrilled when he heard the news as were Kirlia and Ralts. To think that their kids would be married after having just entered adulthood. And at the very least, they had spent enough time with each-other to know this was right.

Of course, Machoke wasted no time inviting everyone close to him to the wedding, including all of his friends at the club. Needless to say, none of them would miss this for the world.

With Aipom being too old to be the flower girl at this point, what with her being in her young teens, Hawlucha had agreed to ask Lea if she could fill the position, and needless to say, she was more than excited to do this. As for the ring bearer, luckily, Reika had a cousin named Joji who was more than up to the task. In fact, he and Machoke had hung out a few times during the last couple of years, so he definitely knew and respected the man enough to bear the ring at his wedding.

Gallade was naturally the best man while Blaziken had volunteered to be the maid of honour. After all, she would not allow anyone else to fill that role even if the maid title did seem a tad unfitting for her.

And sure enough, many had arrived for the big day as Machoke was in the back, being suited up with Lucario helping him out, the man asking, "Be honestly, is this too fancy?" the dog rolling his eyes and remarking, "Come on, Machoke, you look great. Besides, Gardevoir will love you no matter what," the man nodding with a grin and replying, "Yeah, you're right."

All the while, Gardevoir was much more nervous than Machoke as all of her female friends were helping her with her dress. Luckily for her, it was no longer required that all wedding dresses had to be white, so she was able to get a black dress, the woman having picked that colour simply because it matched the first jersey Machoke had bought for her. A part of her originally wanted a red one to match the new top, but she felt like an homage to the first time she ever won a match on Earth would be much more appropriate.

"So, how do I look?" she asked, twirling around as Blaziken smirked, nodding her head and replying, "A true vision if I ever saw one. In fact, I'm actually kinda jealous," the chicken letting out a sigh as Gardevoir giggled and replied, "Don't worry, you'll find someone. I mean, Talonflame has a girlfriend now, right?"

Blaziken slowly nodded and replied, "Don't forget, though, Tsuya started crushing on him first," before tapping her chin and adding, "Now that you mention it, that does make my chances look higher."

The seats were all filled as Machamp pulled on his tie, asking, "How do I look, honey?" Kala rolling her eyes and replying, "You act as if it's your wedding," the man laughing nervously and sighing, "Well, if I don't look good enough, I may end up embarrassing Machoke."

Diancie was also among the crowd along with Beedrill and Butterfree. Thanks to Beedrill's new rules, even he as chairman could take a break from work every now and then granted he return to business as soon as something major came up. Besides, even if this was going too far, there was no way he would miss Machoke's wedding.

Meanwhile, Ralts groaned as he wound up in the middle row. This would have been fine if he was not significantly shorter than every other member of his family, not to mention that the person seated in front of him was really tall.

Seeing this, Kirlia rolled her eyes and said, "Here, darling," reaching into a bag she had brought and pulling out five rather large books, Ralts smiling and saying, "Honey, you're the best," the man now seated on top of them thus giving him just enough height to see the podium.

Hitmonchan looked at Gallade standing next to that very object with a sigh, saying, "One day, this is gonna be us with Tyrogue as the best man," Cici turning and asking, "Why not Hitmonlee?" the boxer replying, "Are you kidding? He and romance mix about as well as ketchup and chocolate."

Soon enough, it was time for the event to start as a priest from Hero Planet walked up to the stand. As he stood behind the podium, he cleared his throat and said, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join two heroes in holy matrimony. May the groom come to the stand?"

As Machoke entered the area with his fancy suit on, many turned and cheered for him, some even whistling. His father grinned and gave him all four thumbs up, Kala giving him a look as if to say 'Looking sharp, son.'

Machoke smiled as his nervousness left him, the man taking to the stage as the priest asked, "And will the bride come to the stand?"

Gardevoir entered looking the most beautiful she ever had. Of course, with her hair unable to stay any different than usual, it had not been dressed in the slightest, but that did not matter as many felt her hair looked perfect just the way it was. But when Machoke saw her in her dress, his heart raced faster than ever before, a big open-mouth smile on his face.

Kirlia and Ralts let down tears already. A part of them had trouble believing that they were already seeing a kid in the family wearing a wedding outfit, and they knew Gallade would soon sport his own wedding suit soon enough.

Following behind Gardevoir was Lea, throwing out flowers as Hawlucha's mother squealed, "Oh, she looks so adorable!" the parrot nodding and adding, "Si. I still can't believe a member of our family was chosen for this."

Isabel nodded and sighed, "Gardevoir sure is lucky. Machoke spared no expense."

As Gardevoir took to the stand, she and Machoke looked deep into each-other's eyes as Joji brought the ring on a small pillow, handing it over to Machoke with a grin. He then gave the man a thumb up as Machoke nodded and slipped the ring onto Gardevoir's finger.

The priest carried on with his speech as soon enough, it was time for the big moment as he asked, "Do you, Machoke, take this woman, Gardevoir, to be your lawfully wedded wife from now until death do you part?"

Machoke nodded and replied, "I do," the priest asking Gardevoir the same as she squealed, "Yes, I do."

The priest nodded as he stated, "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride," Machoke and Gardevoir both wrapping their arms around each-other, sharing a long kiss while the guests all cheered and applauded the two.

Machamp let down the most waterworks of anyone else there as Kala patted him on the shoulder, wiping her own tears and sniffing, "Yeah, it's beautiful, isn't it?"

And soon enough, Gardevoir threw a bouquet of flowers as Aipom ended up catching it, her cheeks bright pink as she squeaked, "Me!?" her friends all clapping and congratulating her.

Sure, the monkey did not completely believe superstition and less-than-realistic beliefs, yet the very idea that she could very well be the next of her friends to marry made her wonder if entering the dating scene might be worth it. After all, she had only just recently hit puberty, so it was not too unrealistic to at least believe it might happen to her someday, though she did seriously doubt that she would be the next in the group. That honour was already set to go to Hitmonchan next year and she would have felt bad having to make her wait at least four years for that to happen.

But with all said and done, the wedding reception had been a success as everyone had a piece of the beautiful wedding cake. And once that was over, Machoke and Gardevoir headed out of the church toward a limo, both holding hands as Gardevoir did not wish for her new husband to have to carry her. But needless to say, this was the happiest moment of her life and Machoke intended to fill the rest of it with even more happy memories.

Ten years passed with life only getting better for everyone. It seemed that after a while, evil had just stopped and thus the heroes no longer needed to focus on fighting and instead made a living off of real jobs. Though they never stopped training every now and then as fighting in the ring had been quite thrilling for most of them, especially Smeargle whose new power never left him thus resulting in him having gone from the weakest Hero Planet graduate to a genuine powerhouse. In fact, he had earned himself quite the reputation as of late, especially when he had been awarded the third place trophy way back in the Ultimate World Team Tournament.

Of course, during this time, just about every hero had settled down with someone. Gallade and Hitmonchan had their wedding almost a year after Machoke and Gardevoir's, Gallade going to extreme lengths to make it the best he could.

Scyther and Reika had a beautiful wedding that, despite the controversy, no one would dare not support. As for Talonflame and Tsuya, the falcon did not want a big, fancy wedding and Tsuya, having matured a lot, did not wish to force him into it. And as a result, the two became common-law partners with Talonflame having moved into Tsuya's new house.

Aipom, at the age of nineteen had even started dating a nice young man named Takashi and soon enough, they were married as well. And it was not long until many others followed.

Though quite possibly one of the biggest events was the big day, exactly ten years later on Gardevoir and Machoke's anniversary. It had been nine months since Machoke had impregnated Gardevoir and needless to say, all of his friends living in Tokyo had to be there to see the big moment, the birth of their new child.

And after hours on end of nothing but pain, Gardevoir was breathing heavily with a light smile on her face, tears rolling down her cheeks as Machoke grinned, cradling his new baby girl, a grey lizard-like creature with ridges just like his. The only major difference as far as appearance went was that, for whatever reason, she was the first in the Mach family to ever have a tail.

"Wow, this is so cool," he said with a grin as the baby stared at him, Gardevoir nodding as her smile brightened, the man holding his new child up and saying, "Welcome to Tokyo, Machop."

The end

(You can find the sequel stories here: https://www.fanfiction.net/~nld200xy )