It was time for the third event of the Hero Olympics, the one that would decide who would make it to the main event, that being the fighting tournament. But what kind kind of event would narrow down the still rather high numbers to a small one?

However, before that could start up, Machoke was looking really uncomfortable as the deformed man he had just saved clung to him, saying, "Thank you so much, good sir! You are incredible!" the man then looking into his eyes as Machoke was trembling all over.

He then proceeded to set the man down, saying, "Uh, yeah, you're safe now. May your future be bright or something like that," the man's eyes sparkling as he uttered, "No one's ever said anything so encouraging to me before!" Machoke in absolute panic as the man started clinging to him again, Weedle watching this while thinking, 'That kid's suffering almost makes this all worth it.'

With that, Beedrill informed everyone that the final event would take place in a forest. The people were rather confused by this, but thankfully, the government had provided a free ride for them with the help of thirty big buses. Even the heroes would get this as well.

However, Weedle had one of the seats removed as the driver said, "Oh, sorry, Machoke, but there's not enough seats for you," Machoke retorting, "ARE YOU SAYING I HAVE TO RUN ALL THE WAY THERE!?" the man replying, "Not exactly," before pointing to a special seat tied to the back of the bus, Machoke groaning as Aipom laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head with her tail hand.

"It's fine, Machoke," came a familiar voice, Machoke turning to see Sawk standing there, the boy giving him thumbs up and adding, "I've lost enough dignity today. I don't see the harm in losing more," all going silent until the blue boy added, "You can have my seat. That's what I'm saying."

Machoke's eyes sparkled until the driver remarked, "Oh, sorry, you're actually not allowed to switch seats. This rule was recently added, like, at the last minute," Machoke frowning while thinking, 'I knew it, that geezer IS out to get me,' Sawk shrugging and saying, "Oh well, I tried."

And soon enough, the buses had all taken off, Reika looking out the window of hers and noticing Machoke trying desperately to stay in his own seat. She just really hoped he would not fall, especially considering that the rope itself did not look that secure.

Soon enough, all of the buses had arrived outside of a big forest as the audience took their seats in bleachers that had been set up there. Whatever was coming up must have been exciting for a change of location to be required.

Beedrill and Weedle once again sat behind a booth, Beedrill stating, "Alright, folks, this is it, the final event to decide who will advance to the fighting tournament!" Machoke groaning and rubbing his rear end, said spot hurting rather badly after such an uncomfortable ride.

Aipom was in the audience this time sitting next to Keiko as she sighed, "I hope Machoke's ready for this," Keiko replying, "Hey, you should know as well as I do that his family can often be counted on to make such things work out."

Weedle took the mic this time and stated, "Before we start the main event, we would like the heroes to pick a volunteer from the audience each," everyone rather confused by this statement, Machoke grinning and saying, "Hey, this actually sounds rather nice, a little downtime with the fans. We could use a break like this."

With that in mind, Hitmonchan immediately beamed before noticing Gallade in the crowd and pointed at him, exclaiming, "I pick you, Gallade!" the boy blinking in confusion as Beedrill added, "In this case, the hero's decision is absolute," the wasp blinking and uttering, "If it were up to me, I'd give the volunteers a right to refuse."

And soon enough, many others were chosen to go with various other heroes. Dodrio had ended up with a pair of conjoined twins while Octillery got a teenaged girl who said, "All my friends are afraid of you, but I don't know why. I think you're pretty cool," the octopus laughing and replying, "Thanks. It's always nice to meet a fan."

Machoke was about to pick someone when he noticed Lucario choose a girl around his age from the crowd. The boy stared in interest as he thought, 'Must be Lucario's girlfriend,' said girl actually being Amanda.

Lucario took a deep breath and asked, "Does Mom know you're here?" Amanda nodding and replying, "Yes. She actually gave me the money for the trip as a reward for getting one-hundred percent on everything in school," a big smile on her face as the dog snickered, "I figured you'd pull that off."

The two then gave each-other a hug, Lucario making sure to lean forward and only hug with the parts above his spike so he could avoid accidentally stabbing her. Machoke took a while to figure out what was going on before thinking, 'Oh, I didn't know he had a sister, and a human one no less.'

Gardevoir had picked Kuro from the crowd, the man saying, "It's certainly nice to see you again," Gardevoir nodding and squeaking, "Likewise!" Aipom all the while thinking no one would want to spend time with her until suddenly, she felt something grab her tail hand.

Her eyes widened as she looked behind her to notice a dark blue dragon holding her hand with an intimidating grin on her face. Her hands were actually big claws with long flaps of skin resembling wings coming from the forearms. Her head looked more like the tail of a plane with two skin protrusions that resembled motors coming from the sides and a gold star on her forehead. Her belly was red with a bit of yellow in the belt area, her tail like that of a shark, though the tail fin looked more like the motor of a submarine. With a big fin that resembled a blade coming from her back, this was Garchomp.

Aipom blinked as the dragon said in a thick Russian accent, "I want you to be my partner, and as the rules say, you can't refuse," the monkey whimpering and biting her lower lip, trying her best not to show how scared she was right now.

Machoke all the while desperately tried to get one of the remaining girls to go with him only for them to run in terror, Reika all the while looking around and thinking, 'I guess I should volunteer to go with Machoke,' Machoke then realizing he could just as easily pick her.

However, just as he was about to do so, he heard a familiar German voice state, "I would like you as my partner!" both Machoke and Reika in shock when they noticed Scyther pointing at the girl, inviting her over.

Reika was rather confused by this but walked over anyway, knowing she had little choice as she asked, "Are you serious?" Scyther nodding and replying, "Ja, I'm certain of it."

Machoke noticed this and fumed before shouting, "Alright, that's it! I'm picking someone right now!" before pointing toward a random spot in the bleachers, his eyes widening when he noticed the one he had pointed at was the deformed man he had saved, the man smiling bright and exclaiming, "Wow! No one's ever picked me for anything before!"

The boy panicked when the man ran over to him, hugging his arm and saying, "You're the best, Machoke!" the boy then blinking and thinking, 'Well, it's not often I hear that.'

With all said and done, Beedrill stated, "Alright, now to reveal the reason why you had to choose partners," everyone staring as Weedle added, "My idea not to tell you until now," the others nodding as this made perfect sense, the wasp adding, "You see, this is going to be the setup for the next event."

All went silent as a picture of two people running side by side appeared, words forming over the image and saying 'Three-Legged Race'. The heroes all went wide-eyed, most of them looking beyond irritated by this.

"Are you kidding!?" one of them spat, clutching his head and groaning, "If I knew this, I would have picked a tough man!" the girl next to him remarking, "You know I can hear you, right?" another sighing, "I was not prepared for this."

Even Lucario had to admit he was a little worried right now as he turned to Amanda, the girl smiling sweetly and saying, "Don't worry, Lucario, I can handle myself," the dog taking a deep breath and replying, "Right, sometimes I forget you're on the track team."

Scyther simply smiled and said, "I had a feeling it was going to come to something like this," Reika asking, "So you chose me? Are you sure you want me as your partner?" the insect nodding and replying, "Ja. The first time I saw you, I could tell that you must have athletic abilities."

Reika smiled and replied, "Well, it is true that I have been training to become a pro wrestler when I grow up, but I always do that in secret. You could really tell all that by looking at me?" Scyther nodding.

Kuro and Gardevoir did not look the least bit disappointed as both simply gave each-other thumbs up. The same could easily be said for Gallade and Hitmonchan, what with both of them being heroes.

At that moment, the pairs were bound together with metal shackles, Machoke looking beyond uncomfortable as his partner was now hugging him. He wanted so desperately to trade with someone but knew he could not.

"Like Scyther, I had a feeling this would happen," Garchomp stated with a smirk, "That's why I chose you, Aipom. You're one of the smartest people in the universe, so I know you can guide me to victory."

Aipom blushed slightly and replied, "Well, I don't mean to brag, but that is true," the monkey smiling bright and adding, "Well, I do feel bad helping out the competition, but if we're to be a team, I'll do my best," the dragon grinning and replying, "Thank you for being unbiased about this."

"Alright, so as you have already figured out judging by your reactions," Beedrill stated, "this last event is a three-legged race through this forest. There are obstacles along the way, so it's not always going to be an easy path, but there are signs telling you exactly what directions you're to go in. The first sixteen heroes to cross the finish line will partake in the fighting tournament while the rest will be eliminated."

"So this really is the event to decide everything," Machoke uttered before groaning, "Why, God, why!?" the man next to him not completely sure what the boy meant by that.

With that, everyone looked focused as Beedrill exclaimed, "Alright, on your mark, get set, go!" the wasp ringing a bell as the heroes were off, all of them hoping to do the best they could.

However, while most of them had a relatively good start, Machoke was not looking so well as his partner seemed to have trouble running, the man uttering, "I must tell you I'm not really much of a runner," Machoke groaning, "Why?"

The others were not having too much trouble as they had not yet reached an obstacle. However, that soon changed when they came to a big pond of water in front of them, some people looking terrified to even attempt something like this. As if the large body of water that they could not walk around without breaking the rules was not enough, it looked like this water was badly polluted.

However, while most looked terrified, Octillery had no problem with the idea of diving in, but not before offering to let her partner ride on top of her. The girl smiled bright and said, "Thank you, Miss Octillery!" the octopus replying, "That's what teammates do, right? They look out for each-other!"

With that, the girl climbed onto the octopus' back as Octillery dove in, swimming across the water while wrapping two of her tentacles around her partner to keep her from falling off. The others saw this as one of them spat, "ALRIGHT, SCREW CLEANLINESS! I WANNA WIN THIS!" all of the heroes getting into the water.

Unfortunately, it really was as deep as Octillery had made it look and some of the humans and even a couple of the heroes could not swim. But before they could potentially drown, Beedrill happened to be flying overhead to check up on everyone saying, "You there! Since you cannot advance, I'm afraid you have been disqualified! I'll be down to fish you out right now!" the wasp flying down and fishing each one out of the water one-by-one, all of them taking a seat as he called for a helicopter to bring them to the finish line so they could at least see who the winners were.

Lucario and Amanda, however, were not two of these people as they were swimming quite expertly, both of them picking up enough speed to pass by every water type Hero in the Olympics, including Octillery despite her early lead. Scyther and Reika were also doing quite well as both were descent swimmers, Scyther of course sticking to her 'no flying' code.

"I hate getting wet," Garchomp grumbled, scowling at the water as Aipom sighed, "Honestly, I'm kind of on the same boat, but luckily, I know a legal way around this," Garchomp listening carefully as Aipom pointed at a bunch of lily pads floating on the water's surface while saying, "If you're fast enough, even someone as big as you can leap from pad to pad without falling in."

Garchomp nodded and smirked, saying, "Alright, let's do this," the dragon leaping up and placing one foot against a pad before quickly sprinting off. It was just as Aipom had stated. Despite her size and weight, the speed of her jump prevented her from going under and soon enough, both had made it to the other side without once touching so much as a drop of water.

Sawk had chosen Throh as his partner, said hero having been in the audience today as both easily made their way to the other end, giving each-other a high five before carrying on. And Gardevoir and Kuro did a very good job, the man being shockingly fast considering his size.

Gallade and Hitmonchan made it to the end rather easily too with both grinning at one-another before carrying on. And close behind was Lopunny and a thin boy she had chosen as her partner.

Unfortunately, Dodrio was not so lucky as they could not swim particularly well. It was not as if kiwi birds were incapable of swimming but rather they had never practised swimming before and as such, they did not even know how to use their legs to their advantage.

After being fished out along with some of the others, the male head groaned, "DAMMIT, THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING!" the females sighing, "For once I agree."

The right head then turned to their partners and said, "I'm so sorry, guys," the two conjoined twins shrugging as one head replied, "It's okay. I just think it's awesome I got to race alongside you," the other head adding, "Conjoined siblings for life!" the bird lifting up their foot and pounding it against the twins' fist.

However, when it finally came time for Machoke and his partner to get there, Machoke gulped and uttered, "Oh no, not swimming," looking for a way around before remembering he could not stray from the path without being disqualified and he was certain Weedle had a way of knowing if he did.

However, his partner looked more than confident as he exclaimed, "This is great!" Machoke turning in confusion as the man added, "I may not be much of a runner, but I am an excellent swimmer!"

The boy simply prayed this was not a lie as both dove into the water, Machoke not even doing much as his partner was pulling him along at an incredible speed. Heck, he was so fast that he had actually outdone Lucario's speed from before, getting to the other side in only five seconds. Machoke could not believe how easy that had been but refused to stop and question this as the two carried on, his partner actually starting to pick up the pace a bit.

However, during this time, the other heroes were starting to resort to any means necessary of getting ahead. Just like in the damsel rescue race, they were allowed to use their abilities to slow down their opponents.

A dinosaur with a skull helmet named Cubone had his sights set on Lucario as he pulled out a bone and hurled it at the dog, shouting, "BONEMERANG!"

Amanda heard it coming and spat, "BROTHER, BEHIND YOU!" Lucario nodding and saying, "Spin with me in three, two, one," the two spinning their bodies around as Lucario used his palm to send the bone flying back at Cubone, hitting him hard in the pelvis and knocking him on his back as his partner stared at him and asked, "Are you okay?"

A blue alligator by the name of Feraligatr was pursuing Scyther, looking ready to strike her when Scyther noticed this, saying, "Reika, can you use a backward kick?" Reika nodding and replying, "That's one of the easiest moves out there," both of them sending their legs back and hitting Feraligatr hard in the gut.

After that, the two proceeded to lean one arm back each, using their combined efforts to lift the alligator over their heads and slam in on his back, his partner going down with him as Reika said, "Sorry, but we really want to win this," Scyther smiling and saying, "You have a strong hand, Reika," the girl flexing her muscles with a smirk.

Hitmonchan and Gallade were both doing a descent job fighting their way past a few opponents with Hitmonchan sending Braixen flying into a tree while Gallade used his right arm blade to strike down a sentient garbage bag named Trubbish. However, the two were then attacked by Pinsir and a bulldog named Granbull, each one coming from behind.

Gallade was unable to react in time as Hitmonchan immediately got in the way, taking in Pinsir's horns, the girl crying out in pain and falling to her knees. Gallade noticed Granbull about to add to the pain with his fists only to dash in front of the attack, taking in a hard blow to the face, both now feeling weak as the opponents carried on.

"You protected me," Hitmonchan uttered, her eyes sparkling as Gallade smirked, adding, "You protected me too," the two then getting close and pressing their lips up against one-another, one more opponent stomping over them and knocking them unconscious.

All the while, many opponents were trying to take Bisharp down, but the knight refused to let this get him down as he went all-out, blocking any incoming attack with his arm blades. However, he then noticed that all of his quick movements were actually causing him to unintentionally injure his partner, an eight-year-old boy wearing a T-shirt with a picture of the knight's head on it.

"Are you okay, Yuma?" Bisharp asked as the boy groaned, "I'm so sorry, Mister Bisharp, sir! I'm a huge fan of yours and I wanted to meet you! You should have gotten a better partner!"

The knight simply shook his head and replied, "No, you were a fine ally for me, but you are now wounded, therefore I shall take it upon myself to bring you to safety," Bisharp using his wrist spike to unlock the shackles, Beedrill stating, "And Bisharp has sacrificed his spot in the Olympics to keep his partner safe!" the wasp letting down tears and sniffing, "I want to do something like that someday."

Gardevoir refused to resort to injuring opponents as a means of getting ahead. It simply was not in her nature, and of course, many heroes chose to take full advantage of this and try to knock her out. However, whenever they got close, Kuro would instantly keep them away by swinging his fists at them. Sure, he may have been a human, but he was tough and could hold his own even when facing a powerful creature.

"Thanks for the help," Gardevoir said with a smile, "though I'm not sure if I condone that sort of thing during a race," Kuro replying, "I am merely doing it to protect you, not to slow them down."

Lopunny had been doing very well, the rabbit easily keeping ahead. Unfortunately, her luck ran out when a being wrapped in blue vines named Tangela used her vines to trap her and her partner in place, the creature laughing and saying, "That's right, squirm, but it won't do you any good!" the rabbit gritting her teeth as she then thought of something, biting into the vine closest to her mouth as Tangela released her hold, her partner sighing, "I thought you were tougher than that."

Garchomp was easily ploughing through opponents, Aipom letting her know when an opponent was sneaking up behind her, the dragon greatly appreciating the help. Suddenly, Ursaring got behind her and grabbed her by her right shoulder, saying, "There's only room for one Russian in the tournament!" Aipom exclaiming, "GARCHOMP, USE YOUR BACK FIN TO KEEP HIM AWAY!" the dragon nodding and swinging her blade-like fin to the right, smacking Ursaring on the side and causing him to let go.

All the while, Machoke and his partner were starting to catch up a bit as the human started to get the hang of running. It seemed his poor running at the start was simply due to a lack of experience and all of this exercise was giving him much-needed practice.

"You hanging in there?" Machoke asked as the man nodded, replying, "Don't worry about me! I'll do my absolute best to make sure you're among the top sixteen!"

Numbers started to dwindle more when the leading heroes came to the next major obstacle, an area filled with big cobwebs. However, Sawk refused to let this get to him as he smirked, saying, "Just because the webs are big doesn't mean the spiders themselves are!" he and Throh attempting to burst right through one only to find it was a lot tougher than most webs were, the two stuck in it when a whole family of spiders came out, all of them putting on bibs and pulling out forks and knives.

The brothers cried out in terror as Beedrill flew in, cutting them loose and saying, "Well, you two have been caught in the webs and needed saving. Therefore you have been disqualified from the race," the two sighing in disappointment as Throh said, "Well, you made it this far," the red boy shrugging as his brother nodded.

The others realized how serious this was as Lucario said, "Stick close to me, Amanda. This is going to get ugly," the dog racing toward a string of webs and shouting, "FORCE PALM!" sending his palm hard into the first one and blasting a hole in it.

Scyther nodded and used her blades for the same purpose, many others feeling bad about taking this approach but simply decided to follow behind Lucario and Scyther, letting those two take care of the webs for them. Sure, it meant they would have to hold off on trying to get ahead of them, but it was worth it.

By the time Machoke and his partner had gotten there, they were actually catching up and all of the webs had been taken care of, making for easy passage as Machoke noticed more opponents up ahead. However, while they were starting to catch up, the competition was not looking too happy about this, especially one particular opponent, a green snake named Serperior.

The snake folded her arms and said, "That Machoke has been soaking up the glory for far too long. I shall see to it that he fails miserably today," her partner, a smug businessman stroking his moustache and saying, "I must say, I like the way you think, Lady Serperior."

With that, the snake had the man climb onto her back as she exclaimed, "TAIL BLADE!" propelling herself off of the ground and spinning toward Machoke with a green blade forming on the tip of her tail. However, she was not so much aiming for the boy himself as much as she was aiming for his shackles as she knew separating him from his partner would get him disqualified. She had already done this with three other opponents prior to this, so she knew this was an effective strategy.

However, while Machoke had been unaware of this, the man's ears twitched as he spat, "MACHOKE, BEHIND YOU!" Machoke turning around just in time to see his partner grab Serperior by the tail.

He was about to be knocked out when Machoke quickly placed his own grip against the tail, noticing two trees side by side and smirking, saying, "Thanks, snake lady, you just gave me a great idea!"

With that, the boy ran over to the trees as he and his partner tied Serperior around both of them, her partner gasping, "Good heavens, stop handling this fair maiden so violently!" Machoke and his partner both giving each-other annoyed looks before barking, "SHUT UP!"

With that, both placed themselves against Serperior's body and pushed back, the snake groaning, "OH GOD, THIS IS PAINFUL!" as the two used her like a slingshot to send them flying forward, the two actually managing to fly a really long distance, passing over the heads of many contestants.

However, one hero, a fox-like man with a long moustache named Alakazam detected the two of them coming as he held out two spoons, the girl next to him asking, "Oh, are you going to use your psychic powers?" Alakazam nodding and replying, "Yes I am," before closing his eyes and causing the spoons to bend with his mind, shouting, "PSYCHIC SPOONS!"

This trapped Machoke and the human in a magical bubble as the hero groaned, "OH NO, WE WERE SO CLOSE!" his partner gritting his teeth and remarking, "WE CAN'T JUST LET IT END AFTER WE CAME SO FAR!" Machoke nodding as the two started beating against the bubble.

"Simpletons," Alakazam muttered, "You can't just break through a magical field with brute strength," his eyes widening when he heard the sound of a crack forming on the bubble.

The fox turned and uttered, "That makes no sense!" as he was too spellbound to keep running when Machoke and his partner both managed to shatter the bubble.

With that, the two flew toward him, grinning at one-another and nodding before holding their arms out. Alakazam tried fleeing for his life only for the two to hook both his and his partner's necks, knocking them both down before running forward. Nothing was going to stop them now.

Finally, after all that running, it was time for the contestants to reach the finish line as those sitting by the entrance could see all of this on a big-screen TV. They all cheered wildly when they noticed Lucario and Amanda cross the finish line first followed closely by Scyther and Reika, the two breathing heavily as Reika smiled, saying, "Wow, we're actually in second," Scyther nodding and replying, "Danke schoen, Reika."

Garchomp and Aipom were close in third as Garchomp said, "Third place, huh? Not bad, kid," a grin on the dragon's face as Aipom smiled, replying, "You're a really good listener."

Gardevoir and Kuro were in forth, the two of them looking beyond relieved as following close behind was a monkey with a pig snout named Primape. Sixth place went to a purple starfish named Starmie while seventh was a red and black rottweiler named Houndoom. A dinosaur named Lairon was in eighth and ninth place went to Lopunny and her partner.

Now Aipom was staring to worry as he uttered, "Oh no, I hope Machoke is at least getting close," when she noticed a cyborg named Metang come in tenth, Lopunny nodding and replying, "Yeah, I want a chance to face him under better circumstances than last time."

It was looking less likely as eleventh place went to a rose girl named Roserade. A tan-coloured hippo named Hippowdon was in twelfth followed by a white fox with nine tails aptly named Ninetales in thirteenth.

And it was starting to look even worse as fourteenth place went to an odd Pokemon with a giant hand for a head and rocks as clothing named Barbaracle, fifteenth going to a blue duck named Golduck. This meant if Machoke and his partner did not pass next, it was all over.

Weedle saw this on screen and thought, 'Excellent,' Keiko and Reika's friends looking just as worried as the others. And it looked even worse when it appeared that an orange crab named Kingler was going to take the sixteenth spot.

However, just as he was about to cross the finish line, Machoke and his partner came racing in, both now going faster than ever before and speeding right past the crab, Kingler and his partner both spellbound. With that, the boy and the man crossed the finish line, taking many deep breaths as Machoke asked, "How did we do?" Aipom smacking the back of his head and remarking, "You barely made it! Don't scare me like that!"

Reika nodded and replied, "Yeah, you cut it really close," Machoke taking a deep breath before suddenly realizing his shackles had been undone when he was not looking and his partner had already left.

"Where'd that guy go?" Machoke asked, blinking, "I need to thank him for his help," before noticing the man being taken to a car as a shockingly attractive woman was leading him to the vehicle, sighing, "So this is where you've been all day, honey. I've been worried sick," Machoke's eyes widening as Aipom said, "Even I'm a little surprised."

Just as the car was about to take off, the man turned to face Machoke one last time before waving with a smile on his face, the man leaving the area as Beedrill exclaimed, "And with that, the sixteen moving onto the fighting tournament have been decided! Join us next week as we begin the main event, but before that, we'll decide on the order tomorrow back at the Tokyo Dome, so be sure to stop on by there at noon!"

And with that, the elimination rounds were finally over and it was time for the main event to begin. This would certainly be exciting.