What a stressful day this had been. Machoke had finally defeated Rotom only to end up too badly beaten to take on Scrafty. Things at least seemed to work out okay as his friends managed to delay a horrible failure, but that miracle started to fade. Not only had Gallade lost to Scrafty, but Gardevoir had taken his place and she still hardly seemed ready for this sort of thing.

Gardevoir had been gone from the area from a few minutes when Machoke came to check on her in the training facility. The girl really seemed to be doing her hardest as she delivered a series of palm punches to a punching bag, a look of determination on her face.

Machoke let out a sigh and still believed that he should help her out in some way, the boy walking over to her and patting her on the shoulder. Gardevoir turned to him, about to tell him to leave when the boy volunteered to help her out. Sure, he was no expert either, but he had picked up quite a few things from Hero School that he figured would help.

He helped her lift some dumbbells in the hopes that Gardevoir could build up her muscle strength even just a little bit. Sure, Scrafty did not have the same tough skin that Nidoqueen had, but he was still a force to be reckoned with.

After that, he had her using his hands as targets to practice her palm punches. At one point, she ended up missing one of his hands and smacked him in the face to which she promptly apologized, Machoke simply congratulating her for actually causing a bit of pain from the hit.

After more and more training, Gardevoir only had ten minutes before her match started, Machoke taking a deep breath and saying, "I'm sure you can do this. You've improved quite a bit," Gardevoir blushing and asking, "Do you think so?"

Machoke nodded and replied, "I know so," flashing the girl thumbs up as she gave the boy a light hug, squeaking, "Thank you so much!" giving him a light peck on the cheek, Machoke's eyes going wide as the girl got up to head to the ring, the boy saying, "Wait, you still have ten minutes."

Gardevoir turned to him as the boy grinned, saying, "Neither I nor your brother had a chance to make a big entrance, but you actually do, and I got just the thing in mind," the girl actually interested in what he had to suggest, thinking this would be a good way to help her stay positive before the match started.

After nine-and-a-half minutes, everyone had taken a seat and was ready for the match to start, Blaziken sighing, "I really hope your sister knows what she's doing," Gallade replying, "Relax. My sis can beat that punk no sweat."

Aipom was still scared after all this time, but was at least a bit grateful that Lucario bought her a salad for lunch to keep her from starving. Either way, tensions were high as the announcer took her seat and got ready.

"In the red corner," the woman announced, "representing the villains and weighing at thirty kilos, Scrafty!" the audience once again booing and jeering the lizard as he approached the ring from the entrance on his side, a smirk on his face as he walked over to the ring, propelling himself off the floor, performing a few flips in the air and landing firmly against the surface.

"And in the blue corner," the woman added, "fighting to protect Tokyo and weighing forty-eight-and-a-half kilos, Gardevoir!"

The crowd was ready to start cheering before noticing Gardevoir not entering, though they did hear voices coming from the entrance way, a young girl squeaking, "I'm scared, Machoke! What if they laugh?" Machoke's voice replying, "Don't worry, you look great."

Gallade's jaw dropped when he saw his dear, beloved sister approach the ring wearing a black jersey and a spiked collar around her neck. Her hair had also been styled into a Mohawk as she had an angry, aggressive look on her face. Needless to say, Machoke had told her to go in with 'bad girl' plastered over her.

Gardevoir took a deep breath, remembering his instructions as she placed a firm grip against the ropes, propelling herself above them and performing a handstand on the top rope before allowing her body to drop, landing gracefully against the mat, the girl absolutely shocked that she was able to pull it off.

The crowd continued to stare, Blaziken groaning, "What the hell is this?" the chicken expecting to see anger from Gallade but was shocked to see him smiling, the boy letting down light tears and sniffing, "I don't know what Machoke did, but he's a miracle worker!"

Gardevoir glared at Scrafty, the lizard looking beyond confused. The girl was starting to lose a bit of confidence and turned back, noticing Machoke standing just a short walk from the ring and giving her thumbs up. Seeing this gave her the confidence to finish the routine as she pointed at Scrafty, exclaiming in a low, punk-like tone, "Yer roadkill, sucka!" Gallade's smile fading as he uttered, "Okay, that's going too far."

With that, Gardevoir pulled off the jersey, which of course now had a big slit down the middle of it thanks to her chest spike, the girl tossing it out of the ring. With that, the routine was over, her hair suddenly returning to normal on its own, Machoke shrugging and saying, "Oh well, at least it stayed up as long as it did."

The audience was still in shock, the announcer at a loss for words. Even Lucario could not help but stare at this display, an orchestra of crickets hopping into the area and providing chirping sounds throughout the area.

Gardevoir looked like she was about to cry when she heard Gallade shout, "THAT WAS AWESOME, SIS! EXCEPT FOR THAT ROADKILL TAUNT! EVERYTHING ELSE WAS GREAT!" Gardevoir smiling as the audience decided to give her a pity clap, seeing that she really was trying her best to make a good first impression.

Blaziken snickered and said, "You're a great brother, you know that?" Gallade remarking, "What? I meant every word of that," Gardevoir about to take the collar off when Machoke gave her a confused look, the girl blinking and realizing what that was about, keeping it on. After all, it would be insulting to take it off before the end of the match.

Scrafty snapped out of his shock and said, "That was actually pretty cool. I didn't think someone like ya could make that work," Blaziken shouting, "HE LIKED IT TOO!?" Gardevoir bowing her head in respect, the lizard sighing, "Again, I don't want your thanks."

However, before the match could get underway, Gardevoir held up her hands to call a timeout, turning to Lucario and saying, "There's something I want to know before the fight starts," the dog giving her a look of confusion before she sighed, "If you're really evil, why did you save my brother and I from that robber?"

"Wait, ya did what?" Scrafty asked, Machoke blinking and uttering, "I didn't know that either," the area now listening to what Lucario had to say. That was a very good question indeed.

Lucario let out a sigh and replied, "I wanted you all to myself, that's why," Gallade wincing at the sound of this but was surprised when Gardevoir did not seem the least bit fazed by these words.

"You're lying," the girl replied, "I can tell, but I can also tell you're not ready to tell the truth yet, so I'll wait," the announcer asking, "Can I ring the bell now?" Gardevoir nodding before turning back to her opponent. Just what was Lucario hiding?

And with that, the bell was rung as the match finally started, Gardevoir taking a deep breath and holding a defensive stance. After her time spent with Machoke, she actually felt ready for this now. There was no way Scrafty was going to beat her with ease.

Scrafty, of course, did not wait as he charged toward the girl with his head out. Gardevoir held out her hands to defend herself just like she had when facing Nidoqueen. However, the odds of it working this time were low as that strange power from before had not yet been activated.

When Scrafty's head closed in, Gardevoir found herself surprisingly able to hold him back, though his crest being alarmingly close to her chest did frighten her a bit. To make matters worse, her strength was not enough to keep him back for long as the lizard started pushing her slowly toward the ropes.

In a state of panic, Gardevoir simply released her hold, attempting to dodge to the side. However, this proved ineffective as the side of Scrafty's head ran into her ribcage, the girl crying out in pain and falling to the side, stopping the fall with one hand, breathing heavily and trying to regain focus.

She tried to ignore the pain, shaking her head as she knew she had to be tough. With that in mind, she rose to her feet, Scrafty charging at the girl a second time. Gardevoir took a deep breath and tried her best to concentrate, noticing the lizard was aiming a kick toward her this time.

The girl attempted to dodge to the right only for Scrafty to smirk, turning around mid-way and sending a roundhouse into her side. Gardevoir cried out in pain as she fell on her side again, this time landing on her shoulder.

Machoke's eyes went wide in disbelief, Gallade and Blaziken hoping she was okay while Gardevoir herself simply could not believe this. After all that training with Machoke, after her strength had actually gone up a bit, a single hit was still enough to bring her to her knees.

Logically speaking, though, this was not too unexpected. After all, Machoke had only trained her for a tad more than forty minutes. That was not a particularly long period of time and she was unable to handle the strength training procedures on Hero Planet, so she had barely trained her muscles at all.

"I'm disappointed," Scrafty said with a sigh, "Ya came in looking so cool and confident but you're really just a weakling," Gardevoir starting to lose confidence when Machoke spat, "Don't listen to him! You actually managed to hurt me during training, remember!? Look at my physique and think about that!"

The girl's eyes went wide as she nodded, rising to her feet and fibbing, "That barely hurt at all," Gardevoir trying her absolute best to sound intimidating with that statement.

"And ya have the gall to call Lucario a liar," Scrafty remarked, shaking his head and adding, "Oh well, at least this'll be more fun, I guess."

With that, the lizard propelled himself off the mat, aiming a knee kick toward the girl's head and shouting, "HIGH JUMP KICK!" Gallade's eyes going wide as he barked, "GARDEVOIR, DODGE IT NOW!"

Gardevoir nodded and swayed gracefully out of harm's way, Scrafty's knee hitting the surface hard as his eyes widened. A light tear fell from his left eye as he fell on his back, rolling around in pain while clutching his knee.

Gallade took a deep breath and said, "I remembered how much it hurt when I used my arms to block that before. Figured a harder surface would deal more damage," Blaziken nodding and saying, "Not bad."

Gardevoir breathed a sigh of relief, resting her hand against her heart when Machoke exclaimed, "Quick, get him while he's down!" the girl's eyes going wide briefly as she nodded, squeaking, "Of course!" as she leapt toward the lizard, planting her right foot into his gut, Scrafty actually taking in a considerable amount of pain from this.

Gardevoir sported a big smile as she turned to Machoke and squealed, "DID YOU SEE THAT!? I REALLY HURT HIM, DIDN'T I!?" Machoke nodding and replying, "You sure did!" not even bothering to tell her that an attack like that could deal a good amount of pain to anyone no matter who used it.

Scrafty slowly rose to his feet, panting while holding his belly and grunting, "Okay, guess I can't take ya lightly after that stunt of yours," Gardevoir tilting her head to the side asking, "Um... Mister Scrafty, sir, may I ask you something?"

All went silent for a few seconds until Scrafty blinked, scratching the side of his head and replying, "Okay, sure, why not?" Gardevoir rubbing her chin and enquiring, "I notice you have your own way of saying the word 'you' but you don't use that way of saying it all the time. Why is that?"

"Oh, I'm surprised you're the first person to catch that," the lizard replied, a grin forming on his face as he added, "I'll be happy to explain that. See, it really depends on how it sounds in context with the next word. For instance, if the next word starts with a vowel or sounds to much like 'ya', it doesn't roll off the tongue quite as easily, but also, if I were to say something like 'yar' instead of 'your' I'd sound too much like a pirate."

"Is he for real?" Aipom asked, Lucario sighing, "I can't believe they're even having this conversation right now."

However, Gardevoir was actually really interested in this as she clapped her hands, squeaking, "Wow, so much attention to detail! I'm really impressed," Scrafty sporting a smug grin and replying, "Yeah, I don't mean to brag, but I'm a lot smarter than I look."

With that, Scrafty took a deep breath and said, "Man, almost forgot we were having a fight right now," the lizard rushing at Gardevoir once again, only this time he knew he would need to be more careful. After that last stunt, there was no way he was going to let her get to him again.

Gardevoir took the defensive again, remembering how he had managed to get past her first two counters. With that in mind, she waited for Scrafty to start up an attack only for the lizard to try absolutely nothing, no prepared kicks or anything.

Instead, the lizard stopped right in front of her and snickered saying, "Go on, hit me," all going silent as he turned his head to the side adding, "Give me a good palm punch right here," Gardevoir not even sure what to do as Gallade looked equally confused, Blaziken letting out a sigh and barking, "HE'S TRYING TO BAIT YOU! DON'T TAKE IT!"

Gardevoir gasped and backed up, Scrafty smirking as he proceeded to race behind her, kicking her hard in the back. All went silent as Gardevoir fell hard on her face, coughing up blood for the first time in the match. She had certainly lasted longer than when she faced Nidoqueen, but it was still painful beyond compare.

"Oh no," Machoke whimpered, clutching his head while thinking, 'All of that confidence has surely left her now!'

"Truth be told, I had a plan for both situations," the lizard explained with a smirk while folding his arms and adding, "If you had attacked me, I would have shrugged off the pain and struck ya back. I knew I could take it after seeing how weak your arms are earlier."

"So she was doomed no matter what," Aipom whimpered, the announcer stating, "Well, it would seem that Scrafty here really is a lot smarter than he appears. Even with Gardevoir taking the safer approach, she still wound up taking in a considerable amount of pain."

The crowd was even more scared than ever before. Despite her confidence earlier, Gardevoir was fairing even worse than Gallade had. What could she possibly do?

Despite her pain, though, Gardevoir tried her hardest to ignore the blood coming from her mouth as she started to push herself up, mumbling, "I have to-to win," Scrafty sighing, "It pains me to see someone so beautiful suffer, but I knew what I was getting myself into when I joined the dark side."

With that, the lizard propelled himself off the mat, aiming his knee toward the girl's back shouting, "I'LL GIVE YOU THE HONOUR OF FALLING TO MY STRONGEST ATTACK, HIGH JUMP KICK!"

But just as it was about to connect, a violet aura surrounded Gardevoir's hands, the girl quickly turning around and holding them up, the knee running into her palms. While Scrafty's feet were not harmed by this counter-measure, it did seem to prevent Gardevoir from taking in further damage as the lizard leaped away from her, a look of shock in his eyes.

'This power...' he thought, 'I could have sworn she didn't have it before, so where did it come from?'

The lizard shook his head and refused to let this discourage him as he rushed at the girl again, this time pointing his head out. Gardevoir panicked and held out her hands in defence, not having enough time to think up a more effective strategy. However, unlike before, her hands had actually prevented Scrafty from advancing any further.

No one had any idea what was going on but cheered anyway, Aipom and Lucario both very interested in this sudden burst of strength. Hearing the roar of the crowd gave Gardevoir her confidence back as she opened her eyes, noticing what everyone was freaking out over.

"So it seems my training is paying off," the girl said with a light smile, forming circles with her pointing fingers and thumbs before flicking Scrafty in the face.

This actually managed to cause enough pain to cause the lizard to back away from her, rubbing both sides that she had flicked and shouting, "WHY DID THAT HURT SO MUCH!?"

Gardevoir proceeded to leap past the lizard, hooking his neck and shouting, "MOON HOOK!" sending the back of his head into the mat as he actually coughed up a bit of blood, the girl breathing heavily while looking down at him, saying, "I guess the fight gave me just enough extra workout time to make my muscles even stronger," her eyes sparkling when she said this.

"That doesn't make much sense, but maybe her body works differently from that of most people," Aipom said to herself as Machoke refused to say anything, Blaziken turning to Gallade before asking, "Does she not even notice the aura surrounding her hands?"

Gallade blinked and said, "Now that you mention it," the boy letting down a sweat drop and adding with a nervous grin, "She might not actually know of her powers."

The chicken face-palmed and sighed, "After this match, you're going to have to tell her. Right now, she's under the impression that her training with Machoke caused this. When this power leaves her and doesn't come to her right away in her next match, she'll wonder where it all went," Gallade nodding and replying, "Yeah, you're right."

Scrafty slowly rose to his feet, rubbing his aching neck and taking deep breaths of his own. There was no way he was going to let this sudden burst of strength ruin everything for him. He had come so close to finishing her off and he was not going to lose this chance.

With that in mind, the lizard lunged at Gardevoir, knowing his fake-out trick would not work now that she was strong enough to use it against him. With that in mind, he decided to rely on stealth as he propelled himself off the mat and over Gardevoir's head, flipping toward the ropes and bouncing off of them, his head aimed at her back.

Gardevoir was unable to react in time as he spat, "HEAD SMASH!" ramming his crest hard into the girl's back.

Gardevoir fell forward, but managed to keep her face from colliding with the mat with her hands. After all, she had seen him use this same technique on her brother, so she knew how it worked.

With that in mind, she tried something she had never thought of before, remembering how successful her handstand earlier had been. She managed to propel her lower body up high enough to land a hard two-legged kick into a spellbound Scrafty's chin, the lizard coughing up more blood as an aura was now covering the girl's feet as well thus sending the lizard high into the air.

Seeing this, Gardevoir pushed herself up and jumped to his level, Machoke asking, "Gardevoir, what are you doing? You don't know any slam moves!" Gardevoir replying, "I know, but I can at least try to come up with one when the opportunity arises."

Thinking fast, the girl came up with something rather simple as she placed her hands against Scrafty's cheeks, the lizard asking, "What are you trying to do?" the girl smiling softly and squeaking, "I have absolutely no idea."

The crowd stared in wonder as Gardevoir proceeded to lower his head below her body, keeping her legs above her own head, tilting Scrafty's head so the back of his neck was facing the mat, the girl squealing, "Can't have your crest saving your life, now, can I!?"

Scrafty was in full panic now as his neck was slammed hard again the mat, Lucario and Aipom's eyes wide with shock. Scrafty coughed up one last bit of blood before his body collapsed, the lizard now unable to move just long enough for his loss to be official, the announcer ringing the bell.

"And in a stunning turn of events, Gardevoir has created a new finishing move!" the woman exclaimed, "No one knows where this sudden burst of power came from, but the important thing is Scrafty has finally been defeated!"

The crowd cheered wildly, Gallade letting down tears and sniffing, "I'm so proud," Blaziken sighing, "Remember, you'll have to tell her sooner than later," the chicken then smiling and joining into the cheering.

Gardevoir smiled lightly at Machoke who stepped into the ring, holding his arms out before hesitating, Gardevoir embracing him. She now felt like she was truly ready to fight evil and it was his influence that pushed her in the right direction.

With that, Lucario let out a sigh and unlocked Aipom's cuffs, the monkey staring at him in confusion as the dog rose up and heading toward the exit. Everyone directed their gaze toward him as Machoke asked, "Where are you going? We haven't had our fight yet."

"I know," the dog replied with a sigh, "But honestly, I don't wanna serve evil anymore," everyone now more confused than ever.

Lucario noticed this and took a deep breath, adding, "I may as well explain myself. See, the reason I joined the dark side isn't because of family matters, though, Machoke, you are right that I don't particularly like my father, but that's a story I'd prefer not to tell."

Machoke blinked and nodded his head asking, "If it's not that, then why did you join the dark side?" Lucario sighing, "Well, to be honest, it wasn't a matter of pride or a want of destruction either. It's simply that I don't know what I want to do with my life."

All went silent as Machoke asked, "Are you serious?" Gardevoir nodding and replying, "I can tell he's not lying this time," Lucario nodding and explaining, "I figured maybe I was born to be evil and that I had finally found my true place, but the truth is, I don't like what they had me doing. When I killed that human earlier, I felt kind of bad."

"Well, if evil isn't what you want, try serving good instead," Machoke replied, Blaziken nodding and adding, "It is true you'll probably face some time in prison for murder, but once they let you out, you might find serving justice to be worth your while."

Lucario simply shook his head and sighed, "Maybe someday, maybe not. Right now, I just don't know," the dog exiting the area as Machoke lowered his eyelids, saying, "That guy is messed up."

However, panic returned to the area when Scrafty suddenly recovered from his head-blow, sitting upright and shooting a cold stare at Gardevoir. The girl squeaked in fear, holding up her arms defensively only for the lizard to surprise everyone by shooting her a grin.

"Ya got me good," he said with a shockingly positive tone, "Ya got me real good. I did NOT see that coming."

"So you're not mad?" Gardevoir squeaked, Scrafty shaking his head and replying, "Nah, I'm a good sport. I know when I'm licked, though man, the others are not going to let me hear the end of this."

"Why go back, then?" Machoke asked, "If you know you're gonna get punished, why return?" Scrafty letting out a sigh and replying, "I'll let ya in on a little secret. Consider it a bonus for beating me."

Everyone was quite curious as the lizard sighed, "Lucario's issues may not be family-related, but mine are. The truth is, I used to be a really nice guy. I always stood up for the little guy and would often convince bad people to start obeying the law. Unfortunately, my daddy never noticed any of this stuff."

Gardevoir blinked and asked, "What do you mean?" Scrafty explaining, "Well, whenever I'd go about my heroics, most of the time, it would result in a fight. My daddy would always get the wrong impression when I came home covered in bruises and would never take the time to hear my side of the story, so I ran away and became exactly what he thought I was."

"That's not right," Machoke said with a serious look in his eyes, everyone turning their gaze to him as he added, "All you ended up doing was proving your dad right. He may not have seen you for who you were, but so many others did. Maybe if you had them talk to him, he might have gotten to know the real you, but now, well, you've tarnished your image."

"You're right," Scrafty replied, looking down when Gardevoir patted him on the shoulder, giving him a light smile and cooing, "It's not too late. You have lots of time to make things up," Scrafty nodding and replying, "First, I'm going to apologize to Daddy, then I'll turn myself into the government and take whatever punishment they have for me."

A smirk then crossed his face as he added, "Thankfully, I've never gone so far as to kill anyone, so my sentence should be fairly light, don't ya think?" the others nodding with warm smiles on their faces, the lizard taking his leave as things had truly turned out well.