It had been two days since Rotom and Scrafty had been defeated. Both were now serving time in prison while Lucario was off in an unknown location trying to find himself. It may not have been a completely happy ending, but it was nice to have some peace in Tokyo again.

Machoke was in the middle of training with Aipom in the yard this morning, in which she had forced him into a headlock with her tail and expected him to find a way out. While the lizard boy struggled to free himself, he noticed a few girls walk by talking amongst themselves. Machoke prayed they would not look his way but they ended up glancing and staring for a few seconds before walking off.

"This is so unfair!" Machoke whined, light tears running down his face as Aipom sighed, "You can think about girls later, but right now we have work to do! Now how would you get out of this hold?"

Machoke continued to struggle, placing his hands against the tail and pulling only to find this had no effect whatsoever. But while he found himself wondering how such a small and youthful creature could have high physical strength, he noticed Blaziken walk by wearing a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.

The chicken noticed him and asked, "Hey, Machoke, me and the others are meeting up downtown. Wanna join us?" Machoke exclaiming, "You betcha!" the boy spinning his body and loosening himself from the hold before running into the house, putting on a long-sleeve shirt and pants at lightning speed and taking off with Blaziken.

"Hey, Machoke, we still have work to do!" Aipom exclaimed before sighing, "Well, at least he got out of the hold," the monkey then folding her arms and walking toward the entrance to the house and muttering, "I wish I could hang out with them too."

Machoke and Blaziken soon came to the spot where the others would be, Gallade and Gardevoir arriving and waving. Machoke and Gardevoir had spent most of the previous day resting up from their fights, so they had not yet seen each-other since Gardevoir's match ended. As such, Machoke was rather surprised when he saw Gardevoir still wearing the spiked collar he gave her.

Not only was she still wearing the collar but she also had the black jersey she had worn before the match on. Gallade on the other hand did not feel the need to wear any human clothes, finding it unnecessary since he had no visible genitalia.

"You know, Gardevoir, you don't have to wear that now that the match is over," Machoke uttered, Gardevoir gigging and replying, "Oh, I know, it's just..." the girl then blushing a bit and adding, "I really like it. This collar makes me feel strong!"

"Well, it does actually kinda suit you," Machoke replied with a shrug, "Not so sure about the jersey, though," Gallade giving him an awkward look as the boy laughed nervously, saying, "After a few more seconds, it does actually suit you quite well."

"So," Blaziken whispered into the side of Gallade's head, "have you told her yet?" Gallade nodding and replying, "Yeah, I told her what I know about her power last night," the chicken noticing how positive the girl was and asking, "How did she get over it so quickly?"

"It's kind of funny, actually," Gallade replied with a snicker, "She took it rather well."

The boy remembered the events that night as he sat down with her at the dining table and finished telling her all about the aura, the effects it had and how it only appeared in dire situations. Despite all of this being a surprise for the girl, she did not have a look of shock, nor did she so much as raise an eyebrow. Instead, a smile actually appeared on her face, her eyes sparkling.

"So, this doesn't bother you in any way?" Gallade asked, Gardevoir shaking her head and sporting a more serious look, squeaking, "This is a sign from God that I should train even harder so I don't have to rely on the power!"

Back in present time, Blaziken nodded and said, "That is actually a logical way of thinking about it," Gallade nodding and sighing, "I'm just glad it didn't destroy her fighting spirit."

"So, guys, what's the plan for today?" Machoke asked, Blaziken turning to Gallade who nodded his head and replied, "My neighbour told me of this club located around these parts, said it's a lot of fun."

All four agreed, Gardevoir feeling nervous about going to such a place as Gallade promised to protect her from anyone suspicious. Sure, Gardevoir may have defeated an opponent he had lost to, but he still felt obligated as her older brother.

The four were soon seated on a couch in the lounge area together, Machoke saying, "I will admit, you picked a good place," looking around as the building had four televisions scattered throughout, pool tables, a few arcade machines, free drinks and even a karaoke machine. There were even quite a few people here as well, so they were not the only guests.

While Blaziken and Gallade each had their own alcoholic drink in hand, though, Machoke and Gardevoir were simply having fruit punch, Blaziken turning to Machoke and saying, "You know, Machoke, I think you've earned yourself a little drop of the creature after all you did," the boy cringing at the thought before groaning, "Alcohol's gross," Gardevoir looking at him with even more admiration after hearing that.

"By the way," Gardevoir stated with a big smile, "I thought up a name for my new finishing move! I call it the Meteor Bomb!" her friends staring at her as Blaziken smirked, asking, "How'd you come up with such a cool name?" Gardevoir replying, "I gave it a lot of thought and, well, the way I had Scrafty set up and how my body was positioned made me think of a meteor falling into the ring, and, well, from what I can gather, power bombs are kind of similar with how it was executed, so I came up with a combination of the two."

At that moment, the group of girls Machoke had seen earlier entered the area, taking a seat on a couch right across from them before noticing the lizard boy. The girls turned to one-another and started giggling as Machoke groaned, looking down.

Blaziken blinked and asked, "Do you know those girls?" Machoke not even dignifying this with a response as one of them noticed Gardevoir and asked, "Excuse me, are you the one who beat up that Scrafty guy in the arena yesterday?"

Gardevoir blushed and nodded, her lips pursed together as the girls got up from their seats and walked over, one of them pulling out a pen and a notepad asking, "Can we have your autograph?"

Gardevoir's blush brightened as she trembled a bit, Gallade resting an arm on her shoulder and saying, "It's fine. They just want you to write down your name," the girl nodding as Blaziken added, "Make sure you add a nice touch to it to really leave an impression.

Gardevoir thought hard about this before remembering the name she had just stated for her new finishing move and wrote her name in beautiful hand-writing. She also attached a drawing of a small meteor flying away from the 'r' while also making it look artistic. Needless to say, the human girls were very happy to have received this, Gardevoir having trouble containing her mix of excitement and nervousness.

"Hey, what about me?" Machoke asked, "I beat Rotom!" the girls simply looking at him, one of them turning to the girl next to her and asking, "Who's that?" the other shrugging as Machoke fumed, another girl then pointing at Gallade and exclaiming, "I know you! You're Gardevoir's brother, the guy who fought Scrafty first!" the girls then asking for his autograph as Machoke roared, "BUT HE LOST! THIS IS SO UNFAIR!"

Blaziken laughed and patted the boy on the shoulder saying, "Well, I thought you were awesome," Machoke still looking peeved as the chicken added, "Don't forget, saving lives is its own reward," Machoke muttering, "Yeah, but being showered with affection is a nice bonus."

The girls then decided to find something else to do as Machoke picked up a nearby ashtray and threw it into the side of Gallade's head, the boy laughing and rubbing the side of his head, Machoke barking, "THAT IS NOT HOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO REACT TO THAT!"

"Alright, let's try to take our mind off girl problems, okay?" Blaziken replied, Machoke sighing, "Right. We came here for a good time, not an argument."

At that moment, something caught Blaziken's attention on one of the TVs. It was a broadcast from Osaka where Throh and Sawk were standing in a ring face-to-face with two opponents.

One was a snake made entirely out of rocks, two big stone arms coming from his sides. The other was a knight clad from head to toe in armour. The armour on his shoulders and legs was red while the material on his torso and arms was black. He also had a pair of white metal gloves covering his long, slender hands, each with a spike coming from the wrist. There were also long white boots made from the same material and to top it off, he wore a red helmet with a black rim and a golden axehead attached to the top. Finally, his waist was lined with sharp rounded blades.

"We're here live from the Osaka stadium," said a man with a flat haircut and a fancy suit, "Currently, the resident heroes, Throh and Sawk, are going up against the fearsome duo of Onix and Bisharp in a tag team match!" Onix being the snake with Bisharp being the knight.

Throh and Sawk were currently playing a game of rock, paper, scissors with each other as Sawk ended up winning, Throh bowing his head and saying, "Give them Hell, Sawk," the blue fighter giving his brother thumbs up and replying, "Of course."

Onix looked eager to take him on as Bisharp folded his arms, saying, "Go ahead. You may go first," the rock snake grinning and replying, "Thanks, Bisharp. I'll be sure to save you some leftovers."

Machoke's eyes widened as he uttered, "That Onix guy looks really tough," Blaziken nodding and replying, "True, but don't forget, Throh and Sawk were the top of the class. They're not to be taken lightly."

The bell was rung as Sawk held up a fighter's pose, waiting for Onix to make the first move. Luckily, the snake did not even hesitate as he came toward Sawk, his head lowered.

"Too easy," Sawk said with a light smile before leaping over the snake's head, sending a karate chop hard into the back of his neck.

The crowd went wild as Sawk leapt away from the snake so he could not counter. Machoke simply grinned at the sight of this and exclaimed, "Wow, that's amazing! He managed to damage stone with his bare hand!"

Onix growled and ignored the pain, rising back up and sending a punch toward Sawk. The martial artist easily dodged this when suddenly, Throh shouted, "SAWK, BEHIND YOU!" the boy's eyes widening when Onix redirected his arm, sending the side of it into Sawk's ribcage.

Sawk tried his best to ignore the pain only for Onix to wrap his tail around him, pulling hard on him and saying, "That's right, just stay there while I break you in two!"

Sawk gritted his teeth as he squeezed his arms out of the hold, sending two karate chops into the snake's tail thus causing just enough pain for Onix to release him. After that, he ran over to Throh and tagged him in, the brother nodding and performing a flip over the ropes.

When he was close enough, the wider boy proceeded to grab onto Onix's head, pulling it down toward the mat and slamming his chin hard into the surface. With that, he backed away from the snake and held a defensive stance.

"It's awesome seeing both their skills at work," Blaziken said with a grin, "Sawk uses more head-on moves like punches, kicks and karate chops as he supposedly can't use grappling moves while Throh's fighting style is the exact opposite. In a way, they both compliment each other well," Machoke nodding and saying, "Well, it seems to be working."

Onix took a deep breath and grunted, "You know, Bisharp, I'm certain I can crush that guy's head, but since you were generous enough to let me go first, I figured I'd return the favour," the knight nodding and replying, "How thoughtful of you," slapping his hand against the snake's tail and taking his place.

"Things might actually be easier now," Machoke said with a grin as Gardevoir seemed unsure, Blaziken replying, "Don't be too quick to judge. Remember, you thought Rotom was going to be weak because of his size and he almost killed you," the lizard boy letting down nervous sweat and uttering, "Oh yeah, good point."

Throh was not going to let something like this intimidate him though as he charged toward the knight, Bisharp waiting for him to close in. When Throh attempted to grab him, the knight simply took one step back, this being just enough for the boy to miss as Bisharp placed a firm grip against each arm, tossing him high into the air.

After that, he leaped up and wrapped his arms around Throh, the boy crying out in intense pain as Bisharp's blades were digging into his skin, the crowd gasping when the knight flipped himself one hundred and eighty degrees shouting, "RIBCAGE OF TORMENT!" slamming Throh's head hard against the mat.

All went silent as Bisharp released his hold on the boy, allowing him to collapse, Sawk leaping into the ring shouting, "I WILL AVENGE MY COMRADE!" Bisharp letting out a sigh and saying, "Your spirit is admirable, but not enough to save you."

Sawk ignored these words and aimed a palm punch toward Bisharp only for the knight to hold up his right wrist, blocking the incoming strike. As if that was not bad enough, the spike on his glove went right through Sawk's hand, the martial artist crying out in pain as he reeled it back.

Before Sawk could attempt anything else, Bisharp tagged in Onix, saying, "I will give you the honours," Onix nodding and replying, "You're too kind."

Sawk looked at Throh, knowing his partner would not rise as he rushed at Onix, remembering he had at least stood a chance against the behemoth earlier. However, Onix was ready this time as he allowed Sawk to strike him with another karate chop, the snake swinging his tail around and striking him on the side.

The crowd was now terrified as Onix wrapped his tail around Sawk, lifting him high above the mat and shouting, "BINDING SLAM!" sending Sawk's head hard into the mat and knocking him unconscious, releasing his hold on him.

The announcer stared in silence at this until Bisharp cast him a cold glance, the man gulping and ringing the bell, shouting, "OUR WINNERS ARE THE TEAM OF ONIX AND BISHARP!" the crowd in absolute panic.

A camera was now pointed at Bisharp as the announcer left his desk and walked over to the knight, asking, "Anything to say because we become your eternal servants?" Bisharp taking a deep breath and stating, "I am a man of honour, therefor I will give Osaka a fighting chance," all going silent as Bisharp pointed at Sawk and Throh adding, "These two fought most valiantly and deserve a medal for bravery, but they were not a satisfying challenge."

"I hate to say it, but he's right," Machoke groaned, Blaziken smacking him on the back of the head sighing, "That may be true, but it's disrespectful."

Bisharp then pointed at the camera and added, "If any of the heroes stationed in other parts of the world can hear this, I will give you twenty-four hours to come here by any means necessary and challenge us. The first two to arrive will be our opponents, but only the first two!"

Onix nodded as the camera was redirected toward him, the rock snake adding, "In other words, you'd better hurry up if you want to avenge your comrades here!"

Machoke's eyes were wide open with shock as Blaziken got up from her seat, exclaiming, "I'm going!" the others staring at her as she added, "We have more than enough heroes stationed here as it is! I'm sure you guys can hold the fort while I'm away!" Gardevoir nodding and squeaking, "Good luck, Blaziken."

When the other club guests heard this, they all broke out in heavy cheers for the bird, Machoke's eyes widening when he saw the perfect opportunity. With that in mind, the boy rose to his feet and said, "You're gonna need help, and I think I can provide that."

Gallade and Gardevoir were shocked to hear him say this, Blaziken smiling and nodding before saying, "I'm sure I could take them both myself, but I guess I could use a little backup."

A half-hour later, the two were already had a local train station as they knew there would be no way to book a quick flight to Osaka and that the next bus there would not come any time soon either. Machoke was actually quite terrified to go, especially after seeing Onix and Bisharp in action but there was no way he was going to have Blaziken go in alone.

Gardevoir gave both a quick hug and said, "Be careful, you two," Gallade grinning and adding, "And don't you worry about a thing. Tokyo will be fine in our hands."

The train arrived at that exact moment as the friends said their goodbyes, Machoke and Blaziken entering the mode of transport. However, Machoke immediately tried to run only for Aipom to sprint into the area shouting, "MACHOKE, YOUR FRIENDS TOLD ME EVERYTHING!" the monkey pouncing on him and forcing him back into the boxcar, the door closing as the train took off.

Machoke let out a sigh and thought, 'Well, I did volunteer,' Aipom smiling bright and jumping up and down, squealing, "Machoke, you're amazing! I didn't think you had the courage to take on such a task!"

Machoke nodded slowly, Blaziken saying, "Yep, he's a true friend," Aipom putting on a serious look and stating, "Don't you worry, Machoke! I will be there to give you advice should you need it! Thus is my sworn duty!"

After nine hours, the group arrived in Osaka. It was seven in the afternoon, so the evening was still young. This gave them more than enough time to get at least one match out of the way as soon as possible, but would their opponents feel the same way?

This would become clear soon enough as Bisharp and Onix just happened to be by the train station almost like they were expecting someone to arrive there, Onix's eyes wide open as his partner asked, "Did I not tell you someone would come to challenge us?" the rock snake nodding and replying, "You're a genius."

"Are you a psychic?" Machoke asked, now even more intimidated by the knight, Bisharp taking a deep breath and replying, "Actually, a reporter caught you two boarding the train and broadcast it all across Japan. Two heroes coming to challenge us is not something the media is going to ignore, after all, even if you two haven't earned celebrity status yet."

"Hey, Machoke's earned celebrity status," Aipom replied, Machoke biting his lip and letting down light tears, sniffing, "It means so much to hear you say that," Onix laughing and remarking, "The world doesn't seem to think so. Seriously, every headline has been talking about Gallade's noble sacrifice and his sister's shocking victory."

Bisharp pulled out the newspapers from this day and the previous one, showing Gardevoir and Gallade being the prime focus on the front page, Machoke grabbing them and looking over it, fury in his eyes until he noticed a tiny, barely noticeable article about him in the bottom right-hand corner, the boy laughing and exclaiming, "I am on the front page!"

"That hardly matters anyway," Aipom remarked before pointing at the villains and snapping, "Mark my words, you're going down!" Blaziken nodding and adding, "Yeah, we're not holding back, right, Ma-" her eyes widening when she noticed Machoke was now missing, Aipom looking around to see where he could have gone.

"I guess he decided to get in some training before the main event," Bisharp said with a shrug, "We'll give you until tomorrow at noon to prepare yourselves. Pass that on to Machoke if you find him."

All the while, Machoke was already looking around as he let out a sigh and groaned, "I can't believe it. Even after all that talk, I couldn't spend more than two minutes without hightailing it. Maybe I deserve my lack of recognition," his stomach then growling as he whined, "And worst of all, I haven't eaten since this morning!"

"Excuse me, sir," came a voice from behind Machoke, the boy turning and asking, "Are you talking to me?"

A young woman stood there with her son, the boy pointing and shouting, "I told you it was him! That's the guy from the TV!" Machoke's eyes widening as the woman said, "You did a wonderful thing for Tokyo, defeating that awful Rotom. We were really scared for your safety but you pulled through in the end."

Machoke nodded and grinned, replying, "Well, yeah, but it's my duty as a hero, you know?" the little boy's eyes sparkling as he exclaimed, "It's awesome that you've come to help us out, too!"

The mother nodded and offered Machoke a box of noodles she had purchased a few minutes ago, saying she was not hungry as the boy smiled warmly, bowing his head in respect and letting down light tears. The child saw this and asked, "Are you crying?" Machoke shaking his head and replying, "Just something in my eyes, kid," the boy flashing the two thumbs up and saying, "Don't you worry, I'll make sure your city is safe."

Aipom all the while was searching for Machoke while Blaziken was off training for the following day. However, it was difficult finding the boy in such a big place, especially now with the sky getting dark. But when the monkey came to the local stadium where the fight was to take place, she noticed Machoke standing in front of it.

The monkey sprinted over to him, snapping, "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Machoke turning and staring silently before asking, "Why aren't you inside already?" Aipom sighing, "The match is tomorrow at noon."

Machoke fell on his side before groaning, "I wish I knew that sooner. I've been standing out here for the last couple of hours waiting for someone to let me in," Aipom blinking and asking, "You did knock more than once, right?" Machoke not even dignifying this with a response.

With that, Aipom simply smiled, glad to see Machoke taking this matter seriously as she went with him to an open space to train, telling him that Blaziken had already booked a hotel room for all three. Tomorrow would not be easy but Aipom was certain things would turn out for the best.