Disclaimer: The cloaked figure was a character thought up by one of my best friends. I've been considering for some time whether or not I would use this character and after a lot of thought, I've figured out how I can work her into the story.

Ninetales had a look of absolute pain on her face after being slashed across the chest. Scyther took a few deep breathes with her arm blades stretched out, the one she had struck her with now dabbed in a bit of the kitsune's blood.

"I'm sorry, Ninetales, but I simply can't forgive someone who doesn't have at least some ounce of feeling for her mother, be her good or evil," Scyther said with a cold look in her eyes as Scizor snapped, "SCYTHER, THAT WAS FAR MORE BRUTAL THAN IT NEEDED TO BE!" the crowd staring at her.

Scyther turned to face her mother as she added, "I told you to only use that amount of force when facing a villain, not a hero! No matter how difficult the circumstances, we should never resort to such extremes against a hero! You could have killed her with that!"

"SHUT UP, I DIDN'T!" Scyther retorted as Scizor's eyes widened, her daughter taking a deep breath and sighing, "I told you, Mother, I'm fighting with my own methods now. If I feel an extreme amount of force is necessary, I will use it as long as it helps me win!" then pointing at Ninetales and adding, "Just look at how effective that was! If I had followed your method, I wouldn't have done nearly as much damage!"

"I hate to say it, but that's another good point," Gallade replied, Gardevoir squeaking, "But it's wrong! Scizor's right! I understand wanting to beat her opponents, but she shouldn't feel the need to kill them!"

"I wouldn't worry too much about my health, Scizor," Ninetales said much to everyone's surprise as a blue flame surrounded her body, the gash suddenly vanishing as Nori said, "It seems Ninetales has used some kind of spell to seal her wound. Does that mean she can recover from any damage dealt to her?"

The kitsune shook her head and replied, "Oh no, that technique only removes open wounds. All the damage dealt earlier has not been rendered meaningless," Scyther simply charging toward the kitsune and shouting, "STAY DOWN THIS TIME!"

However, Ninetales was ready as she turned her body around and bent over, allowing Scyther to subconsciously slice off her tails. The insect's eyes widened as Scizor bit her lip, knowing exact what was coming.

However, just as soon as Scyther's look of shock came, it left her as she at least knew the tails were coming and was ready. When they floated up, the insect immediately raced toward them, delivering a fierce onslaught of slashes and slicing them up into many fragments. However, fear took over when she noticed Ninetales did not look the least bit worried about this.

"Oh god, she just made things worse for herself, didn't she?" Machoke groaned, Reika getting up from her seat with a look of anger in her eyes, the girl saying, "Excuse me," before leaving her seat in the bleachers and running down the staircase, the others staring in confusion.

And it was just as Machoke had feared for as soon as the tails had been cut, the fragments all directed themselves toward Scyther, Ninetales saying, "You just set yourself up for an even more deadly form of vengeance, Tail Gatling Gun," the insect's eyes going wide as all of the fragments flew straight into her back one-by-one at rapid speed, the insect coughing up blood.

All went silent as the fragments of the tail reconnected, the now-complete tails wrapping themselves around Scyther. However, this time the tails latched to her arms were grabbing her wrists, just barely avoiding the arm blades as Ninetales reconnected them to her rear end. To make matters worse, the tails also twisted Scyther's wrists and ankles, causing intense pain.

Reika ran over to the ring and snapped, "SCYTHER, LOOK WHAT HAPPENED! YOU STOPPED TAKING SCIZOR'S ADVICE AND GOT YOURSELF CAUGHT! IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU, YOU'LL TAKE YOUR MOTHER'S ADVICE!" Scyther's eyes going wide as the girl turned to Scizor, sighing, "Sorry to doing your job just now."

"Nein," Scizor remarked, "I should be apologizing for rendering your words meaningless," Reika staring in confusion until the bug pointed at her daughter, Scyther's arm blades leaving while her back was being bent, Ninetales shouting, "KITSUNE BACKBREAKER!"

"Even if Scyther was willing to listen to me, it would do no good at this point," Scizor stated with a sigh, "and to be perfectly honest, I don't think I should tell her what to do anymore," Reika's eyes going wide as Scizor added, "I appreciate you going to the effort to try and save her, but she's taken in too much damage and expelled too much energy now."

"You don't know that!" Reika retorted, "She could find some energy within!" tears rolling down Scyther's cheeks as she sniffed, "I hate to say it, Reika, but Mother's right. I can't feel my arms or legs right now," Reika shouting, "No! You're not a quitter, Scyther!"

"It's my fault," Scyther sighed, "again. I should have known it was still too early for me to act on my own," Scizor remarking, "Nein!" everyone staring in absolute shock, Nori and Beedrill having no comment for this as the mother added, "The truth is, Scyther, Ninetales is right. You are old enough to think for yourself now and you probably could have come up with a great strategy for this match if I had given you more time to do so. I may have built you into a great fighter, but I'm keeping you from unleashing your true potential. Even a lehrer has her limits, and I reached mine long ago."

Both insects let down light tears as Reika started to understand, the girl taking a deep breath and nodding. However, her look of acceptance immediately turned back to serious doubt when Ninetales leapt high above the ring and into the air, flipping Scyther upside-down while the German fans stared in horror.

"SCYTHER!" Scizor spat, tears running down her face as Reika bit her lip, wishing her words really could have made a difference. If only she had not waited so long.

It was far too late now as Ninetales said, "This is all very touching, but don't forget we still have to end this match at some point," the kitsune descending toward the mat and shouting, "KITSUNE DRIVER!" slamming Scyther's head hard into the canvas.

Heracross and Machoke both stared in horror while Gardevoir whimpered. Gallade and Hitmonchan hugged one-another while Cici's lip was quivering, Tsuya simply aghast. Blaziken had seen this coming to a certain degree but still had trouble believing things had really gone this far.

In a nearby hospital, Lopunny had seen this on TV and squeaked, "SCYTHER!" the rabbit about to get up just to get close to the screen when the nurses and doctors entered, reminding her that she still needed her rest.

Scyther's body collapsed when Ninetales released her hold on her, all going silent as Beedrill gulped after ten seconds, ringing the bell and exclaiming, "And the winner of the first match of the second round is Ninetales!" the Korean fans cheering while Scizor simply looked down, sighing, "Danke, Reika, for trying your best," Reika not even sure if she could really call her efforts worth it. Again, she wished she had acted sooner.

Ninetales took a deep breath, walking over to Scyther and leaning down, saying, "Sorry to be so rough," the kitsune about to help her get to the ambulance parked nearby only for Scizor to shout, "NEIN!" the kitsune staring as the bug entered the ring, walking over to her pupil and saying, "Danke, but I'll take care of it," Ninetales nodding and replying, "I understand."

Gardevoir looked unsure of her motives as Machoke sighed, "Well, on the upside, at least she's not evil," Gallade saying, "Hey, evil parents don't always equal evil kids, right?"

Heracross simply did not care about the conversation as he got up from his seat, running over to Scyther and asking, "Are you okay, lassie?" Scyther coughing and mustering up some energy after being loaded up onto a stretcher, saying, "I'll be okay."

Reika let out a sigh as Scyther added, "Don't look so down, Reika. I'm glad you tried to help set me straight," before looking at her mother, just about to say more as Scizor sighed, "Don't apologize, Scyther. I've been holding you back for too long. It's time you learn how to come up with strategies on your own so that someday, you won't need me looking out for you anymore."

The others soon ran to Scyther's side as Machoke looked at her then up at Ninetales with fear, the kitsune shooting him a quick glance before exiting the area, knowing she would have to relocate to see the next match anyway. All the while, Beedrill announced the next location, that being the inside of an abandoned factory. Weedle apparently figured that would be a good intense location to fight in, Machoke once again mentally questioning the caterpillar's sanity.

"Hey, Machoke, you're fighting in the next match, right?" Scyther asked, her voice getting weaker as Machoke nodded, replying, "Yeah, why?" the insect replying, "Promise me that if you beat Golduck, you'll defeat Ninetales," Machoke nodding and replying, "Yeah, I'll make her pay."

With that, Scyther's eyes closed as she was now napping, the medics wheeling her into the ambulance and taking off. All the while, Reika noticed Machoke's legs trembling. He was already starting to regret his promise, but she had a feeling he would come around in the end. He always seemed to do that.

Thankfully, Machoke would have plenty of time to prepare himself for the next match. Aipom gave him a look as he assured her he would spend his time readying himself, the monkey very happy to hear this. After all, the boy needed to defeat Golduck if he was to even attempt to keep his promise.

And just like the previous day, all of the heroes had been given a ride to the next location, though since there were only seven participants left, they all got to share one ride. Machoke was trying to take this time to relax when suddenly, the thought of facing Ninetales made him tense up.

As if that was not bad enough, he could also see Golduck shooting him death glares, a wicked smirk on her face as she made a cross-cut motion with one of her claws. The boy groaned, now questioning why he had entered the Hero Olympics in the first place.

During this time, the others had found their own way to get to the abandoned factory, Reika sighing, "I have to admit, I'm a little worried entering an abandoned factory," Tsuya replying, "I know what you mean. There's probably rats in there."

However, the two were shocked to see Cici with a serious look in her eyes, the girl saying, "Yes, but we need to support our friend," both staring wide-eyed as she entered the building, Aipom turning to them and saying, "I guess she must have been inspired by the story of Hyun."

All the while, Gallade and Blaziken had already arrived long before Reika and the others, the two looking around as Blaziken asked, "So, what do you suppose this factory was for?" Gallade replying, "I heard it was a cigarette factory," the chicken narrowing her eyelids and saying, "So it's not a big loss, then."

While the two looked around some more, Blaziken caught something in the corner of her eye, the chicken turning only to see nothing there. She blinked and figured she must have been seeing things as she and Gallade continued onward, Hitmonchan all the while having gone to the bleachers early to save Gallade a seat.

However, Blaziken had not imagined what she saw as there was a cloaked figure walking around. She had actually not been watching Blaziken or Gallade but had rather been headed toward the bleachers with the intention of not being seen yet. But what brought this stranger here was anyone's guess.

However, while she carried down the hall, she noticed a rat scurry past her and freaked out, covering her mouth to avoid screaming in terror before noticing a nearby bathroom, racing into it and squeaking, "EW, A RAT!"

She then took a deep breath, thinking, 'Thank the lord no one was around to see that,' striking a more calm and collective look before exiting the bathroom and resumed her trip to the bleachers.

All the while, Cici had absolutely surprised Aipom, Reika and Tsuya when wandering the halls. They had come across ten rats and the girl had not even batted an eyelash at them. She was really intent on being tough, though what her friends did not notice was how much trouble she was having as nervous sweat poured down her face every time she saw one of the rodents.

The girl then remembered something important as she asked, "Hey, Tsuya, you had a coke earlier, right?" Tsuya's eyes going wide as she groaned, "Now that you mention it..." the girl then sprinting off from the area in search of a bathroom, actually having a bit of trouble finding one despite the cloaked figure having such an easy time.

Cici then looked at Reika and asked, "Um, Reika, remember how I wanted to ask you a question back at the spa?" the girl nodding and replying, "Yeah, but you said it wasn't important," her friend sighing, "Well, I lied about that part, kind of."

Reika then took a deep breath and said, "I see, it's personal," the girl then looking around and patting Cici on the shoulder while adding, "Well, we're alone right now, so ask away."

"Well, I thought you had feelings for Machoke, but you don't seem interested in him anymore," Cici replied, Reika's eyes going wide as she remarked, "For the last time, I have never been interested in him!"

Cici took a deep breath and replied, "No one else is around," Reika sighing, "Alright, it's true. I used to have a thing for that moron," the girl pouting and folding her arms.

However, she could not resist the desire to explain herself further as she stated, "It's just like my mom said. There's this strange, cute charm to his family. On one hand, he's childish, but on the other hand, that makes him fun. He has trouble fighting his opponents, but he always pulls through in the end. He's always saying such cool and smart things, showing lots of wisdom for someone who seems so dumb."

"But you don't have feelings for him anymore," Cici replied as Reika nodded, asking, "Yes, but where are you going with this?"

Cici simply bit her lip, figuring it would be wrong to make this more awkward as she replied, "I was just wondering," Reika's eyes then widening as she exclaimed, "Oh my god, you have a crush on Machoke, don't you!?"

Cici's eyes widened as she squeaked, "No way! He's way too eccentric for me!" Reika then sighing, "Oh yeah, you don't plan to start dating until adulthood," Cici nodding and taking a deep breath.

With that, Tsuya returned and sighed, "They need more bathrooms here," the trio heading off toward the bleachers as Reika all the while started thinking about something else. The truth was, she knew what Cici had really wanted to ask but was glad the girl had not gone ahead with it as Reika did not even know what her answer would have been.

And of course during this time, Machoke was getting ready for his match, working extra hard. There was no way he would come in unprepared for such an event. After all, this was the second round of the Hero Olympics and he was going to do everything in his power to be ready for such an important occasion.

Soon enough, the area was full. Sure, not many audience members wanted to be in a place like this, but the thrill of a Hero Olympics match up-close was simply too much for them to ignore. Even so, it was certainly an unpleasant location with cobwebs all around the place and leaking drainpipes.

"Alright, folks, it's time for the second match of the round two to be underway," Beedrill stated, "We would like to thank the audience members who came here to support the fighters in person as we know plenty of you probably wouldn't be interested in coming here otherwise."

"He's right about that," Reika groaned, seeing a group of rats seated in front of the bleachers with tiny bags of popcorn, Aipom staring as Reika sighed, "Honestly, after seeing a rabbit with an army helmet, this doesn't surprise me."

"In the red corner," Nori stated, "representing Japan and having defeated many opponents over the past including Barbaracle, the hero with a knack for recovering from even the worst of injuries, Machoke!" the crowd staring when they noticed the boy enter dressed like a scorpion and riding on top of a giant float with the same theme, waving his arms around.

Aipom simply stared and asked, "Um, Machoke, what is this supposed to represent?" the boy staring and remarking, "Are you dense!? See, in order to let the people know I mean business, I figured I'd counter Golduck's water theme with something representing dryness, and scorpions live in deserts, which are dry!" the audience members lowering their eyelids as one of them said, "There's an idea there, but it's not fully realized," Machoke thinking, 'That's better than the usual feedback.'

"Wait, this looks like it took a great deal of effort," Aipom said, Machoke grinning and replying, "Glad you noticed," the monkey remarking, "I mean it looks like it took WAY too much effort, like you spent all of your training time putting it together," all going silent as Machoke replied, "Uh, yeah, I did. What's your point?"

"THIS ISN'T WHAT I THOUGHT YOU MEANT WHEN YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO PREPARE!" Aipom snapped as Machoke covered the sides of his head before replying, "Look, I was thinking about that, but then my fears left me when I remembered something very important."

The monkey stared and asked, "What would that be?" Machoke replying, "Well, something I noticed from Golduck's match is that her greatest abilities rely on her using water, and this place has no water whatsoever. For once, it seems like Weedle didn't choose a location that he knew would make things harder for me."

"Well, okay, that is a valid point, but it's not a good excuse," Aipom groaned, "She has other abilities," the monkey then thinking, 'At least he's not freaking out anymore. The last thing we need is for his promise to put too much mental strain on him.'

Even so, Gardevoir was once again supportive as always as she squealed, "I THOUGHT THAT WAS YOUR BEST ENTRANCE YET, MACHOKE! IT'S TOTALLY WORTH IT!" Gallade shrugging, "Well, it did have a clever setup," Blaziken simply chuckling at Gallade while the cloaked figure from earlier sat on the other end of the bleachers, gazing not at the ring but at the girl. But what reason would she have for being so focused on Gardevoir?

"Anyway," Nori said, the announcer having embarrassing been distracted by the entrance herself, "in the blue corner, coming to us from Ireland, a ferocious duck that just defeated a vampire and has really proven herself a mistress of water, Golduck!" the Irish fans cheering wildly as the dog performed a series of somersaults toward the ring, propelling herself up and spinning vertically before landing firmly against the canvas.

'No clever shows or anything this time,' Machoke thought, 'So how is her entrance more well-received than mine was?'

Golduck simply folded her arms and smirked, saying, "I've been looking forward to this," Machoke blinking while thinking, 'Usually when my opponents say that, it's never a good thing,' the duck adding, "You've been soaking up fame for so long, it's been rather annoying, but not anymore! Your winning streak ends today!"

'Someone needs to tell her that already happened,' the others thought with awkward looks on their faces, Machoke all the while thinking, 'Oh yeah, the world doesn't know I was easily beaten by a weakling. That's probably for the best.'

With that, both stared each-other down, but despite the duck's threatening words, Machoke was fully confident right now for the exact same reason he had stated earlier. After all, most of the abilities Golduck had used on Houndoom involved her using water and right now, she could not exploit that ability. But would it really be that easy for the boy? Was there something he did not know?