That evening, Aipom had told Machoke about a nearby gym, the boy assuring her he would go there to prepare himself for his match with Bisharp. But before he could speed off, Aipom tapped him on the shoulder and told him he had something for her.

"I bought you this earlier today but forgot I had," the monkey said, pulling a cellphone out of her handbag, Machoke's eyes widening, a big smile forming on his face as he exclaimed, "OH MY GOD, YOU ARE THE BEST TRAINER EVER!" taking hold of the phone, even happier when he realized right off the bat that this was the latest model meaning Aipom had not spared any expenses.

"Now, Machoke," Aipom stated with a very serious look on her face, "you are to be responsible with this phone. No long distance calls unless it's really important because I'm already paying for your phone bill and if I see a bunch of stuff added to the expenses, I will not hesitate to hit you again," Machoke's eyes going wide as the monkey added, "Furthermore, this phone is mostly for emergencies. You can call up your friends every now and then, but no talking to them for more than ten minutes. Heck, that might even be too generous."

Machoke groaned and thought, 'I really should have seen this coming,' Aipom saying, "Oh, press this icon right here."

Machoke blinked as the monkey sighed, "It's a touch-screen phone," the boy nodding and replying, "Oh, right, I'd forgotten about that," the boy pressing the icon as a small list of contacts came up, Aipom adding, "I happened to get the numbers of your friends and family, so if you need to call any of them, this will make it easier for you."

Aipom handed him a manual to explain all the other features to him, the boy's excitement reaching an all-time high as the monkey added, "Don't spend all afternoon focused on that, though. You still need to train," the boy nodding and looking for a place to put his phone, Aipom saying, "You have street clothes in the hotel room, remember?" the boy nodding and replying, "Oh yeah, thanks."

Soon enough, Machoke was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of pants, fear still filling him as he decided to drown out such thoughts by calling up Gardevoir. He knew Aipom had told him no long-distance calls, but he had already come up with a cover story, that being his reason for calling up Gardevoir was simply to make sure she and Gallade were okay and nothing more.

The siblings were currently seated on a bench in the local park, both looking rather distressed for some reason when Gardevoir heard a lovely tune coming from somewhere nearby, the girl squeaking and looking around when Gallade sighed, "It's your ringtone, remember?" the girl laughing nervously and replying, "Right."

With that, the girl reached her hand under her jersey and pulled the phone out, saying, "Wow, those girls at the store were right. My chest does make for a good carrying case," Gallade not even bothering to tell her how suggestive that looked and instead reminded her that her phone could only ring six times before the answering machine came on.

With that, Gardevoir quickly pressed an icon with a green phone on it and held it up to the side of her head, squeaking, "Hi!" feeling a bit nervous about using a cellphone for the first time in her life, her eyes sparkling when she heard Machoke respond, the girl moving the phone away from her head and squeaking, "It's Machoke, Gallade! Machoke just called me!"

She placed the phone back to the side of her head as Machoke asked, "This is the correct number, right?" Gardevoir replying, "Yes, you got the right number. So what's up?"

"I was just wondering how you're doing," Machoke replied, Gardevoir saying, "Things are okay here, actually. Ever since we stopped Rotom and Scrafty, no villains have shown up. Though as happy as I am that you called, shouldn't you be training right now?"

"What?" Machoke remarked, Gardevoir replying, "We saw what happened on TV," Machoke biting his collar and thinking, 'Of course,' the girl adding, "Don't let Blaziken's loss be in vain. I know you can beat up Bisharp!"

The boy took a deep breath and replied, "Yeah, damn right I can," a hint of uncertainty in his voice as Gardevoir squeaked, "I'll be watching you on TV tomorrow!"

With that, Machoke hung up and sighed, "What am I thinking?" the boy shaking his head and saying to himself, "What kind of hero am I? I was so afraid of the fight to come that I was willing to do anything to ignore it! I need to train right now!"

With that, the boy rushed to the gym Aipom had told him about. At the very least, the knight did seem more civilized than the usual villain. Maybe this would not be so difficult.

Upon entering, he started working vigorously with the weights provided. There was even a part of him wanting to train with Aipom but then he remembered how harsh her training was and decided against it. He may have wanted to win, but he was not that desperate.

Before heading back to the hotel, the boy called up Gardevoir one last time, the girl replying, squealing with excitement over the fact that she had gotten two phone calls in one day. However, rather than talking about the match, Machoke decided to ask the girl what she had been up to with no evil to fight.

"Outside of watching your matches, I've been going to the gym with Gallade," Gardevoir stated, "It's rather exhausting, so we only spend about an hour there, which is apparently recommended anyway."

"That sounds good," Machoke replied, "You feel any stronger?" the girl flexing her right arm but not getting much muscle from it as she smiled and replied, "I don't look any stronger, but I do feel stronger," Machoke replying, "Well, if you feel stronger, it must be working."

"It's all thanks to you," Gardevoir replied with a light blush, "You gave me the courage to step into the ring and face a villain," Machoke asking, "But didn't you volunteer before I said anything?" Gardevoir shaking her head and replying, "I did, but I didn't really think I could win. You made me realize it's possible."

Machoke decided not to bring up the fact that it was Gardevoir's special power that had really allowed her to win that match so easily. After all, she seemed to have a lot more spirit now and that was not something the boy would like to break, especially since he was still struggling to get his own fighting spirit to stick with him.

After more talking, the two said goodnight before Machoke hung up, looking at the clock and noticing it was only nine as he groaned, "I can't believe I'm going to bed so early. How do people in the work force deal with this?"

With that, he entered the hotel suite, surprised to see Blaziken not in the room before remembering she was in the hospital. Thus was the risk of being a hero.

Aipom exited the bathroom at that moment, brushing her teeth while holding the toothbrush with her tail hand and noticed Machoke, using one of her normal hands to point toward a table next to his bed. This very table had a TV remote on it, the boy blinking as Aipom nodded, pointing at the TV. She would have said all this stuff, but again, she was brushing her teeth.

Machoke shrugged, rather glad she was giving him permission to watch TV before bed, but when he turned it on, he soon realized why she had told him to. As it just so happened, there was a news report right now in which a young female reporter was at the hospital Blaziken had been sent to.

"How did you know-?" Machoke started to ask before noticing Aipom had returned to the bathroom, the boy shrugging and deciding it was not important. The monkey's level of maturity for a ten-year-old was already confusing enough.

"We are here at the Osaka University Hospital," the woman said, "Two heroes have recently made a full recovery and are walking out today, but one seems to have taken their place. I intend to ask all three a few questions."

At that moment, Throh and Sawk exited the hospital, though neither looked too happy to be walking out. But why was this? Whatever it was, the reporter was more than eager to find out.

"Excuse me, you are Throh and Sawk, right?" the reporter asked, pointing at Sawk first and Throh second as Throh replied, "Oh no, I'm Throh, he's Sawk," the woman's eyes widening as she nodded, replying, "Oh, okay, sorry about that," Sawk shaking his head and saying, "No need to apologize. It's an honest mistake."

The reporter proceeded to ask them how it felt to finally be out of the hospital and back on patrol, Sawk replying, "Well, it feels satisfying to be able to watch over the citizens again," the woman nodding before enquiring, "You looked rather upset when exiting the building. Why is that?"

"We saw how badly Blaziken had been beaten on the TV," Sawk replied, "We felt kind of bad because we know if we had beaten Onix and Bisharp, this never would have happened," Throh nodding and adding, "We went to check up on her and pay our respects. She wasn't able to say much, but she did leave a message for Machoke if he's listening."

Machoke's eyes went wide as Throh said, "Blaziken wants you to do your absolute best and kick Bisharp's ass," Sawk waving his finger and scolding, "Now, brother, we do not use such vulgar language," Throh shrugging and replying, "I'm just putting it how she did."

After that, the reporter went inside of the hospital to Blaziken's room, commenting on how weak and battered she was. Machoke cringed at the sight of this, knowing he had to do his best. Blaziken had allowed herself to wind up like that all for the sake of helping him in his fight. There was no way he would let her down.

After a little more time spent watching the report, Machoke turned off the TV and took a deep breath, taking a shower and brushing his teeth when Aipom was done. He had done a lot of working out and now he just needed to get in enough sleep so he would be ready for the next day.

The night went by quickly as Machoke was close to oversleeping. Luckily for him, Aipom was more than ready for this as she smacked him hard across the face with her tail, the boy groaning, "Hey, what's the deal?" rubbing his cheek.

"Come on, you got an hour before your match!" Aipom exclaimed, "Come on, move it!" Machoke getting up and sighing, "You know it's against the rules to make noise in a hotel, right?" Aipom's eyes widening as she clasped her regular hands over her mouth, feeling beyond embarrassed to have made such a bone-headed mistake.

After forty-five minutes, Bisharp was already waiting by the ring as many had woken up extra-early to see this match. The little boy and his mother from two nights ago were also in the crowd, looking forward to seeing Machoke fight.

All the while, Hito was in his seat gulping down coffee from a cup that looked to be three times bigger than jumbo size. After taking a big gulp, the man took hold of the mic and exclaimed, "ALRIGHT, EVERYONE, IT'S FINALLY TIME FOR THE ONE MATCH TO DECIDE EVERYTHING!" the man taking a deep breath and toning his voice down while adding, "We've had two very intense matches up to this point, but now it's come down to this. If Machoke fails, Osaka is doomed!"

"Yeah, just lay on the pressure, why don't you?" came a voice as everyone turned to see Machoke walking toward the ring in his street clothes, Bisharp saying, "Nice of you to actually show up early," the boy smirking and replying, "You think I'd be late and let Osaka down? Fat chance!"

The knight folded his arms and asked, "As a man of honour, I feel like offering you a choice here. Would you like to start the match now or at dawn as was initially planned?" Machoke simply replying, "We'll still have it at dawn. I still need a little time to prepare myself," Bisharp bowing his head in respect.

Machoke then turned to Aipom and said, "You wait by my side of the ring, okay?" Aipom nodding while thinking, 'Wow, he's going to get in some extra training. Guess having everything up to him is enough to get him to try harder.'

She then noticed Throh and Sawk had gotten front-row seats, the monkey smiling and waving her tail hand at them as the two waved back, the monkey sprinting over and exclaiming, "I'm so happy to see that you're alright!" Sawk grinning and replying, "It'll take a lot more than a heavy beating to keep us down," Throh sighing, "Still, I wish we could fight Bisharp instead. I'm sure if we fought him again, we'd beat him."

"It's okay, brother," Sawk replied, patting Throh on the shoulder and adding, "Don't forget, Machoke is the one fighting for us and he's the son of the former champion. I am honoured to have him fight in our stead."

Once dawn rolled around, it was finally time as Hito exclaimed, "And now it's finally time for the match to begin, folks! In the red corner, the knight who has defeated both Throh and Blaziken with his fancy strategies, Bisharp!" the knight entering the same way he had for Blaziken. Once again, he felt no need to theatrics.

"And in the blue corner," Hito stated, "weighing at seventy-and-a-half kilograms, the son of Machamp who has defeated the mighty Rotom, Machoke!" the crowd cheering wildly. However, their cheers came to an immediate halt when Machoke approached the drink dressed in a shogun outfit with serious look on his face. Two plastic swords were kept in sheathes as everyone stared in confusion.

After a while, Hito blinking and stated, "Oh, I see what Machoke is doing! Since Bisharp is a knight, Machoke has dressed up as a Shogun as a means of declaring war on him! Or at least that's what I think he's trying to get across."

The crowd still did not understand as Machoke ignored the lack of applause, removing the gear and tossing it outside of the ring. Gardevoir and Gallade saw this on TV as Gardevoir's eyes sparkled, the girl saying, "That was so cool."

The people were still silent as Bisharp said, "A grand entrance indeed, but I fail to see what the point of it was," Machoke putting on a look of confusion and remarking, "What do you mean you fail to see the point!? Wasn't it obvious!?" the boy turning to the crowd, no one there getting it either.

Machoke then turned to Aipom who asked, "That was supposed to be symbolic?" Machoke retorting, "YES!" the monkey scratching her head, the boy sighing, "Whatever. It doesn't matter."

Bisharp simply bowed his head to Machoke and said, "Either way, I look forward to seeing what you have in store for me. I have wanted to face you for a long time, and I felt doing so at full strength would be the best way to go about it."

"I'm glad you've been so patient because I'm not holding back," Machoke replied as the bell rang, the boy immediately rushing at Bisharp.

Aipom blinked and asked, "Wouldn't it be better to wait for Bisharp to make the first move?" Machoke remarking, "No way. After falling for Blaziken's trick, that's definitely not gonna work on him."

With that, the boy got close to Bisharp as the knight held up his wrists to protect himself, Machoke grabbing hold of both and holding them up before sending a hard kick into Bisharp's gut. The crowd went wild as Bisharp backed up, saying, "Not bad. You knew I was going to block and used that to your advantage."

"Wow, that was really good, Machoke," Aipom said with a big smile, the boy grinning and replying, "Damn straight. I'm not making the same mistake Sawk did," the blue martial artist groaning, "Why did he have to bring that up?"

Bisharp simply ignored the pain dealt by the kick, what with his armour lightening the blow, and went on the offensive with his hands set up like a sword and shield. Machoke grinned and went straight for the shield arm, grabbing it with both hands to lock it in place.

"Nice try, but you forgot about my sword," Bisharp said, aiming the blade straight for the boy's head as he smirked, remarking, "No I didn't," the boy then lifting up the arm and twisting it so the palm was facing the spike, Bisharp's eyes going as he just barely stopped his spike in time to avoid stabbing his own hand.

Machoke took full advantage of this distraction by moving to Bisharp's side, still holding his shield arm and twisting it forward. This allowed him to flip the knight onto his back thus allowing him to deliver an elbow drop to his neck, the crowd breaking out into heavy cheers and applause.

"You're awesome, Machoke!" the child from the other day exclaimed, Machoke grinning with pride. Even he could not believe that worked as well as it did.

"I must admit, I'm quite impressed," Bisharp stated as he rose to his feet and folding his arms before adding, "However, you will not take advantage of me again, I can assure you."

With that, the knight proceeded to run toward Machoke with only his right arm up, its spike pointed toward the target. Machoke rolled his eyes and thought, 'Has he already run out of tricks? That's even easier to counter than his sword and shield technique.'

With that in mind, Machoke got ready to block the incoming strike, planning to grab the arm as opposed to holding his own arm in front of it and risking being cut. However, Bisharp stopped his wrist just before it made contact, Machoke confused by this when Aipom spat, "MACHOKE, LOOK OUT!" the boy not looking in time to notice Bisharp's left hand coming straight toward his gut, ramming hard into it.

Machoke's eyes widened as Bisharp proceeded to wrap his arms around the boy's neck, leaping up into the air and applying enough weight to push him down thus pinning him to the mat. After that, Bisharp removed his hands and quickly shifted his body so now his feet were clutching onto Machoke's head, the boy struggling to get out.

"You must think me a fool or something," Bisharp stated, "but it is you who is the court jester here. I knew Blaziken fought for so long so you would learn my techniques and come up with countermeasures for them. Well, it won't be so easy when I am using a different style."

"But if you knew that all along, why did you use your usual methods at first?" Aipom asked, Bisharp remarking, "I merely did it to lower Machoke's guard, let him think he was one step ahead of me. After all, with my armour, I can risk taking in a couple of hits."

The crowd gasped as Hito stated, "Well, it would seem Machoke's advantage was merely staged by Bisharp, the knight predicting every move and preparing to strike when we least expected it. What can Machoke do now that the knight is using a different method of attack?"

And it certainly seemed like things were sure to go from bad to worse when Bisharp lifted up his right arm, the spike facing Machoke's head, the boy crying out in terror as the knight shouted, "WRIST SWORD!" sending the spike toward Machoke's face.

"MACHOKE!" Aipom spat, "REMEMBER HOW YOU ESCAPED FROM MY HEAD LOCK!" Machoke's eyes widening as he spun his body, loosening Bisharp's hold on him and freeing himself just in time to avoid the incoming spike.

Bisharp's eyes were wide with shock as now the spike was stuck in the canvas, the knight trying desperately to pry it out only for Machoke to send a hard knee kick to his face. Machoke was about to use another one until Aipom informed him that Bisharp could easily use his left arm to block it, Machoke nodding in understanding and backing up while the crowd applauded him.

Bisharp eventually freed his spike from the canvas, Machoke grinning and saying, "Your armour may protect you from pain, but unfortunately for you, your face is completely unprotected, so I know that must have done a great deal of damage," Bisharp nodding and replying, "You're right. I have no argument against that. That was a clever strategy."

Machoke beamed until the knight added, "Of course, it wasn't completely yours," the boy blinking as Aipom thought, 'Is he trying to do what I think he is?' Bisharp shaking his head and stating, "You would have never thought to do that if Aipom hadn't told you to, isn't that right?"

Machoke's eyes were wide as he had no counterpoint. This was true. The only reason he remembered how to get out of a head lock was because of Aipom's advice, and the only reason he knew not to continue his attack was because of the monkey.

"A true warrior wouldn't need to take advice," Bisharp stated with a cold look in his eyes, Machoke taking a deep breath and sighing, "He's right," Aipom's eyes wide with shock as she said, "Please, Machoke, don't listen to him," the boy remarking, "I'm sorry, Aipom, but I really should do this on my own. How can I call myself a true successor to my father if I need someone giving me advice during matches?"

The monkey backed up as Sawk and Throh stared at this, Aipom turning to them and shouting, "Say something!" Throh shrugging and replying, "Actually, I think Bisharp makes a valid argument," Sawk nodding and saying, "Me too."

Aipom was absolutely mortified to hear this. Everyone was against her, and this was made clear when the crowd cheered Machoke on, shouting things like "Yeah, tell it like it is!" and "Real men fight on their own!"

Bisharp nodded and said, "Good to see you are as courageous as your father," the knight then rushing at Machoke, the boy knowing now that he could not rely on the countermeasures he had thought up before. As such, he examined Bisharp's charge and noticed an opening in his midsection.

With that, the boy went in, attempting to tackle the knight before he could land his attack, Aipom shouting, "MACHOKE!" before remembering that the boy was no longer listening to her, the monkey clutching onto her skull and whimpering, "What can I do?"

However, her advice definitely could have saved the boy for no sooner had he made the connection with Bisharp's midsection did the knight proceed to wrap his arms around the boy, trapping him in place. To make matters worse, Bisharp had Machoke pressed up against his rib blades, the boy crying out in pain as the crowd cringed at the sight of this.

"What a horrible turn of events!" Hito barked, "Machoke went in for a tackle only to end up on the receiving end of that deadly ribcage! How can he possibly get out of this?"

"That's easy, he cannot," Bisharp remarked before leaping high above the ring, all going silent as the knight flipped himself one-hundred-and-eighty degrees so now Machoke's head was facing the mat. Sure, Machoke had seen this move twice now, but he had no idea how to counter it and as such, he was unable to avoid having his head slammed hard against the mat as Bisharp shouted, "RIBCAGE OF TORMENT!"

All went silent as the knight released his hold on Machoke, allowing the boy to fall on his back, blood coming out of the holes in his torso. Blaziken and Throh had both been taken out with one use of this move. Had Machoke just suffered the same fate?