Things seemed to be looking up for Lucario now. After a tough fight, he had managed to defeat Metang and was moving onto the semi-finals. Even so, it was at this moment he finally noticed Amanda was not among the crowd, his eyes going wide as he saw Clauncher still there. Where had his sister run off to?

However, he then noticed her storming away from of the area, taking a deep breath and making his way out of the ring. No one questioned this as Metang's body had already been loaded up into the ambulance, so there was no reason for the dog to stay in the ring any longer.

Once out of everyone's sight, Lucario sprinted down the path, soon catching up with Amanda and tapping her on the shoulder. The girl bit her lip, a part of her not wanting to face him right now but at the same time, she did not want him to feel like she was ignoring him. As such, she turned to face him with a fake smile, saying, "Oh, hey, Lucario."

"Hi," the dog replied, "Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Amanda biting her lip and letting out a deep breath, replying, "Be honest with me. Is there something going on with you?"

Lucario stared with confusion and asked, "I beg your pardon?" the girl sighing, "It's just, once again, you showed more malice than usual," Lucario replying, "I just really wanted to win so I tried a little harder," Amanda remarking, "That's not what I mean!"

The dog was even more confused now as the girl added, "It's not just the fact that you were using dirty tactics to win, but, well, you seemed to enjoy it," the dog blinking and asking, "You thought I liked having to resort to such extremes?" the girl remarking, "You had a smirk on your face!"

Lucario blinked and rubbed the back of his head, replying, "I guess I did," before sighing, "Look, sis, I'm not returning to the dark side if that's what you're thinking. I refuse to go back to that life. I was just happy that I had the advantage, that's all," Amanda nodding and replying, "Okay," a light smile on her face.

A part of her was having a lot of trouble believing this, but she had already overcome her distrust of him. She did not want to act like a jerk toward her brother again by jumping to assumptions, so she chose to believe him. However, a part of her was still doubting it.

All-in-all, the quarter-finals had ended and it was time for a three-day recess. This meant the heroes could do whatever they wanted until the semi-finals.

With three days to prepare, Machoke was put to work, Aipom having him work extra hard to prepare for his match with Ninetales. After all, the kitsune was a scary opponent, so Machoke would have to be at the top of his game if he was to keep his promise.

It seemed Scyther's injuries were even worse than expected as she could only breathe right now, Scizor staying by her side. However, during the visit, Scyther had her promise to watch the match between Machoke and Ninetales so he would have the extra support.

And of course Gardevoir's family was still visiting to make sure she would be okay. However, Psyla was the one spending the most time at the hospital as she wanted to be there when the girl finally regained consciousness.

But probably the most curious case right now was Lucario's behaviour during the next three days. He still trained hard like always, but he also took time out of his schedule to spend downtime with Amanda, something he had not done before his match with Metang. This actually removed a lot of the doubt his sister had as he was starting to care about more than the tournament and his family's pride again.

After three days had passed, Gardevoir had finally awoken, the girl rubbing her head as thankfully, Garchomp had not been quite as hard on her as Ninetales had been on Scyther. Her whole family was there to see it, big smiles on their faces as Gallade hugged his sister, the girl patting him on the back.

Though her joy turned to shock when she noticed her parents, squeaking, "What are you doing here!?" Ralts laughing nervously as Kirlia sighed, "We came to see your match," Gardevoir biting her lip as the woman patted her on the shoulder, saying, "You were great out there, honey. Don't look so down in the dumps."

The girl nodded as Ralts said, "Hey, your mother here lost the second round of the twenty-second Olympics and didn't even make it past the first in the previous one," Kirlia sighing, "He's not lying," Gardevoir smiling softly and saying, "So I did as good as you did."

This certainly calmed her down before she noticed a certain wolf who had been standing there the whole time with her arms folded, the girl asking, "Who are you?" Gallade nodding and saying, "Oh yeah, Gardevoir, this is Auntie Psyla."

The wolf chuckled and replied, "Just Psyla is fine," before blushing lightly and adding, "Auntie makes me feel old," Kirlia face-palming and sighing, "Why did I know you would say that?"

Gardevoir gasped, "We have an aunt?" the girl staring at her brother as he laughed nervously, replying, "Don't look at me. I didn't know until very recently," Kirlia laughing as well and adding, "I was going to tell you about her someday," Ralts sighing, "Don't finish that statement, honey."

Gardevoir did not feel in the least bit upset, though. In fact, she was just happy to meet another member of the family as a light smile formed on her face. After all, if there was one group of people Gardevoir could never bring herself to hold a grudge against, it was her family.

"I have an aunt," Gardevoir said with a cute smile, slowly getting up and bowing her head, saying, "It's very nice to meet you," Psyla taking a deep breath and replying, "You've certainly matured nicely."

Gardevoir then tapped her chin and asked, "But wait, if you're related to us, why are you a wolf?" Gallade replying, "It's because Mom's dad was Zoroark."

Gardevoir's eyes sparkled as she had indeed heard of the great Zoroark. He was a fox who fought alongside Machoke's grandfather, Makick on a few occasions. Supposedly, he was the best ally the man and his friends ever had, though there had been no mention of Kirlia's mother having an attachment to him.

"But wait, Zoroark was a fox, wasn't he?" Gardevoir asked as Gallade blinked, saying, "That's a good point," Psyla laughing nervously and replying, "I know you're both probably wondering a lot about me, but that's not why I'm here," the wolf then adding, "Look, Gardevoir, I'm here to teach you how to truly control your power because this is something I was able to pull off."

The girl blinked before replying, "You don't need to do that. I've already done that," the wolf shaking her head and replying, "Actually, you haven't quite mastered it yet. You've done something no one has been able to do by merging with your powered-up state, but in doing so, you can no longer possess that burst of power you had whenever the violet glow appeared. Your regular form got stronger, sure, but your powered-up state got weaker as a result."

Gardevoir nodded and smiled, saying, "I'm okay with that. I just gotta keep training to work around that," Psyla sighing, "That's a good attitude to have, but what if I were to tell you that you could still draw out that power even with both of your states merged into one?"

The girl blinked as Gallade said, "I think you're awesome right now, but that's not a bad idea," Kirlia and Ralts nodding as Gardevoir smiled and replied, "Actually, I would like to learn something like that. I'm okay losing to Garchomp because she's a hero, but if I ever face a villain with that kind of strength, I might need this knowledge."

Psyla nodded and replied, "It's good to know we're on the same page," the wolf resting her hands on Gardevoir's shoulders and adding, "By the time we're done, you'll be even more awesome."

During this time, Machoke continued to train while Aipom was guiding him through it, the boy soon taking a break due to him getting exhausted. Aipom took a deep breath herself and said, "I think you might just be ready for tomorrow's match," the boy asking, "Really?" the monkey nodding and replying, "Yeah, you've been getting so much better these days. I'm sure you'll show Ninetales a thing or two."

Machoke gulped, feeling nervous again. Sure, it was nice hearing Aipom praise him like this, but the kitsune was still a scary opponent. But he had to remember that while her parents may have been villains, she herself was not one and therefor she would not try to kill him.

During this time, Gardevoir and Psyla were now out of the hospital as Gardevoir was confirmed healthy enough to be moving. The wolf had taken the girl to a forest to train her, telling the rest of the family to leave them alone. After all, this particular training would require a lot of concentration and even the presence of others could upset the balance.

The wolf took a deep breath and said, "Now, in order to get this right, you will have to train a lot. I would even recommend not going to Machoke's match tomorrow," Gardevoir's eyes widening as she squeaked, "But I have to be there to support him!"

Psyla let out a sigh and replied, "If you want to put your training off a little bit longer, I won't stop you," the girl shaking her head and remarking, "No! I want to learn to control my power before more villains show up!"

The wolf took a deep breath and replied, "Well, it is good to know you're taking this seriously, but don't think you can just rush the process," Gardevoir replying, "Don't worry, I figured something like this would take a long time," the girl then whipping out her cellphone to text the others and let them know she would not be attending the match tomorrow.

Psyla stared in shock and uttered, "Wow, that is so cool," pulling out an old Motorola and adding, "Once this is over, I am totally getting a new one."

The others had received her text. Gallade, Kirlia and Ralts took a while to accept but knew it was likely for the best. However, Blaziken and Machoke were not so sure about this, Machoke especially. He was thrilled to discover she had made a full recovery and was hoping she would be there to cheer him on.

Even so, he did not wish to put pressure on her and wanted to at least respect her decision, so he simply texted 'Okay' as a response, attaching a smiley face to the end of the message. He knew she was at least cheering him on in spirit. He just had to remind himself of that.

Aipom had gotten the text as well, and luckily, Gardevoir had not forgotten to attach the reason for her absence. This was why Machoke was actually trying to be understanding instead of letting this news openly get under his skin. However, the monkey was really hoping this would not hinder his performance during his match with Ninetales.

After a few minutes, though, Machoke was actually training a bit harder now. After getting over the shock of Gardevoir's words, they actually seemed to have inspired him to try harder. If Gardevoir was going to all this trouble, taking time off from her friends to get stronger, perhaps he should try something similar.

Aipom smiled sweetly at this, proud to see him so motivated right now. Machoke had always been helping Gardevoir get stronger, that was for sure, but in a way, Gardevoir had also been helping Machoke. After all, she had been his first real friend. She made him feel less scared of the training on Hero Planet with her presence alone. And right now, she was inspiring him.

The following day, people were lined up to enter this new stadium made mostly for the Olympics. Due to there only being two matches for the day, Beedrill had scheduled them to start at noon. This was certainly different but no one was complaining.

Machoke was walking around, a smile on his face as he sighed, "Oh my god, I actually get to fight in a normal ring setting for once. I was getting sick of those weird locations from before," Aipom nodding and replying, "Yeah, I didn't like that factory one bit."

Blaziken looked around as well, the chicken noticing Heracross walking around the area and waving, exclaiming, "Hey there, Heracross!" the beetle turning and grinning, saying, "Hey, how have you been, lass?" the chicken replying, "I've been fine. I take it you came for the match."

The beetle nodded and replied, "Aye. Lopunny told me she'd rather I be here to support Machoke, so I came."

Blaziken blinked and asked, "She's still too injured to leave the hospital?" Heracross nodding and sighing, "Aye, she's doing fine right now, but the doctors say it's still too early for her to walk long distances. She's supposed to make a full recovery this afternoon, though."

Kirlia and Ralts had boarded a flight home as they had actually not booked themselves a vacation from work. It just so happened their days in Tokyo were days off and as such, they needed to head back as soon as possible. Gallade and Hitmonchan simply waved goodbye to them, the two heading off to support Machoke afterwards.

Soon enough, the seats were full with the Korean fans ready to support Ninetales and the Japanese fans ready to support Machoke. Reika and her friends once again sat in the front row, Reika really hoping this would end favourably.

However, that thought process came to an end when she noticed Golduck sitting nearby wearing a T-shirt with Machoke's face on it, her eyes widening as she asked, "Where did you get that?" the duck smirking and replying, "Like it? I made it!" before exclaiming, "MACHOKE RULES!"

At that moment, Beedrill tapped on the mic to get everyone's attention before exclaiming, "Alright, this is it, ladies and gentlemen! It's time for the first match of the semi-finals!" the crowd going wild as Nori exclaimed, "In the red corner, representing Korea and having defeated Scyther through some very unexpected means, Ninetales!"

The Korean fans were simply spellbound at Ninetales' entrance as she had actually hired some of the staff members to carry her toward the ring on a golden throne. The kitsune elegantly stepped off before leaping high into the air, performing a series of flips before landing gracefully against the ring with her arms spread out.

"Pretentious but effective," Blaziken said, "I wonder how Machoke plans to counter that," and this would be revealed soon as Nori added, "And in the blue corner, fighting for Japan, a hero who got this far by chance and has climbed his way to the semi-finals, Machoke!"

Everyone stared as the boy also hired some staff members to help him out with his, though his was a Japanese-themed float with Machoke wearing a samurai outfit while banging on a giant gong. No one even knew how to react to this. On one hand, this was far from his most embarrassing entrance but on the other hand, they had no clue what he was trying to get across with it.

Ninetales did not care though as she flipped her hair to the side, gazing upon her opponent with a serious look. All she cared about right now was winning this match and representing Korea in the finals, nothing more.

It is an honour to actually face you," the kitsune said, Machoke's confidence suddenly leaving him as he tried his hardest not to look scared, Ninetales letting out a sigh and explaining, "Machoke, please, don't be afraid to fight me. I swear, my parents may have been evil but I am not. I want this to be a fair fight to decide the winner and nothing more."

Scizor simply folded her arms, thinking, 'That better be all that's on your mind,' the insect getting bad vibes from the kitsune, but even so, Machoke seemed to feel safer after hearing these words as he took a deep breath, saying, "Yeah, let's have a good, clean fight," Aipom glad to see him no longer freaking out.

However, that would soon leave when Beedrill stated, "Oh, one last thing. Since this is a very special match, Dad has decided to add something to make the match for intense!" Machoke's eyes widening as he uttered, "More intense?" everyone else just as surprised to hear this as he was.

With that, Beedrill pulled out a remote and pressed a red button on it as the middle of the mat opened up, a platform rising up to reveal a stone with spikes coming out of it. Everyone stared at this with confusion as the wasp added, "This prop is for the fighters to use on their opponents. As you can see, it's covered in spikes, so whoever touches it will take in a lot of pain."

Reika stared at this in horror and exclaimed, "That shouldn't be allowed! Someone could die if they hit that!" Blaziken replying, "Not exactly. The spikes are small enough not to pierce through anyone's flesh, but I do agree this is extreme. Machoke's in even more trouble now."

"Whatever," Golduck remarked, "He can overcome this," Heracross sighing, "For Scyther's sake, I hope so," Gallade and Hitmonchan finally showing up as the boy sighed, "Okay, good, we haven't missed anything yet."

Machoke was now terrified again. As if Ninetales' power was not bad enough, now she had this stone to use as she pleased. He really hoped she would not rely on it too much as the bell was rung, signalling the start of the match.

Ninetales and Machoke both stared at one-another, the kitsune with a serious look and Machoke with a scared one as he held up his arms defensively. Ninetales started things up by racing toward the boy only for him to step to the side and back up quickly enough to get away from her.

"Ninetales goes in for a grapple but Machoke easily dodges it," Nori said as Ninetales took a deep breath, the kitsune racing for the boy again only for him to once again back away from her.

When the same thing happened a third time, the crowd started to boo the fighters, one of them shouting, "THIS IS BORING!" another exclaiming, "STOP BEING SUCH A WIMP, MACHOKE!"

Reika pinched her forehead and groaned, "I hate to say it, but I'm with the crowd on this one. If he doesn't do something, Ninetales will get him eventually."

Even the kitsune was getting rather irritated, not so much by his constant evasion but also the fact that she knew he was only doing this out of fear. He still did not fully trust her after hearing of her heritage and that offended her greatly.

However, Ninetales had been taught not to act rash and as such, she took a deep breath and said, "Look, Machoke, I wasn't lying when I said I'm good. I swear on my life that I will never walk down the same path that my parents did. Now stop being scared and fight me."

"She's right," Aipom stated as Machoke turned to the monkey, "Besides, running away isn't going to help you win the match. It's just going to delay the inevitable," Blaziken sighing, "Leave it to Aipom to say the right thing," Reika not even going to bring up the fact that she had said the same thing less than a minute ago.

Before the boy could even take these words into consideration, it seemed Ninetales assumed he had gotten the point and was rushing toward him again. It looked like her assumption was correct as the boy sent a high kick hard into her face just as she got close enough, the Japanese fans going wild as the kitsune backed up into the stone, yowling in pain as the spikes dug into her back.

"YEAH, THAT'S THE STUFF!" Golduck exclaimed with a smirk as Machoke gasped, asking, "Are you okay?" Ninetales quickly getting away from the spikes and taking a deep breath, replying, "Don't worry about me. You were simply using the stone as it was intended. You did nothing wrong."

Gallade blinked and said, "You know, Ninetales kind of scared me before, but she doesn't seem so bad," Hitmonchan nodding and replying, "Yeah, she's being a really good sport. I'd be pissed off if someone kicked me into a set of spikes."

Good sportsmanship or not, Ninetales still had no intention of letting Machoke win as she now took the defensive. Machoke now had a lot more confidence as he was the one rushing toward her, but just as he was about to hit her with a karate chop, the kitsune grabbed his wrist and twisted it, the boy wincing in pain while the Korean fans went wild.

With the boy now distracted, Ninetales proceeded to wrap her arms around him, her back facing the spikes. But just as she was about to send the boy into the spikes, Machoke gritted his teeth and used a great deal of might to turn her just enough to the side so she was no longer facing the stone. As such, the kitsune lifted him up and slammed his head hard into the mat and just barely missed the spiked object.

Machoke quickly got up while rubbing his head, Ninetales sighing, "It hardly matters. I'm sure I can beat you without having to rely on the spikes anyway," Aipom blinking and thinking, 'I've never seen anyone pull off something like that before. How long has he been able to do that?'

Whatever the case, it had certainly worked but now Machoke was scared again. Clearly Ninetales was not afraid to send him into the stone even if she was on the side of good. And of course there was the fact that going behind her would be extremely dangerous. What could Machoke possibly do?