Shortly after the last of Deoxys' allies had fallen, Machoke finally made it to the top of the staircase leading to the alien's quarters. He breathed heavily and stood before the entrance, falling down on one knee and resting his hands against the door. He looked at the floor and coughed up a bit of phloem with an annoyed look on his face.

"Who the hell installs a staircase that goddamn huge!?" he complained before releasing more breaths, "Shit, at least the others were actually reasonable! God, how did he even get all the way up here without exhausting himself!?"

He then righted himself up and regained his composure, clearing his throat before breathing in and out. Right now, all that mattered was defeating Deoxys in a rematch and saving his daughter. After all, he had run all the way here and there was no way he would back down now.

Deoxys, all the while, had Machop seated in a special chair he had made himself just for her. He implied a smile with his eyes and said, "Don't get too comfortable. Once your daddy and his friends have been slaughtered, I'm going to make sure you learn to walk and fight as soon as possible, by any means necessary."

However, his eyes widened when he heard a loud knock on his door. And when he turned, sure enough, Machoke had managed to knock it off its hinges with a hard kick. He then gritted his teeth, steam shooting from his nostrils as he pointed and barked, "Give my back my daughter, you asshole!"

The alien continued to stare, about to question how he had made it. Though when he saw that the man was alone, he nodded and said, "I see. You abandoned your friends so you could make it here. Fatherly love sure does make you do crazy things."

"Shut it!" Machoke retorted, "I know they've all wiped the floor with your allies, just like I'm gonna wipe the floor with you!"

Deoxys narrowed his eyelids and grunted, "You know, your father was just as irritating and stubborn as you were. No matter how many times he fell down, no matter how many times he should have died, he kept coming back for more punishment. That's why I stabbed you in the chest when I had the chance, and yet somehow, you still managed to survive! But no matter."

Machop looked at her father only for Deoxys to pick up the seat he had placed her in. Machoke gritted his teeth and growled, "Unhand her!" only for the alien to roll his eyes and sigh, "Relax. I'm merely moving her to a safer location so she won't get hurt during our fight. After all, the last thing I want is to accidentally kill my protege."

He then locked her seat to a shelf high above the floor before leaping back down, Machoke becoming angrier by the second. Even though he already knew in advance what Deoxys had planned, hearing him say it made his blood boil. There was no way he would allow the alien to get away with this.

However, just as he was about to charge at him, he then remembered what Aipom would likely tell him to do in this situation. She would likely tell him to calm down and think strategically. After all, he had been caught off guard too easily during the first encounter. But now he knew some of Deoxys' techniques and had a perfect chance to take advantage of that.

With that in mind, the man took a deep breath and frowned, saying, "Mark my words. Machop will never serve evil, especially not you," Deoxys sighing, "Keep telling yourself that," racing toward Machoke with his tentacles at the ready.

An aura surrounded all four as he spat, "COSMIC WHIP!" sending them toward Machoke's face only for him to raise his hands and take hold of the tentacles, two in each hand.

Deoxys' eyes were wide with shock when the man flung him around and slammed him hard into the wall. He then smirked and grunted, "Not only do we Machs have a high tolerance for pain, but we also tend to learn from past experiences!"

Before the alien could even respond, Machoke took full advantage of his state and raced toward him, ramming his elbow into his gut. He then wrapped his arms around him, making sure to keep his tentacles locked in place so he could not save himself with them this time. And with that, the man leaned backward and lifted the alien up, planting the back of his head into the floor.

Machop giggled and clapped, seeming to enjoy this while Machoke released his hold on Deoxys and allowed him to collapse. He then grinned at the baby and asked, "Did you see that, Machop? Daddy kicked the mean freak show's butt!"

Just hearing Machoke use that word brought back painful memories for Deoxys. While none of his peers back on Mercury ever called him that, they did call him similar names. As such, he narrowed his eyelids and growled, "I AM NOT A FREAK!"

He then rose to his feet and suddenly started to mold his body into a new form. Machoke turned to face him with horror while the blue stripes on his legs grew in length, now reaching down the entire front side of each. A spike formed on each of his knees while his tentacles became thinner and more like actual whips. The square shaped protrusions on the sides of his head were now triangular, a long pointy tail grew out of his rear end and most of his upper body went from orange to black.

"You know, it took Machamp a lot to draw out my attack form," Deoxys growled, "You should feel honoured to fall victim to it so soon in the match."

Machoke refused to let this get to him and attempted to fight back only for Deoxys to send his tentacles into his shoulders and forearms, shouting, "COSMIC SPEARS!"

Machoke cried out in pain while Deoxys drew him inward and pierced his knees with his spikes. He then leapt backward and planted the back of Machoke's head into the floor, shouting, "COSMIC SPIKE SUPLEX!" the man already coughing up blood while the alien released his hold and allowed him to collapse.

Just like before, Deoxys had already managed to deal incredible damage with only a couple of hits. But now it was even worse since he knew Machoke could likely survive another stab to the chest. As such, he readied his tentacles and grunted, "Now to make sure you stay dead!"

However, all Machoke had to do was direct his gaze over to Machop to regain his fighting spirit, thus he spat, "OH NO YOU DON'T!" lifting his feet up and aiming them toward Deoxys' chest.

His eyes widened, though, when the alien once again changed form. His upper body became completely orange again but his entire body was now more bulky. His legs were now twice their original width and flatter on the bottom with a bluish-green spot on each knee. His tentacles were now thick and more like long rectangles. He no longer had a neck as his head had fused with the rest of his body and his protrusions had vanished, making his head look more like a helmet.

He folded his tentacles in front of his face, the aura still surrounding them as he shouted, "COSMIC BARRIER!" Thus when Machoke's feet rammed into them, they had no effect whatsoever. In fact, a sharp pain had actually coursed through Machoke's legs as a result as he cried out in pain, Machop now looking concerned.

"You even gave me a reason to use my defence form," Deoxys quipped before shifting back into his attack form, "Not many fighters are good enough to pull that off."

Machoke gritted his teeth as he realized he would really need to think now. Even though the fight had not lasted a long time, Deoxys was clearly pulling out all the stops. Thus Machoke would have to find some way to hit him before he could activate his defence form again.

As such, he simply stood his ground and waved his hand toward himself as if to challenge Deoxys to hit him again. The alien implied a smirk and raced toward the man, preparing to stab him with his tentacles again. But just as he was about to do so, Machoke raced forward and lowered himself, sliding right between the alien's legs and reaching for his ankles.

However, he was shocked when Deoxys leapt into the air just in time to avoid it, his appearance once again changing. He now had a more sleek body with thin lines along his legs. Now only his head, hip joints and chest area were orange as the rest of him had become black. He only had two tentacles, but now they looked more like actual whips. His protrusions pointed upward and a long spike jutted out the back of his head.

"And now you've brought out my speed form," Deoxys sighed before landing quickly enough to plant his feet against Machoke's hands, "Boy, aren't you lucky?"

He then leapt slightly back from Machoke and lifted him up with his tentacles, hurling the man the wall. And before Machoke could even figure out what just happened, Deoxys sped toward him and rammed his skull into his gut, shouting, "COSMIC ROCKET DASH!"

Machoke coughed up even more blood, his eyes and mouth wide with terror. Deoxys backed away from him and took on his attack form once more, implying a smile with his eyes and saying, "Don't look so down. You lasted longer than most opponents I've faced. Not as long as your dad, but still."

The man continued to stare at the alien in horror. How had Machamp managed to defeat him back in the day? This seemed impossible. He had a different form for every situation.

However, it was at that moment that Machoke remembered all the other villains he had faced prior to this moment. Beedrill, Rotom, Bisharp, Talonflame, Medicham, Ninetales, Missingno, Giratina, Ditto, Ditta, Vespiquen and Hoopa, they had all been incredibly challenging adversaries for him. Each one of them along with various heroes he had fought in tournaments put his skills to the ultimate test, and in the end, he had managed to defeat almost all of them with Lucario having been the only exception.

And when he heard Machop scream, "Papa!" he knew he could not allow Deoxys to win no matter how powerful he was. All the while, a light tear ran down his cheek as he sniffed, "Only three days old and she's already calling me Papa."

Deoxys blinked and uttered, "The hell are you going on about?" only for Machoke to clench his fists and grit his teeth, barking, "Hey, why are you standing around!? This match isn't over yet!"

The alien narrowed his eyelids and sent his tentacles toward Machoke only for the man to leap over them. He then descended toward Deoxys' head with his foot out only only for the alien to take on his defence form again. But this time, Machoke was prepared as he pointed his other foot forward and spread out his legs, wrapping them around the alien's head when he was close enough.

He then leaned backward and planted his palms against the floor, shouting, "Going up!" Deoxys' eyes wide with shock when the man managed to lift him up and drive his skull into the surface with a frankensteiner.

What surprised Deoxys even more than the fact that Machoke had managed to pull this off was just how much it hurt. When Machamp defeated him, the circumstances were similar, but he had used his Ultimate Driver to hurt him while he was in his defence form. Yet somehow, Machoke did not even need to do that.

"You know, Lucario defeated my Mach Cover technique in a similar fashion when I fought him," Machoke explained with a smirk, "Even the mightiest of bodies can take in damage with enough height."

"No!" the alien retorted before propelling himself back to his feet and taking on his speed form, "You can't beat what you can't hit!" racing around the area before body checking Machoke. After causing the man to wince, he resumed running and struck him again. But after the third time, the man knew what he could do about this, thus he closed his eyes.

Deoxys rushed toward him from the side only for Machoke to throw out his fist and punch him square in the face, knocking him on his back while he skidded across the floor and into the wall. He started to tremble as he uttered, "How did you do that? Even Machamp wasn't able to stop my speed form that easily," Machoke smirking and remarking, "All I did was listen to your footsteps."

Deoxys glared angrily at the man and morphed back into his normal form, shouting, "I will have my revenge, and I'll do it using my most basic form!"

But when he sent his tentacles forward, Machoke could already tell he had won this fight. Deoxys was clearly out of ideas, and thus the man took full advantage of this and took hold of his tentacles one last time. And before the alien could even try to retaliate, Machoke hurled him high into the air and knelt down, saying, "By the way, while the Ultimate Driver may be powerful, I've invented a couple of my own moves."

Deoxys was truly mortified, Machop cheering and clapping while Machoke launched himself off the floor and rolled up into a ball. He then spun vertically into the alien's back and reached his arms and legs back, locking Deoxys' tentacles and ankles in place. The man proceeded to spin like a wheel while he descended toward the floor and shouted, "THIS IS THE FIRST FINISHING MOVE I MADE MYSELF, SUNSET SLAM!"

Deoxys closed his eyes and thought, 'Why?' his belly hitting the floor hard before he cried out in agonizing pain. And it only got worse for him when Machoke took hold of the back of his head and rammed his face hard into the material, finally knocking him out for good.

He breathed heavily and looked down at the alien, sighing, "I imagine you must have had a reason for doing what you did, but whatever it was, it wasn't worth it. Evil is never worth it."

He then leapt up to the shelf where Machop had been seated and scooped her up, cradling her in his arms and saying, "It's alright, sweetie. You're safe and sound now," the baby touching the man's face lightly before yawning and drifting off to sleep.

It was at that moment that Gardevoir had finally climbed the steps and entered the room, gasping, "Machoke, is everything o-!?" the man placing his finger against his lips and shushing her. When the woman saw their baby girl in Machoke's arms, all was clear as she smiled softly and walked over to him, resting an arm around his shoulder and sighing with relief. She knew Machoke would win, but she had still needed to see the results for herself.

And soon enough, everyone was fully recovered and standing outside. Deoxys and his followers were naturally placed under arrest and were to be taken back to Hero Planet. While he was loaded up into the back of a prison ship, he looked weakly at Machoke before looking down with a hopeless expression. Now he knew for sure that his goal of taking over the universe was nothing more than a stupid pipe dream.

Beedrill and Butterfree, who were both healthy enough to head back with the authorities, bowed their heads to the heroes. Both wished they could have helped more, but Machoke reassured them that they had assisted enough by simply telling them about the tower.

And once the ship with the prisoners had taken off toward Hero Planet, Machoke let out a sigh and said, "I'm sorry you all had to do this. You all put everything on hold for a birthday party but instead had to, in a matter of speaking, go back to work."

"It was no trouble at all," Blaziken remarked with a smirk, "Kicking evil's ass after so many years felt beyond satisfying," Gallade nodding and adding, "And did I mention I actually beat Genesect all on my own!?"

All except Hitmonchan groaned, "Only a hundred times already," the boxer kissing him on the lips and saying, "You're all just jealous of his badassery."

Scyther sighed, "My only regret was not helping out more," only for Hitmonchan to shake her head and reply, "Hey, you did a good job. It's not like I've never suffered defeat before," the insect smiling and replying, "Danke."

"Remember, Machoke, we are always here to help you when you need it," Lucario stated, he, Machoke and Gardevoir sharing a big hug before the reptilian man turned to Aipom and said, "I just knew you'd beat Rotom."

Aipom chuckled and replied, "Yeah, it actually felt pretty good letting him have it. But I'm much more proud of you right now. I know you've saved the world before, but it still amazes me that my own pupil has managed to pull that off three times now."

Machoke and the monkey shared a hug of their own when Blaziken grinned and said, "Now, I believe we all still have a party to set up, don't we?"

A week later, everyone helped set up for Machop's first official birthday party, all of Machoke and Gardevoir's friends more than happy to do this. And needless to say, the event went by without a hitch. Even though Machop was a baby and hardly knew what was going on, she still very clearly had a fun time.

Of course, shortly after, those not living in Tokyo had to return to their respective countries. Though it seemed as if Gallade and Hitmonchan would not be away from Machoke and Gardevoir for long as both had revealed that they were actually planning on moving to Paris very soon. Needless to say, Gallade was beyond ecstatic.

And of course, Machop would later grow up to be a hero just like her father, though she did have struggles of her own to overcome. If you would like to know what those were, well, you can read it for yourself.