It was the day after the semi-finals had come to a close and needless to say, it was unsettling. Scizor had been by Scyther's side since her loss to Fiarrow and refused to leave the hospital. Because of this, the nurse had been bringing her food so she would not go hungry. A few times, Scizor had been tempted to share it with Scyther before remembering her daughter could not eat in her current state.

And of course, Machoke's friends were still hospitalized, though it had been made apparent that they should have been up and moving again the next day. Though with his match with Fiarrow coming up soon, it was still looking bad.

The evening came soon enough as at the very least, Machoke was going to attend the social gathering Weedle had set up. This time, he was extra prepared as he was dressed in a fancy black suit. Lopunny decided to try something fancy as well and wore a white sleeveless dress with a gold rim across the top, the dress going up to the top half of her chest.

Even Fiarrow had shown up in a suit of his own, a tuxedo to be exact. Though with his wings, it was rather hard to wear it as it was, so he ended up having to put holes in it. Not being one to care that much about fashion, he did not feel the least bit guilty about doing something like this.

Of course, Aipom was dressed in her own little tuxedo and bow-tie with Reika and her friends dressed fancy as well, only Reika was wearing a different dress this time. All-in-all, everyone was clearly prepared for the social gathering, even Weedle who had at least gotten hold of a tie for the occasion.

Lopunny looked rather nervous, especially since she had no teammates to chat with. However, her attitude improved a bit when Machoke walked by, saying, "Wow, that's a really nice dress," before walking off and calling out, "Oh, Reika, where are you!?" Lopunny smiling lightly and finding the courage to mingle with the human guests.

With Fiarrow now having fans, he had quite a few girls sitting with him at a table as a waitress came by, asking, "May I offer you a drink?" the falcon replying, "Bring me a watermelon."

The woman blinked and asked, "Excuse me, but did you say a watermelon?" Fiarrow nodding as the woman shrugged, heading to the back to get him one from storage.

All the while, Reika was talking amongst her friends while Cici squeaked, "You look so pretty in that, Reika," Tsuya saying, "Yeah, I'm totally jelly right now."

Reika simply smiled and replied, "Thanks. I just hope Machoke likes it."

"Wait, what?" Tsuya asked, "Is there something you're not telling us?" Reika's cheeks turning pink as she remarked, "No, of course not! It's just, well, he hasn't seen it yet, that's all!"

Machoke then approached her from behind with a childish grin on his face and placed his hands over her eyes, saying, "Guess who," Reika taking hold of his hands and flipping him over, slamming him hard against his back as the others stared in shock, Reika gasping, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you!" Machoke's eyes swirling.

'At least his spirits seem to be back up,' Aipom thought while watching this scene. She could feel his terror at the thought of facing Fiarrow yesterday and as such, she could not help but worry about him during that time.

Keiko approached her and tapped her on the head, Aipom turning and saying, "Hi, Keiko," the woman saying, "I know you're worried about him, and I'm not gonna lie, that Fiarrow is going to be a scary opponent for him. But I feel confident. After all, his family has a knack for getting out of tight spots when it really counts," Aipom sighing, "I know, but I still worry about him."

At that moment, a watermelon was brought over to Fiarrow, the falcon saying, "Thanks, lady," giving her a seductive wink as her cheeks turned red, one of the girls sitting at the table asking, "So, how are you going to beat Machoke two days from now?"

"It's quite simple," Fiarrow replied as he held the watermelon up over a glass before pushing both hands against the sides and adding, "I'm gonna hold him and break him open just like this!" the falcon having applied just enough force to create a hole in the bottom of the watermelon as the juice poured out into the glass, the girls applauding him as he poured them all glasses as well. Even the waitress could not help but admire this display.

When Fiarrow took a sip of the juice, a waiter approached his table and said, "Excuse me, Fiarrow, sir, but we have something special prepared for you," the falcon smirking and replying, "I like the sound of that," the waiter adding, "Right this way," pointing toward a door on the Northern side of the wall as Fiarrow nodded, saying, "Wait right here, girls," all of them nodding.

However, just as the two were about to head off, Machoke immediately dashed in front of them and spat, "Hey, what about me!? I'm a finalist too!" the waiter replying, "Sorry, sir, but you're not important enough."

Machoke's jaw was dropped as he retorted, "Not important enough!? I'll show you not important!" Aipom, Lopunny, Reika and Keiko using all their might to hold him back while he and Fiarrow headed toward the door, the falcon chuckling and replying, "Some people are just better than others, I guess."

With that, both people were walking down a hallway as Fiarrow asked, "So, where is this special something? I don't wanna make my fangirls wait for too long. I may be mean, but I'm not cruel."

However, the waiter had a brief glimmer in his eye as he remarked, "Oh, don't worry, it won't be long at all," the man removing his outfit and head to reveal that he had been Lucario all along. Before Fiarrow could even respond, the dog grabbed hold of his wrists and knelt down, creating a bridge formation with his body and placing the falcon's back against his spike.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" the dog spat, "I should have taken you down long ago, and now I'm finally going to set things right, Talonflame!"

Fiarrow gritted his teeth and retorted, "Lucario!? I should ask you the same thing! I thought you were on our side!" the dog remarking, "Shut up, I don't serve evil anymore! I guess I shouldn't have expected you to know that since you don't read newspapers!"

"Well, go ahead, take me out with that precious London Bridge of yours," Fiarrow said, "but if you do, I'll still have enough strength to tell everyone your secret," Lucario's eyes going wide as the falcon added, "I also don't appreciate you using my real name like that. I can't have anyone finding out who I really am, at least not yet."

The dog growled and released his hold on Fiarrow, the bird chuckling and saying, "Good boy. Now run along home and let me go about my business in peace," Lucario gritting his teeth and pointing at him, retorting, "Mark my words! Machoke will defeat you!" the dog taking his leave.

At that moment, some of the staff members ran into the area, one asking, "We heard a noise. Is everything okay?" Fiarrow replying, "Yeah, don't worry about it. Some punk tried to take me out, but I chased him off easily," another staff member asking, "Should we pursue him?"

"Don't bother," the falcon replied, "He's not worth your time. And trust me, after what I did to him, he's not coming back," before thinking, 'He'd better not if he knows what's good for him.'

The rest of the evening went okay as Machoke actually started to calm down. The evening had been peaceful. Fiarrow had not done anything drastic to ruin it nor had he sent the boy any more threats. Aipom was quite glad to see Machoke calming down as she wanted him to at least have some positivity before his big match.

With all said and done, the guests all headed off to return home. While walking to Keiko's car, Reika turned to Lopunny and said, "I really like your dress. Where did you get it?" the rabbit replying, "It was a gift from my mother before I left Egypt. She knew that if I graduated, I'd likely be located somewhere else, so she wanted me to have this with me. Apparently, she wore it the day she and my father met."

And on that note, Reika and her friends entered the car as Keiko started up the motor, taking off from the area. Machoke and Aipom knew they would have to bus home, but they were used to this so it hardly mattered.

Along the way, Machoke looked out the window with a serious look in his eyes. Aipom noticed this and rested a hand gently against his shoulder, the boy smiling. He was no longer scared of Fiarrow and was willing to do his absolute best to win. There was no way he was going to let all his progress mean nothing.

With that, the boy trained hard the next couple of days, harder than ever before. Aipom was naturally really happy to see him taking everything so seriously as she did her best to help him. She was still hoping she could find a good way to help him avoid the Flare Blitz, though, as she knew that was likely to finish him off if Fiarrow used it.

Soon enough, the big day came. As was predicted, Gallade, Gardevoir and Blaziken were finally out of the hospital and had been for a whole day. Needless to say, Machoke was relieved that he would have their support as he knew he would need it.

The seats in Tokyo Stadium were naturally filled. This was the match everyone had been anticipating and there was no way they were going to miss it. Big companies had closed up for the day, including grocery stores and those who could not attend were tuned in at home to watch the match. The only operation still running was, of course, the hospital as they still had patients.

Heracross was wide awake and able to watch the TV there to see the outcome. Unlike Lopunny, he was not sure whether or not he wanted Fiarrow to win. On one hand, he agreed that what he had seen from the falcon on TV was terrible, but at the same time, he really wanted to protect Tokyo with his friends.

Scyther also still felt loyal to the team and had even told Scizor to go to the ring and pass on a message she managed to whisper to her in the hospital the previous day. As it just so happened, she had woken up around noon just enough to be able to speak and not much else.

Scizor wandered the halls toward the bleachers as there was still an hour to go before the match, remembering that time, how Scyther had finally opened her eyes a little bit and whispered, "Mother, come here," the older insect walking over and lending her the side of her head and biting her lower lip, letting down tears and sniffing, "Gott sei dank, you're okay."

"I want you to go and watch the match in person tomorrow," Scyther uttered, Scizor nodding and replying, "Of course," the insect adding, "On last thing. Tell Fiarrow to do all he can to defeat Machoke. I may not like him, but I still want him to win."

Scizor still could not believe her daughter had told her to do that. On one hand, she knew it would have been very disrespectful not to do as Scyther said, but on the other hand, she did not want such words coming from her mouth. Besides, she knew how Fiarrow would have responded anyway. Instead of appreciating these words and considering Scyther a true friend, he would likely act smug and call her stupid for even thinking he would need words of encouragement.

Even so, while she walked down the hall, she noticed Fiarrow in a training room getting ready for the match as she took a deep breath, about to let the falcon know she was there. However, she hesitated but ultimately went along with it anyway, knocking on the door even though it was already open.

Fiarrow turned to face her and said, "Oh, it's you," Scizor walking over and sighing, "I have a message from my daughter," the falcon blinking and replying, "Alright, make this quick."

Scizor then proceeded to say, "Do all you can to defeat Machoke and never give up no matter how hard things get. That's what she told me to say," Fiarrow shrugging his shoulders and replying, "I wasn't expecting that, but she has no reason to worry because I already know I'm gonna wipe the floor with that moron's face," a wicked smirk on his face as Scizor took a deep breath, exiting the room.

It was just as she figured it would be. Granted, his response was nowhere near as harsh as she had expected, but he still had a smug attitude to him. The fact that she had even said something encouraging to him made her feel dirty inside like she had just given advice to a villain.

All the while, Machoke was preparing himself as well and much harder than Fiarrow was. As usual, the falcon was not really training as much as he was just resting so he would be fully energized. Machoke planned to use that against him as he trained rigorously.

All the while, his friends sat in the crowd, Reika, Keiko, Tsuya and Cici taking front row seats while the others sat in the row just behind them. Reika simply smiled at them and said, "It's still so good to see you guys here," Blaziken replying, "As if we'd miss this. I wanna see that Fiarrow bastard get his comeuppance."

Gardevoir and Gallade nodded as Gallade said, "That guy just rubs me the wrong way, especially after the way he's been treating his own teammates," Gardevoir simply nodding in agreement.

Lucario all the while once again sat in the back row, his blood filled with anger. It was not so much anger geared toward Fiarrow but at himself for not saying anything. He wanted so badly to reveal whatever secret it was he had, but as Fiarrow had stated the previous night, there was something he knew about Lucario that could very well damage his image. But what were these two secrets that both were hiding from the world and would the people ever know?

Whatever it was would have to wait as tensions rose, Weedle taking a seat next to Nori, the woman exclaiming, "Welcome, everyone, to Tokyo Stadium! I am your host, Nori Takanawa, and this is the final round of The Next Gen Battle, and what an exciting match this is going to be! Despite Team Jinroku losing all but one member, that member managed to rise to the top and fight his way to the finals, so this match really will decide who will remain stationed in Tokyo! Needless to say, the tension is high, folks!"

Weedle nodded and added, "This match will also be fair, no cheap gimmicks or anything like that. This means that the electric rope will not be used again. Though I must admit, I am rather happy with how this tournament has gone with each match being more exciting than the last. Despite these being fights between heroes, everyone has been taking this very seriously and that makes for a truly wonderful spectacle, wouldn't you agree?"

The crowd cheered and applauded that statement, clearly agreeing with it as Lucario thought, 'He doesn't realize just how serious this is. Talonflame has everyone fooled. I wish I could just expose him right now for the liar he is.'

Of course, as always, Aipom waited by the ringside for the match to start. Things were certainly going to be interesting today, there was no doubt about that.

"Now without further ado," Weedle stated, "it's time to introduce our finalists," Nori nodding and exclaiming, "In the blue corner, having made his way through A block, the son of Machamp and the last representative of Team Jinroku, Machoke!"

All went silent as everyone was wondering what stupid entrance the boy had come up with this time. However, Machoke approached the ring with a serious look on his face. Aipom's eyes went wide as even she had expected something childish and over-the-top.

It seemed he was taking this more seriously than any other match before as he walked down the aisle, entering the ring without anything embarrassing happening. Aipom smiled and gave the boy thumbs up with her tail hand, Machoke simply giving her a brief smile before redirecting his focus toward the match at hand.

The crowd went wild as Nori shouted, "Wow, I can't believe it! After so many stupid entrances, Machoke actually looks quite dignified! I have no idea where this came from, but he's really focused on the match!" Weedle nodding and thinking, 'Perhaps he's not the embarrassment I thought he was.'

With that, Nori quickly nudged the caterpillar as he nodded, stating, "In the red corner, having made his way through the challenge of the B Block, the last representative of Team Next Gen, Fiarrow!"

At that moment, the falcon flew out from the entrance, performing a somersault in the air before landing firmly against the ring, half the audience cheering wildly for him. Sure, this was nowhere near as intricate as his last entrance, but it was still a spectacle as he smirked, saying, "Figured I'd go for a more simple approach. Don't wanna waste too much energy before such an important match."

Lopunny frowned and repeated his words in a mocking tone, Keiko saying, "Well, that is certainly a logical way of thinking."

Gardevoir smiled lightly and said, "True, but look at Machoke. It's like he's not scared at all," Blaziken nodding and replying, "I know. He looks so calm and collective, the exact opposite of what he's usually like. We could be seeing him at his absolute best right now."

However, while everyone was certainly impressed by this, Fiarrow seemed to notice something about Machoke's eyes. Surprisingly, it was not fear, but what else could it possibly be?

Either way, the falcon smirked and said, "I'll admit, I was expecting you to run home to Mommy. I guess you got more guts than I gave you credit for," Machoke glaring into his eyes and saying nothing, everyone amazed by just how cool and confident he was. The old Machoke would have at least been openly offended by such a statement, but right now, he seemed unfazed by it.

With all said and done, Nori rang the bell, shouting, "Let the final match begin!" Fiarrow wasting no time rushing toward Machoke. However, before Aipom could even give a bit of advice, Machoke immediately dodged to the right when the falcon got close enough and sent a high kick into his cheek.

The crowd went wild as Machoke smirked, saying, "Nice try, but that's so predictable," Reika exclaiming, "ALRIGHT, MACHOKE, GIVE HIM HELL!"

Before Fiarrow could even respond, Machoke immediately rushed at him and sent a karate chop just below his neck. The falcon responded by grabbing onto Machoke's sides only for the boy to send two karate chops hard into his shoulders, the crowd even more impressed when this actually proved enough to get Fiarrow to let go.

"This is unlike anything I've seen from Machoke before!" Nori exclaimed, "Sure, I've seen him get an early lead, but it's never been this impressive!" Weedle nodding and replying, "I have to admit, he's doing a really good job so far."

"You're the best, Machoke!" Gardevoir squealed as Lopunny jumped up and down with excitement, Machoke not stopping after that last move.

Before Fiarrow could even attempt a counterattack, Machoke got behind him and wrapped his arms around the bird, leaning backward for a German Suplex. Everyone expected him to get out of it just like he had with Scyther, but Machoke managed to add just enough extra speed that the falcon did not have enough time to use his wings, his head hitting the mat hard.

As Fiarrow slowly rose to his feet, rubbing his head, Aipom exclaimed, "NOW, MACHOKE, HIT HIM WHILE HE'S STILL RECOVERING!" only for Machoke to stand perfectly still.

All went silent as Blaziken asked, "Why isn't he attacking?"

"Yeah, knowing him, he'd jump at a chance to take advantage of something like this," Gallade replied, Gardevoir trembling and whimpering, "Guys, look," everyone then noticing what she meant as Machoke clearly struggled to keep his eyes open, his arms dropped as his legs barely supported him.

"Are you okay?" Aipom asked as Machoke groaned, "I was really hoping this wouldn't effect me this much," the monkey's eyes going wide as she asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm gonna be perfectly honest," Machoke uttered in a rather weak tone, "I was terrified of the thought of facing Fiarrow today," the boy then letting out a yawn before adding, "As such, I was only able to get four hours of sleep."

All went silent as Reika uttered, "Is he kidding?" Tsuya replying, "He's gotta be," Blaziken groaning, "Oh no, and after he was so serious."

Machoke had a look of disappointment on his face as he thought, 'Dammit, it's because of my lack of sleep that I decided not to go with a big, grand entrance like I usually do. I figured as long as I didn't try something like that, I'd have enough energy to go on,' Lopunny asking, "Is he going to be okay?"

Fiarrow laughed and said, "Yeah, as soon as I looked you straight in the eyes, I could see the fatigue and knew something was up. I figured if you were taking things slow and cautiously, you might actually be able to do some damage, so I let you whale on me and exhaust yourself."

"This is certainly a huge upset," Nori said, "Just as it seemed Machoke was doing better than ever before, his energy has nearly left him," Weedle sighing, "It figures."

Lucario gritted his teeth, a vein on his forehead as he muttered, "That idiot! What is wrong with him?" Scizor, who was also seated in the back row, looking over at the dog, noticing that he was more distressed by Machoke's fatigue than anyone else.

With that in mind, Fiarrow flew toward Machoke with both feet out as he shouted, "Now it's my turn to shine!" the falcon hitting the boy hard in the face and knocking him on his back. After that, he took to the sky and held his feet together, the talons pointing down at Machoke's belly like a giant spike.

"I hate to end the match so early, but you gave me no choice in the matter," the falcon then spinning around, flames surrounding his body as he spat, "SPINNING TOP INFERNO!" the falcon dropping down hard against Machoke's gut, the boy's eyes widening as blood flew out of him like a spinning fountain.

After a few seconds, Fiarrow stopped his attack and leapt back, saying, "Well, it's a little anticlimactic, but it's obvious who the winner is," Weedle taking a deep breath, secretly glad Machoke had been defeated so quickly as he nodded to Nori, the girl gulping and raising her mallet.

Aipom stared at this, her body trembling as she pleaded, "Please, Machoke, get up! Tell me you were kidding when you said that!"

Everyone else stared in absolute shock, Reika trembling and uttering, "Is this really how it's going to end?"

Gallade lowered his eyelids and groaned, "That was it?" Gardevoir whimpering, "Get up, Machoke," Blaziken frowning and remarking, "Don't count him out just yet."

All went silent as Machoke started coughing, Fiarrow's eyes widening as he slowly turned, asking, "Are you serious?" Nori stopping herself from hitting the bell and quickly taking the mic before exclaiming, "And in a shocking turn of events, Machoke has recovered from that devastating blow!"

As if this was not surprising enough, Machoke looked wide awake as he very quickly leapt back to his feet and released steam from his nostrils. The crowd cheered wildly as Aipom took deep breaths, asking, "Are you okay, Machoke?" the boy grinning and giving her thumbs up while replying, "I've never felt better!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" Fiarrow barked with a look of irritation in his eyes, "SERIOUSLY, YOU'RE TOTALLY BLUFFING, AREN'T YOU!?" Lopunny saying, "He's got a point. How can Machoke have so much energy after taking in an attack like that?"

Machoke simply laughed and said, "Normally something like that would have left me feeling weak, but this time, I needed something to really wake me up, and that was more than enough! Now I don't feel tired in the slightest, and it's all thanks to you!"

The crowd still did not completely understand this but cheered all the same, Nori stating, "Well, it would seem that Fiarrow has unintentionally helped Machoke overcome his fatigue with his amazingly powerful attack," Weedle staring in disbelief while thinking, 'What is with this family and miracles?'

Fiarrow then took a deep breath and smirked, saying, "Oh well. I would have felt bad beating you so easily anyway. There would have been no real satisfaction in that, so I welcome this change."

"Man, you really had us worried, you jerk!" Blaziken snapped, Gardevoir letting down light tears of happiness and sniffing, "Don't scare us like that again."

Machoke smiled nervously and replied, "Don't worry, I'll never do anything this stupid in the future, that's for sure. I'll take sleeping pills if I have to."

Lucario all the while breathed a sigh of relief while thinking, 'Well, at least he dodged that one, though considering how powerful Talonflame is, he probably should have stayed down.'

It looked like Machoke was going to lose at first, but it seemed that now he really stood a chance. But would this truly be enough to defeat Fiarrow?