With Gardevoir's power now activated, the girl had been rather disappointed that she had to rely on it at first. However, her desire to win allowed her to at least embrace the fact that it had come when it did. Sure, the girl had nothing against Lopunny. If anything, the rabbit was the friendliest and most civil opponent she had faced. Even so, she did not wish to be separated from her friends and if losing the tournament meant that, she could not risk failure.

"That's a pretty colour," Lopunny said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the violet glow, Heracross calling out in a calm tone, "Hey, Lopunny, focus on the match!" the rabbit blinking and replying, "Oh, yeah, sorry about that," nervous sweat running down her cheek.

With that, the rabbit once again sent her ears toward Gardevoir like a fist, only this time the girl was ready. She allowed the ears to get close to her before wrapping her arms around them, holding them in place as Lopunny blinked. However, a smile formed on her face as she said, "Nice try, but this failed last time," Gardevoir sighing, "It's not going to fail this time, though, and I can guarantee that."

With that, Gardevoir pulled tightly on the ears, Lopunny's eyes widening when the girl actually managed to lift her up this time. After that, Gardevoir proceeded to lean backwards, flinging Lopunny over her head as the rabbit's head hit the mat hard.

The crowd went wild as Reika said, "It's so cool seeing that up close," Cici nodding and squeaking, "Gardevoir's so cool!"

Neither Lopunny nor Heracross could believe what had just happened. Sure, they had heard of her stunning victory of Scrafty, how she had displayed a shocking amount of strength, but they did not know she had this power hidden within her. Clearly Lopunny would need to be more careful.

The rabbit groaned, trying to get up as Gardevoir rushed toward her, leaping into the air with her arm out and shouting, "MOON-" only for Lopunny to block the incoming hook, Gardevoir's eyes widening. Machoke and Aipom both stared in absolute horror as not only had the attack been blocked, but Lopunny had actually managed to stand her ground.

At the very least, with Gardevoir's power adding to the force of her Moon Hook, the rabbit should have still been knocked on her back, and yet her ears managed to keep her safe as all the attack had managed to accomplish was pushing her back a little bit. However, Gardevoir was not going to let this discourage her as she landed, sending an onslaught of slaps toward the rabbit, Lopunny blocking them all with her ears.

Luckily, it did seem as if Gardevoir's slaps were doing something as light bruises formed on the ears, Lopunny wincing in pain as she realized she would need to take action. With that in mind, she leapt back just far enough to stand on her ears and propel her feet up, sending them hard into Gardevoir's gut.

The girl's eyes were wide with shock, Machoke's jaw dropped as neither could believe what had just happened. Not only had Gardevoir taken in a hit, but despite her power being activated, it still dealt a considerable amount of pain as the girl coughed up a bit of blood.

"I'll admit, that power of yours is scary, but I told you, I simply can't let my team down!" Lopunny stated before doing something truly unexpected, actually tucking her ears in until only the fist-shaped tufts of fur were still sticking out.

Gardevoir threw out her hands to defend herself, fearing the worst when Lopunny barked, "DIZZY PUNCH!" sending one ear forward only for it to run into Gardevoir's hands, the girl easily blocking this. But before she could do anything else, Lopunny shouted, "DIZZY PUNCH!" a second time, this time sending the other ear into Gardevoir's face.

Not only had this done quite a bit of damage, but now Gardevoir's eyes were spinning, Machoke asking, "What's going on?" Heracross explaining, "The answer is made obvious by the attack's name, but I'll explain it anyway. See, when Dizzy Punch hits an opponent in the face, it messes with his or her field of vision thus resulting in the opponent becoming dizzy," Machoke and Aipom blinking before sighing, "He was right, that was obvious."

Cici was now trembling as Reika asked, "Do you think Gardevoir will make it out okay?" Keiko looking concerned as she replied, "It's hard to tell, honey. We'll just keep supporting her and hope for the best."

Unfortunately, Dizzy Punch seemed to have a greater effect than anyone would have guessed as Gardevoir was far too dazed to focus, giving Lopunny ample time to send a barrage of punches into her face, drawing more blood with each hit. Seeing this, Machoke got up and spat, "GARDEVOIR, TRY USING YOUR OTHER SENSES!"

Thankfully, dizziness did not have an effect on hearing, so Gardevoir heard this, closing her eyes and hearing the swishing of Lopunny's ears coming her way. With that, the girl held up her arms, blocking one of the fists. Unfortunately, this was not good enough as once again, both her hands were focused on one ear while the other made a connection with her face.

And this last hit was just enough for Gardevoir to lose her balance, the girl falling on her rear end and breathing heavily, her eyesight finally returning to normal. Unfortunately, it was too late now as Lopunny wrapped her ears around the girl saying, "You were a great opponent, Gardevoir, but this match is mine."

The crowd watched in amazement, Machoke shouting, "COME ON, GARDEVOIR, FIGHT BACK!" Reika shouting, "YEAH, YOU STILL GOT YOUR POWER, RIGHT!?"

Unfortunately, even with the power, Gardevoir was far too battered and bruised to fight back as Lopunny bounced high above the ring, using her ears to turn Gardevoir upside-down. After that, the rabbit flipped herself over so her head was facing the mat as well, wrapping her ears around Gardevoir's ankles and spinning her body around shouting, "BUNNY TORNADO!" Gardevoir crashing into the canvas.

The force of the attack had caused a bit of the mat to sink inward as Lopunny released her hold on Gardevoir's ankles, taking a deep breath and wiping sweat off of her forehead. The attack was powerful, but it did take a lot out of her.

Even so, there was no doubt the move had done its job as the violet aura disappeared, Gardevoir's body collapsing as she was out cold, her eyes rolled to the back of her skull. All went silent as no one could believe it. Even with her power, Gardevoir had lost.

With that, Weedle rang the bell, exclaiming, "And the first A block match of The Next Gen Battle goes to Lopunny!" the girl raising her arms in the air and squealing, "YAY, I WON!" hopping up and down as Machoke gritted his teeth, a look of sheer terror on his face. However, he then took a deep breath and said, "Well, she may have won, but there's no way the audience is happy about this, right?"

However, many of the people watching looked not with horror but with admiration and respect. One of them smiled and said, "You know, that was really cool," another adding, "Yeah, I mean, Gardevoir had her power activated and she still lost," a child in the crowd squealing, "YAY, THE BUNNY WON!"

With that, the majority of the crowd broke out into heavy applause and cheering, seeming to welcome Lopunny as Gardevoir's replacement even though that had not been made official yet. The only members of the crowd not cheering were Reika, Cici and Keiko, all three of them running into the ring to carry Gardevoir over to the medics who had just arrived.

"You-you saw that, right?" Machoke uttered, turning to Aipom and barking, "YOU JUST SAW THAT, RIGHT!? I DIDN'T JUST IMAGINE THAT, DID I!?" Aipom biting her lower lip and nodding her head, sighing, "That really did just happen."

"Oh well, it's fine," Machoke said, taking many deep breaths before adding, "I'm pretty sure Gallade at least won his match. I know we badmouthed him the other day, but that was just a joke."

At that moment, a small red light had turned on in front of Weedle's desk with a time in electronic text underneath it, the caterpillar saying, "Seems the match in B block ended long before this one," Machoke asking, "How do you know that?" the worm replying, "See, Nori and I have this device that activates when both matches have ended and specifies how long each one went for. That way we know when to start setting up for the second round."

With that, Weedle stood up and exclaimed to the audience, "It seems that both of the first matches have ended! Let us see what the results of B block were," the worm having a big screen TV hanging overhead with a helicopter holding it up as it turned on, showing the replay of Gallade's loss, Machoke's eyes wide, his jaw dropped as he trembled in fear.

Blaziken had also seen the results of Gardevoir's match and uttered, "No, this can't be happening," Nori stating, "And as you can see, Team Next Gen already has two participants advancing while Team Jinroku has none!"

Back in the park, Machoke stared blankly at Heracross as the beetle flashed the boy a friendly smile, saying, "I look forward to our match," Machoke not sure whether to panic or not. On one hand, Heracross did seem friendly, but on the other hand, he seemed too friendly. And Lopunny was clearly a good sport yet that certainly did not stop her from going out of her way to make sure she had won. Sure, these were fights between heroes, but no one was holding back.

At that moment, Weedle and Nori both explained that there would be a two-hour wait between matches. This gave everyone a chance to do something else for at least the next little while. Aipom expected Machoke to head for the hills, but he did not. Instead, he walked away from his seat with a serious look in his eyes, telling the monkey he was off to train. Needless to say, Aipom was happy to see him taking this seriously.

All the while, Blaziken was about to do the same thing when she noticed Golurk folding his arms and staring at her, both glaring into each-other's eyes. There was no way Blaziken would let this golem win. After all, she had already defeated an opponent made of stone and Golurk was nowhere near as big as he was.

When Machoke entered the training facility, he immediately started on weight-lifting. Ever since his pathetic failure on Hero Planet, he had gotten a lot better at this and right now, he needed all the strength and skill he could muster. Sure, Heracross may have seemed like a nice guy, but he also looked really tough and was probably stronger than the appearance suggested.

Blaziken was also getting in all sorts of training, only rather than focusing on her strength, she was practising her skills and techniques on various dummies and punching bags. There was no way Golurk would get the better of her.

But while Machoke and Blaziken prepared themselves for their matches, Heracross and Golurk seemed a little too confident in their abilities. Heracross had stopped to buy himself lunch before his match and that was all he had intended to do during his two hours. After that, he simply walked around with no real aim in mind.

Golurk on the other hand was doing the least amount of prep work as he was just taking a nap. No meal or anything, just sleeping. Was this arrogance or was he really just too good for training? Either way, this certainly seemed like good news for Machoke and Blaziken.

After an hour of training, Blaziken called up Machoke, the boy responding and saying, "Hello," the chicken replying, "Hey, I bet you saw the results of Gallade's match, right?"

"Yeah," the boy replied, "That looked really brutal, like something a villain would have done," Blaziken replying, "Yeah, but it makes one thing perfectly clear. These guys are really serious about this. Gardevoir's beating didn't look too pleasant either."

"Anyway, I've been training pretty hard for this," Machoke stated, Blaziken replying, "Good, so have I. I'm gonna make sure Golurk doesn't know what hit him."

With that, the two heroes talked a little bit more, mostly about how they were going to prepare for their matches. After a while, the two hung up as Machoke immediately started prep work on his entrance, but what he was planning was anyone's guess.

After the break, things were actually a bit different. Now bleachers had been set up in the small park as more people had shown up. After Gardevoir and Lopunny's match, it seemed those who saw it first called up some of their friends to tell them how much more amazing it was than how they described the one between Gallade and Scyther because now the seats were filled.

Of course, this did not mean Blaziken and Golurk would be ignore. After all, Blaziken was a huge fan favourite after her win over Onix and there was no way her fans were going to miss this match. Sure, people were starting to like these new heroes more, but Blaziken's fans would not give up on her so easily.

In B block, Nori took a deep breath and exclaimed into the mic, "Welcome, one and all, to the second match of The Next Gen Battle in B block! The stakes are high for Team Jinroku as they have already lost two members of their team!"

The woman proceeded to point to the Western side of the area, shouting, "In the red corner, weighing at three-hundred-and-thirty kilograms and coming to us from Rome, the golem with a warrior's spirit, Golurk!" some people cheering when the golem walked toward the ring. He did nothing special or complicated, he just let his appearance do the work.

After entering the ring, he flexed his arms and exclaimed, "I'M GONNA CLEAN BLAZIKEN'S CLOCK!" the crowd truly impressed by his confidence.

"And in the blue corner," Nori stated, pointing to the Eastern side, "weighing at fifty-two kilograms and coming to us from Texas, now calling herself the Texas Phoenix, the fiery bird in a chicken's body, Blaziken!" the crowd going wild when Blaziken ran toward the ring wearing a cowgirl outfit and hat.

However, what really caught everyone's attention was the fact that she had a French flag tied to each arm, Nori saying, "It would seem that Blaziken is paying tribute to her fallen comrades. This has gotten quite a positive reaction from the crowd and it's easy to see why. She's really gonna give it her all for them, folks."

With that, Blaziken leapt into the ring, removing her clothes and allowing the flags to blow away in the breeze, the chicken giving the golem a cold look before grunting, "Excuse me, YOU'RE gonna clean my clock!? I don't think so, buddy!" the crowd even more excited now after seeing just how confident the bird was.

However, while certainly focused on the fight, Blaziken was also thinking, 'I hope you guys were awake to see that. I meant for that to lift your spirits and hopefully help you recover faster.'

With that, both fighters stared each-other down until the bell was rung, Blaziken immediately sprinting toward Golurk without a moment's hesitation. Golurk waited for her to get close before sending his fist toward her only for the bird to dodge to the side. After that, she took hold of the nearest turnbuckle and spun her body around, kicking the golem in the back of the head.

Golurk's eyes widened as he actually seemed to feel pain from that, the crowd cheering wildly. Blaziken added to the damage by grabbing onto the ropes and sending both her feet into his back, propelling herself off of it to make distance while thinking, 'I'm going to make sure we stay in Tokyo no matter what. Don't you worry, guys, I'll make up for your losses even if I have to do it myself.'

All the while, in the park, everyone was anticipating the entrances of the fighters as Reika sighed, "Machoke is good, but after seeing Gardevoir's match, I'm scared," Keiko replying, "It'll be fine, honey. The Mach family has a knack for getting out of these things okay."

Cici all the while was trembling, still thinking about Gardevoir's loss while Tsuya, now having switched over to this ring, really hoped Machoke would win. After what Scyther had done to Gallade, she felt like she had to support the others at all cost.

Aipom stood by the ring to give Machoke advice when he needed it, the monkey trying to stay strong. After all, it would be unprofessional for her to even think about the possibility that her own student might fail.

Weedle took a deep breath, tapping the microphone with his horn before exclaiming, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the second match of The Next Gen Battle, A block division! It's nice to see a bigger turnout this time, especially since most people didn't even seem interested at first!" the caterpillar thinking, 'Course I don't know why more people would want to watch Machoke than Gardevoir, but I guess that's not too important.'

The bug then proceeded to point his horn toward the Western side shouting, "In the red corner, weighing at fifty-four kilograms and coming to us from Scotland, a beetle with Herculean strength, Heracross!" the audience clapping for the beetle as he approached the ring wearing a kilt, Lopunny squealing, "YOU LOOK SO GOOD IN A KILT, HERACROSS!"

The beetle smiled sweetly at her before thinking, 'You haven't seen anything yet,' before leaping up off the ground and tucking his arms and legs in, spinning vertically like a bouncing ball toward the ring and landing firmly against the canvas, striking a pose before flexing his muscles, the crowd's cheers getting louder.

With that, Heracross removed his kilt and threw it toward a teenaged girl in the crowd, the girl catching it and smiling wide, squealing, "I GOT HERACROSS' KILT!" her friends staring with envy.

'He's a bit of a showman too, but at least he's more humble than that idiot and his family,' Weedle thought before clearing his throat and announcing, "And in the blue corner, a boy so out-of-this-world that he doesn't even need an introduction, Machoke!" the crowd going silent when the boy walked toward the ring.

Under his nostrils was a fake, swirly moustache, the boy wearing a striped shirt that gondoliers wore in France. He also had the pants on and to top it all off, the boy sported a beret atop his head while holding a huge baguette in his hands.

Even Aipom could not help but face-palm at the sight of this, Reika muttering, "If anyone asks, I don't know him," Cici and Tsuya nodding in agreement while Machoke grinned, thinking, 'Blaziken most likely got a very positive reaction from her tribute to Gallade and Gardevoir, but her tactic was way too simple. By dressing myself up in clothes really representing their country, people are likely to be blown away. They'll say 'Wow, that Machoke really cares about his friends!' and 'What a beautiful sight!' I am a genius.'

However, his suspicions were proven false when the crowd broke out into hysterics, one member shouting, "OH MY GOD, YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS!" another shouting, "GET OFF THE STAGE, YOU CLOWN!" Weedle banging his head against his desk and groaning, "This is embarrassing."

"You think this is funny!?" Machoke remarked, "Well, feast your eyes on this!" the boy lifting up his baguette and twirling it like a baton only for it to slip and hit him on the head.

Heracross laughed and clapped, saying, "I certainly can't top that," Machoke feeling like the beetle was mocking him but chose to ignore this as he marched toward the ring, taking a deep breath. After that, he proceeded to pull off his French clothes before tossing them toward the crowd just like Heracross had. Unfortunately, the only one in the audience who wanted the clothes was a homeless guy who had snuck in.

Even so, Machoke knew he had to calm himself down and let this go. After all, he was still determined to win at all cost. And at the very least, Heracross did seem like the type to give him the first hit.

On that note, Weedle held up a small mallet with his tail and rang the bell, Heracross immediately racing toward Machoke with his elbow pointed out and shouting, "Sorry, boy, but I don't believe in giving my opponent the first hit!" the boy panicking as Aipom spat, "MACHOKE, THIS IS REALLY EASY TO DODGE!"

Machoke nodded and stepped to the side, Heracross blinking in shock as the boy proceeded to deliver a fierce kick to his back. Before the beetle could even respond, Machoke reached his arms around him and lifted him up, leaning back and setting him up for a Suplex.

"Yeah, way to go, Machoke!" Aipom exclaimed, the crowd cheering for the boy while Reika said, "Well, that entrance may have been stupid, but at least he's on his A game right now," Machoke shouting, "THIS IS FOR MY FRIENDS!"

However, just as Heracross' head was about to collide with the canvas, the beetle smirked and leaned his head back. As a result, his horn ended up hitting the mat instead, Machoke's eyes wide with shock as the beetle said, "Not bad, Machoke, but you'll have to do better than that."

With that, Heracross proceeded to remove his horn from the mat and applied all of his weight to Machoke's body. The boy was unable to hold him up as he fell hard on his back, the beetle then righting himself up into a sitting position. However, it did not end there as the beetle proceeded to stand up, placing his feet next to Machoke and flipping the boy onto his back, sitting back down and grabbing hold of his ankles.

As the beetle started pulling them upward, the crowd went wild for him as Aipom shrieked in terror, Machoke crying out in pain. To make matters worse, Heracross had folded his knees as far as they could go thus setting up the boy for a Boston Crab. Only a minute in and Machoke had already fallen victim to one of the most difficult submission holds to escape from. Was there any way he could get out of this?