A week had passed since the Hero Olympics had come to a close and things had started to return to normal. Machoke had thankfully made a full recovery in that time, which everyone thought to be a miracle considering it took Garchomp more than that to recover from just the Riolu Torment alone.

Of course, as expected, Scyther and her allies had returned to Los Angeles. After all, with the Hero Olympics now over, all of the participants had to return to their stations. And unfortunately, this included Hitmonchan, though she and Gallade promised to always stay in contact and even visit each-other every now and then.

Though one big question was what Lucario would do. Since he had not undergone the training on Hero Planet, he had no station in question.

Ultimately, he decided to move to London for a while. After all, Clauncher was still protecting the city by herself and could probably use the help and it would give him a chance to further bond with his sister and even spend time with his mother. Though with him now being the champion of the Hero Olympics, he would be seen on the news quite a bit no matter what country he went to.

But right now, all Machoke and his friends wanted to think about was spending time together at their favourite hangout spot, the club downtown. They figured they would set up something big with the owner in celebration of Machoke's recovery. Though they had instructed Machoke to wait for them to come by and invite him along as they wanted it to be a surprise.

While the boy waited at home, Aipom was not putting him to work like she normally did. Instead, she was pampering him like a mother would, constantly giving him shoulder rubs, allowing him to watch as much TV as he wanted and as if that was not strange enough, she had even made him a banana split for breakfast.

Currently, the boy was watching a new animated series, which had been based off of Lucario. A part of Machoke felt like changing the channel and yet for whatever reason, he was unable to bring himself to do so.

In fact, ever since the dog had become champion, many companies were basing creations off of him. Action figures already existed, but now more effort was being put into them now that the world had seen him use his father's techniques. There was already a video game with him as the main character in development and set for release in a year's time and, of course, a manga adaptation of the series Machoke was watching was in the works.

As if that was not enough, a trading card game had been made based around the heroes themselves with Lucario being one of the most powerful cards. Including posters, a theme song dedicated to him and much more, Lucario was truly the talk of not only Tokyo but the entire world right now.

Aipom entered and saw him watching, though she noticed an uncomfortable look on his face as she gasped, "Oh my god, Machoke, are your legs cramping up!?" the boy blinking and replying, "No," the monkey ignoring his words and immediately starting to give him a foot rub, saying, "After all you've been through, I want you to feel relaxed. We'll go back to training next week."

"Actually-" Machoke replied only for Aipom to cut in, gasping, "You're right, that is just unreasonable! We'll start training again next month!"

Months ago, Machoke would have been thrilled to hear these words and yet for some strange reason, he was not fully enjoying the treatment he was getting. Sure, he figured he may as well take advantage of it while he could. Lord knew Aipom would likely never be this light on him again, but right now, a part of him wanted the monkey to train him. He would even be okay with her putting him in headlocks and other uncomfortable positions if it meant he was getting some sort of training from it.

It was not as if he had not let these thoughts slip out a few times. However, every time he did, Aipom would simply pretend she did not hear it. For the most part, he felt like the monkey was taking pity on him and while the younger him may have been okay with that, he was not so comfortable being treated this way now.

His eyes lit up when he heard a knock on the door, the boy about to get up when Aipom said, "Wait here. I'll get it," the boy sighing and folding his arms, his look of disappointment replaced by one of happiness when he saw his friends there, Blaziken smirking and saying, "Hey, boy, we're ready," the boy getting up and exclaiming, "Sweet!"

With that, Machoke quickly put on a pair of slacks and a T-shirt, joined them before turning to Aipom, the monkey smiling at him and staring, signalling him to go with his friends with her tail hand. But just as he was about to do so, the boy asked, "Would you like to come with us this time?"

The monkey's eyes widened as she bit her lip, twitching a bit. A part of her wanted to say yes, but at the same time, she was not sure if Machoke would really want her around. She figured he was just asking her because he knew how much she would have liked to join him and his friends.

With that in mind, she took a deep breath and replied, "Oh no, Machoke, it's okay. You go and have fun," the boy blinking as Gallade patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Well, you heard the girl," the boy shrugging and walking off with the others, Gardevoir looking at him with concern.

While Machoke and the others carried on, Reika, Tsuya and Cici soon approached them as Reika said, "Hey, guys," Tsuya resting a hand on Machoke's shoulder while saying, "Hey there, big guy. How are you today?" the boy's eyes widening as he was not used to Tsuya starting up a conversation with him.

Cici, all the while, smiled sweetly at him and said, "It's nice to hang out at the club again, isn't it?" Machoke nodding and replying, "Yeah. With the Olympics over, we can just hang out and wait for the next villain to show up," the boy smiling and feeling at ease now.

As soon as the group arrived, though, Machoke was surprised when streamers were set off, the owner exclaiming, "Well, if it isn't my favourite guest!" the boy blinking as the man added, "In honour of you being so awesome, Machoke, we've made you a little something," some of the other club members coming out with a big cake, Machoke's eyes widening.

The boy turned to the others as Gardevoir smiled and said, "We figured since you finally got out of the hospital, we should do something special," Machoke smiling and saying, "You guys are the best," getting everyone together for a group hug. At least this did not feel like it was being done out of pity so he was okay with this.

While the people were all enjoying themselves, Blaziken said, "Hey, let's watch a little TV, shall we?" the chicken turning it on, the news currently playing. Currently, a reporter was trying desperately to get an interview with Lucario while the dog was hounded by adoring fans.

Gallade noticed Machoke with a negative look in his eyes as he nudged Blaziken, directing her attention as she said, "Wow, why is it on this channel? Let's change it," only for the boy to hold up his hand, replying, "No, let it run," putting all focus on the screen right now as Lucario was now enjoying lunch with Amanda and Clauncher.

The reporter simply stared at this, saying, "Sometimes it astounds me how even someone famous can have the time for a simple past time like eating out with friends and family," Gallade muttering in a mocking tone, "Yeah, it's almost like they're people or something."

While Machoke continued to watch Lucario soak up all this praise, two girls were standing nearby with hearts in their eyes, one of them sighing, "Oh, wow, that Lucario is so dreamy," another adding, "Oh yeah, I wish he was still in Tokyo so I could get his autograph."

Machoke tried his best not to glare at them right now as one of them looked down at him, laughing nervously and saying, "You're awesome too, Machoke. You're a great guy to have around," another adding, "Yeah, you're number one at our club."

The boy got up and said, "Yeah, thanks," Blaziken asking, "Where are you going?" the boy replying, "I just need to go to the washroom real quick," entering that very room as the chicken shrugged, sitting back down.

After a few seconds, her eyes went wide as she spat, "Oh no, I've seen enough movies to know that's going on, and there's a window in there!" the others freaking out as they rushed over to the bathroom, opening the door and noticing the window open, Machoke nowhere to be found. It was just as they had feared.

Not only had the boy escaped but he was currently running through a forest. All the while, he had a look of anger on his face as he came across a puddle. A vision of Lucario lying down and basking appeared in the water as Machoke gritted his teeth and rose his foot.

He then proceeded to send it hard into the puddle, imagining Lucario taking in pain to his gut as he spat, "YEAH, YOU DON'T LIKE THAT, DO YOU, PRICK!? WHY DON'T YOU STAND UP AND FIGHT!?"

The boy then proceeded to back up when suddenly, he found his shirt caught between two tree branches mainly in the shoulder areas. His eyes widened as he turned and envisioned Lucario there with his arms grasping onto him, the boy crying out in terror and trying to run away.

"OH NO, HE'S GOT ME IN THE RIOLU TORMENT!" the boy spat before the material on his shirt ripped open, the boy stepping forward as he breathed heavily, a big smile on his face as he turned, pointing at the tree and barking, "YEAH! You see that!? I got out of your precious, perfect hold! You've got nothing on me now!"

With that, the boy grabbed hold of the branches and snapped them in half, leaving a little bit so the halves closest to him would hang there as opposed to falling off while saying, "There, now you can't use your arms," the boy then ramming his shoulder into where he could see the dog's face, taking deep breaths when the vision disappeared, falling to his knees.

"What is wrong with me?" the boy asked himself, tears welling up in his eyes, "I told Lucario that I consider him a friend. And I meant it. I'm more than happy to give him another chance!" the boy then turning back to the puddle and seeing an image of himself as a baby before kneeling down and groaning, "So why does his face piss me off so much?"

During this time, everyone else was out looking for him. Blaziken had immediately called up Aipom to inform her while reminding Reika to call up Keiko and have her help as well. Of course, they had all split up to search for their missing friend. One could only imagine what Machoke would do if he was not found soon.

After some time, Gardevoir was the first to spot him as she had wound up running to the airport. Her eyes widened when she noticed the boy showing a boarding pass and heading toward the gate, the girl squeaking, "MACHOKE, WAIT!"

But she was too late as Machoke was long gone, the girl biting her lower lip, tears flowing down her cheeks. As if his departure was not bad enough, Gardevoir had no idea where he was headed. And of course, it did not take her long to inform everyone that more searching would be in vain.

Needless to say, everyone would have a difficult time coping with this, especially Aipom. Her student had just recovered and she had been doing her best to make sure he felt at ease. Why had he taken off? Was she doing something wrong? Right now, that was the main thing going through her head.

During this time, eight cloaked figures were sneaking about on Hero Planet near the Tower of Justice. After a while, they stopped when they noticed an orange dragon with a flame on his tail named Charizard walking around, his eyes darting back and forth.

However, the cloaked figures had managed to stay hidden well enough not to be spotted as they nodded to each-other, one of them spreading out wings against her cloak and taking to the sky, flying up to a window. After that, she pulled out a rope and lowered it, the cloaked figures climbing up one-by-one, all except for one who was bigger than the others and decided to stay behind partly because of this.

However, he had another reason for staying outside, and this was soon to become clear when Charizard spotted him, the dragon releasing smoke from his nostrils and barking, "Hey, what are you doing here!?"

The dragon flapped his wings and soared toward the stranger only for a pair of green hands to come out of the cloak, grabbing onto the dragon's arms as the owner said, "You may have been super tough back in the day, but you're not so great now," the figure then leaning backward and lifting the dragon up, slamming him hard into the wall of the tower.

The dragon winced but tried to ignore the pain as he sent his tail toward the stranger's midsection while shouting, "TAIL TORCH!" only for the figure to grab hold of the tail's tip, ignoring the pain caused by the flame and swinging Charizard around, once again slamming him into the wall.

As if that was not enough, the figure proceeded to grab hold of Charizard's arms before leaning in, revealing a green pointed mouth with rows of sharp teeth and biting into his shoulder. After that, the figure proceeded to lift the dragon up above his head while shouting in a slightly muffled voice, "CRUNCH BRAINBUSTER!" leaning backward and slamming the dragon hard against the ground, knocking him out for good.

But it did not end there as the figure proceeded to lift the dragon up by his head, saying, "You have no place in this world anymore. You fail as a hero and a night watchman. The world would be better off without you," the figure forcing Charizard's head to the right and snapping his neck, the dragon's eyes widening briefly as the figure let him go, allowing his body to collapse as his flame vanished, nothing but a few smoke lines remaining.

During this time, the others had managed to make their way past security. The guards who had spotted them quickly met the same fate as Charizard while the cloaked figures stood before a locked door, one turning to another who nodded and lifted up the side of his cloak to reveal a blade coming from the side of his head. The being then walked over to the door and slid the horn through the keyhole and turned it around before hearing a clicking sound.

With that, he proceeded to open the door as one cloaked figure who had what looked like small purple clouds coming from under his cloak grinned and said, "Good job. We've finally found it," the male entering before seeing a beautiful sight before his eyes.

This was the room where Giratina's mask had been placed for safe keeping. The figure, who seemed to be the leader, laughed insanely and exclaimed, "We have it!" picking up the mask and adding, "With this, the world will have no choice but to fear us!" a female whispering, "Sir, with all due respect, you should probably keep your voice down."

The boy nodded and replied, "Right, sorry. I was just super excited is all," before grinning again as another figure asked, "I have to ask, sir, how do you intend on awakening Giratina? Medicham tried before and it failed. I'm sure you read the article, right?"

The leader nodded and replied, "Yes, but what she didn't realize was that she was missing something very important."

With that, the cloaked figures all made their escape. With Giratina's mask in their hands, there was no doubt things were going to get worse very soon.

The following day, Machoke's friends had gathered together at the club, figuring a little time spent there might help cheer them up. On the contrary, it ended up making things worse. This was where they had been when the boy took his leave. What made them think this would help?

"I just can't figure it out," Reika said with a sigh, "He seemed fine and we made him a cake and everything," Blaziken stating, "Yeah, but I don't think it had anything to do with us. You saw that look in his eyes when watching that news report, right?" Gallade remarking, "True, but he ultimately took his loss well in the end, even declaring a friendship with Lucario. Do those sound like the actions of someone who's butthurt over a loss?"

"Look, getting over something that devastating is not as easy as it may appear," Blaziken explained, "Gallade, how did your first major loss feel?"

The green boy blinked and replied, "You mean my loss to Scrafty?" Blaziken nodding her head as he added, "Well, I felt like I'd failed miserably. I kept up a positive front, but yeah, deep down inside, I felt like I had forced my sister into the ring," Gardevoir staring at him as the boy turned to her, sighing, "I felt like my weakness forced you into that ring. It made me feel like I wasn't doing my job as your big brother," Gardevoir smiling softly and patting him on the shoulder.

"Well, that was a loss to a villain," Tsuya remarked, "Anyone would feel bad about that," Blaziken nodding and asking, "Well, how did you feel when you lost to Scyther, then?"

Gallade's eyes went wide as he uttered, "I was perfectly fine with it. After all, that win was pure luck anyway," everyone staring at him as he groaned, "Alright, fine! When I was rushed to the hospital and regained consciousness, I cried myself into a long nap, okay!?"

Reika snickered a bit as the boy shot her a glare, the girl laughing even louder as Blaziken rolled her eyes, saying, "See? Even though you lost to a hero, you still felt bad about it. And on that note, how long did it take you to get over it?"

Gallade blinked and thought about that before replying, "Well, I was able to stop thinking about it after a day, but not all the time. Every now and then, that defeat would come back to haunt me. It wasn't until I started training again that I truly let it go."

Cici asked, "So how did training help?" the boy replying, "Well, every time I trained, I simply thought about getting stronger and defeating my next opponent."

Blaziken nodded and replied, "Even before I knew Talonflame was evil, I felt the same way after he defeated me. I'm pretty sure Machoke's undergoing the same feelings right now. He'll get over it soon enough and come back, I know it."

The others shrugged and nodded their heads, hoping the chicken was right. After all, it felt lonely not having Machoke around. Sure, they still had each-other, but they were so used to him being there all the time.

As it just so happened, the boy had taken a flight to Hawaii, mainly Maui on the island Kahakuloa, in order to clear his head. As he got off the plane, the boy took a deep breath and chuckled to himself, thinking, 'Isn't this ironic? I got after Dad for doing this on a regular basis,' looking up at the sky and starting to understand why Machamp liked coming here so much. It really was a beautiful place, and he had not even seen a lot of it yet.

The boy then decided to look around when he noticed a familiar figure playing with a group of kids, namely the octopus Octillery who was wearing a one piece swimsuit. The boy's eyes widened as he waved, exclaiming, "Hey, Octillery, I didn't know you were assigned to Maui!" the octopus noticing him and smiling, waving a free tentacle and exclaiming, "Wow, I haven't seen you since the three-legged race! How have you been!?"

Machoke was not sure how to answer this, but luckily for him, the octopus very quickly forgot her question as she was simply stoked to see one of Japan's representatives visiting. And among the two others, she found Machoke to be a lot easier to get along with than Sawk.

"Oh my gosh, you're Machoke!" one of the kids exclaimed as the boy grinned, replying, "Yes, I am," a little girl pointing and squealing, "You're the guy who was beaten by Lucario!" Machoke holding his grin and resisting the urge to lash out at her for that statement.

Octillery simply waved at the kids and said, "Sorry to ditch you all, but my friend here needs a tour guide. I promise we'll play again some other time," the kids nodding and replying, "It's okay, Miss Octillery!"

The octopus decided to show Machoke around as he said, "You know, you didn't have to do this for me," the octopus replying, "Nonsense, Machoke. I couldn't just have you wandering around without any idea where all the hot spots are. But before we get to that, are you hungry?" Machoke hearing his stomach growl as he replied, "Now that you mention it..."

Soon enough, Octillery had taken him to a nearby restaurant to treat him to lunch. While the two sat and waited for their food to arrive, Octillery smiled at Machoke and said, "Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I called up a friend to join us. She really wants to meet you," the boy's eyes widening as he asked, "Really? A girl wants to meet me?" the octopus nodding her head and replying, "But don't get any weird ideas. I'll admit, she actually is a lot prettier than me."

The boy simply blinked, thinking, 'Yeah, because that's not easy to pull off,' the octopus then noticing her friend and waving, shouting, "Hey, over here, girl!"

Machoke turned and was actually rather surprised to see just what kind of friend Octillery was referring to. The young girl standing there had a purple body while her neck and head were covered in a black colour save for her face, which was also purple. Her hair was spiked up to give her head more of a teardrop shape with a white bow-like fixture at the base of the tip. She also had four discs of skin coming from each side of her head resembling bangs. Currently, she was wearing a black T-shirt and shorts.

A light smile formed on her face as she walked over, saying, "So this is the famous Machoke. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Gothitelle," the girl holding out her arm as Machoke blinked, holding out his own hand and shaking hers.

The girl then proceeded to sit down, sighing, "Oh god, I should have brought my umbrella," Octillery sighing, "Gothitelle, we've been through this. If a villain attacks, you won't be allowed to use your umbrella against them," the goth groaning, "I know. I gotta get used to not having it around."

Machoke stared in confusion as the octopus whispered, "Her family is known for having a fear of sunlight. Needless to say, sending her to protect Hawaii of all states was not a smart move on the government's part, though she has spent the last month trying to get over her phobia," Machoke nodding and adding nothing to that.

Gothitelle simply took a deep breath, not wanting her personal matters to ruin things as she asked, "So, what brings you here?" Octillery replying, "Oh yeah, I was gonna ask you that. Didn't you just get out of the hospital?" Machoke nodding and asking, "How did you know that?"

"There was a news article about it," Gothitelle replied, Machoke's eyes sparkling until the girl added, "Though it was a small one posted on the last page," the boy lowering his eyelids, thinking, 'What the hell is it doing in the last section?'

He then took a deep breath and sighed, "Well, I haven't been feeling well since my recovery," Octillery gasping, "Are you muscles still sore!? Do you need a full-body massage!? I'm very good at those!" a smile forming on her face as Gothitelle sighed, "Oh no, it's deeper than that," Machoke staring as she added, "I can read people's auras, though it only works on occasion."

"Well, you're right," Machoke replied, "I told myself I was okay with my loss to Lucario, but I'm really not. Everywhere I go, I keep seeing him giving me this smug look, rubbing the fact that I lost in my face. And I know he's probably not thinking like that now, but I can't stop thinking about it. It's been really stressing me out, so I figured a trip here would help me calm down."

The girls nodded as Octillery said, "Well, we'll be more than happy to show you every attraction, right, Gothitelle?" the goth letting out a sigh, knowing it would mean spending more time in the blazing hot sun but nodding her head and replying, "Yeah, we know a lot about Maui, so you don't have to worry about relaxing."

"Well, that would be all well and good," Machoke replied, "but would you guys be willing to help me train, like, maybe one or two hours a day?" the two staring before turning to one-another, Gothitelle smiling lightly and saying, "You're speaking my language," Octillery nodding and saying, "Well, that's not my idea of relaxation, but if that'll make you feel better, sure."

During this time, the cloaked figures from earlier were at the shrine in Sendai. The leader walked over to the pedestal and said, "Alright, it's time I finally told you what the final ingredient is. I have to thank you all for following me despite me not revealing this very information."

"You're welcome," one member remarked, "You really should have told us from the start," the leader sighing, "I'll admit, the reason I held back on such information was because I was not sure if I could fully trust you, but now I know for a fact that I can."

The other seven figures bowed their heads as thanks for his words, the leader adding, "What Medicham was missing from the equation was this," the boy signalling to another member who had been carrying a bag the whole way and having him hand it over. With that, he pulled out the contents, three big gold half-rings, adding, "After all, what is Giratina without his neck armour?"

"Where did you find that?" one of the figures asked, another adding, "That's a good question. The mask was easily found after the match, but the rings went missing!"

The boy nodded and replied, "Everyone thought they just up and vanished, but no, they ended up flying into the side of a cliff. Unfortunately for the world, I found them," the boy laughing and asking, "So, are you all ready to welcome your new leader?"