While the fight with Missingno and Absol had been going on, everyone else still in the Reverse World had eventually returned to the outside world. Many were shocked to see Beedrill emerge with a weakened Butterfree humped over his back, the wasp sighing, "Now, you know I can't just let you roam free, right?" the butterfly sighing, "Yeah, I know."

Along the way, he had also noticed Kecleon and though it would be a pain to bring him back as well, there was no way Beedrill would let him remain in the reverse world. Villain or not, he could not just leave him to potentially die in a place like that, even if the Reverse World itself did not seem that dangerous.

Eventually, Blitzle and Aegislash recovered from their fight with Blaziken and Gardevoir and returned, though both were feeling weak and thus were unable to resist being handcuffed and forced into the Hero Planet police ship immediately. And last to arrive were Gothitelle and Mawile.

Of course, Beedrill was ready to have her arrested as well, but Gothitelle managed to talk him out of it. Mawile admitted that she deserved to be punished regardless and as such, Beedrill decided to subject the girl to community service under the watchful eyes of Gothitelle.

Needless to say, Reika was happy to see the others make their return but was still a tad worried as she turned to Octillery and Gothitelle, saying, "Hey, you two went in with Machoke and Aipom. Do you know if they're okay?"

"Unfortunately, we don't," Gothitelle replied with a sigh, "We were each held up with our own little problems," Mawile whimpering, "I'm so sorry!" her mouth making low growling noises as a means of apologizing herself.

Blaziken took a deep breath and shrugged, replying, "Don't worry about them. I'm sure they're all fine," Gallade nodding and replying, "Yeah, my sis is with them. I know they're okay."

All the while, the news reporter was astounded by everything that had happened as she said, "We're seeing more and more people emerging from that portal, but where are Machoke, Lucario, Talonflame and the other two who were with them?"

Suddenly, another portal appeared right next to the main one as all went silent. No one could figure out where this new one came from, but Blaziken, Gallade, Octillery, Gothitelle, Reika, Tsuya and Cici were all beyond relieved to see Machoke step outside of the portal with Lucario and Talonflame humped over his shoulders.

Throh and Sawk rose their fists in the air as Sawk exclaimed, "He did it!" Throh shouting, "Way to go!" the others also cheering.

However, their cheering died down when they noticed Machoke did not seem too happy about all of this. In fact, when Aipom and Gardevoir exited behind him, Gardevoir carrying an unconscious Absol, they looked rather intense as if something was off.

And they soon realized what that something was when a gold-plated foot emerged from the portal, Beedrill shaking his head and uttering, "No," Mawile hiding behind Gothitelle as soon enough, the owner of the foot had completely exited the portal.

"What is that?" the reporter asked as the dragon looked down at her and held his hand out. The woman nodded with a look of terror in her eyes and handed her microphone over to him as the camera was now pointed at his face.

"Is that who I think it is?" Octillery asked, Gallade and Blaziken groaning while Reika asked, "Can someone fill me in on this?"

Before anyone could answer, Gardevoir noticed Psyla lying unconscious on the ground and squeaked, "AUNTIE!" before running over to her and asking, "Did she beat that dinosaur guy?"

"Yeah, she did," Reika replied with a sigh as Tsuya added, "She went down a hero," Gardevoir confused by these words until Cici whimpered, "She expelled all of her energy and her heart stopped. I'm sorry."

Tears welled up in the girl's eyes as Gallade patted his sister on the shoulder, sighing, "I know. I was devastated when I heard the news too."

"Attention, citizens of Earth!" Giratina exclaimed as everyone was watching the report right now, "I am Giratina and I have been resurrected!"

Panic spread throughout the world as the dragon added, "I once tried to enslave all of humanity years ago, but I was thwarted by one known as Arceus! However, he is no longer here to protect you and as such, my rein of terror shall begin! If there's anyone foolish enough to try and stop me, I welcome the challenge, but for your safety, I wouldn't recommend it!"

Aegislash and Blitzle seemed beyond happy until Blitzle asked, "Excuse me, Mister Giratina, sir, but where's Missingno?" the dragon remarking, "He was of no use to me, so I disposed of him."

Machoke gritted his teeth after hearing this as everyone stared in stunned silence, Aegislash asking, "With all due respect, you don't mean you actually killed him, right?"

"That's exactly what I mean," Giratina remarked, "I only needed you to protect me while I regained power. Now that my power has returned, I don't need any of you anymore," Mawile whimpering, "So you were planning to double-cross us all along?"

"If you want to put it that way, yes," the dragon remarked as no one could believe what they had just heard, Blaziken gritting her teeth and growling, "That bastard. He doesn't even have respect for his own allies."

Unfortunately, after all the fighting everyone had done, no one was in good enough condition to challenge Giratina. However, Machoke could not let it end this way, not after everything he and his friends had gone through, so while Giratina continued to talk about how anyone who dared to oppose him would be killed, Machoke walked over to the dragon and tapped him on the shoulder.

Giratina turned and glared, saying, "Since you were the one who put Missingno out of commission, I'll forgive you for touching me without permission. Do it again and I'll treat it as assault," Gallade whispering, "That sounded unbelievably childish."

The dragon turned and shot him a glare as Machoke sighed, "Giratina, I have a proposition for you," all going silent as Aipom uttered, "Are you sure you should be trying this?"

The dragon opened one of his eyes to imply raising an eyebrow as Machoke took a deep breath and pointed at him, shouting, "I challenge you to a fight!" all going silent as the announcer exclaimed, "And like a true hero, Machoke has boldly declared war on Giratina!" Machoke groaning, "A one-on-one match is not the equivalent of a war."

Giratina snickered and asked, "Well, aren't you brave? Fine, I'll kill you here and now," Machoke shaking his head and remarking, "No. Since I defeated your strongest ally, I feel as if I should be the one to set the time, date and location! If you defeat me, your name will be even more well-known as my father was the Hero Olympics champion two years in a row!"

No one knew how to react to this. This was shockingly courageous for Machoke but at the same time, it seemed so foolish. Giratina's power was legendary, and after he had just double-crossed his own allies without batting an eyelid, who was to say he would even agree to these terms?

And deep down, Machoke was terrified of what Giratina would say, but after all he had been through, it was time to grow up. He had taken off to train so he would be ready for such things.

"Interesting," the dragon said with a smirk as everyone stared in shock, the dragon adding, "Okay. I'm not used to fighting in official matches, but it sounds intriguing."

Aipom's eyes sparkled as she could not have been more proud of her student right now, Machoke saying, "We'll face off in exactly two weeks right here in the Tokyo Dome. Until then, you are to leave the people alone. Only if you win this match will you be free to torment the people of Earth! But if you lose, I want you to leave this planet forever!"

Reika was impressed by the fire in his eyes as he said this. Machoke fully intended to save all of mankind when the two weeks were up. And even Giratina's former subjects were truly amazed by how bold Machoke had been. He knew full well how powerful Giratina was and yet here he was striking a deal with that very beast.

And shockingly enough, Giratina seemed to have no problem as he said, "Fine. For the next two weeks, I'll wait. You're free to prepare yourself all you like, but it won't make a difference. The only reason I have agreed to these terms is because I know I can beat you."

Machoke gritted his teeth as Gardevoir whimpered, the boy laughing nervously and saying, "Don't worry, I can do this," the others figuring they may as well help him get ready.

Though a part of Machoke was unsure of whether or not he could possibly defeat such a powerful villain, at least he had bought mankind some time. Besides, he could use the support of Lucario and Talonflame when the two finally recovered.

For the time being, though, Aipom knew Machoke had taken in a lot of damage and would likely need to rest after such an intense match. As such, he and the others decided to hang out at his house. They would have gone to the club instead, but Machoke figured that would have been making too light of the situation.

Aipom had made him and the others dinner as they were all happy, even if it was just rice with a bit of salt. After all, the monkey preferred to keep groceries simple in order to save money. And while the heroes ate, Gardevoir and Aipom both described the move Machoke had used to defeat Missingno.

"That sounds pretty damn awesome," Blaziken said with a smirk, "I wish I'd been there to see that," Gallade nodding and saying, "You know what? I think if you manage to use that move on Giratina, you might be able to beat him. Who knows? Perhaps with the right techniques, someone besides Arceus could pull it off."

Gardevoir nodded and said, "You have a knack for beating villains most people can't. I have faith in you," Machoke sighing, "There's just one problem, guys."

The others listened carefully as the boy let out a nervous laugh and uttered, "I don't actually remember how I used it," his friends face-palming.

"You can't be serious!" Aipom exclaimed, "You mean to tell me you just made it up on the fly!?" Gardevoir equally concerned now as Machoke sighed, "Yeah. In fact, when I pulled it off, it felt incomplete almost like it was missing a step. Honestly, I'm surprised it worked."

The others still had trouble believing this as Aipom sighed, "To be fair, something similar did happen with his father," Gardevoir asking, "Really?" Machoke adding, "Yeah, you're not just saying that to make me feel better, right?"

The monkey nodded and replied, "It was when he invented the Ultimate Driver. See, after Bouffalant found a way to defeat Machamp's Muscle Tombstone, he needed a new technique but had very little time to think of one before the next villain showed up, one by the name Deoxys."

"Oh god, I've heard of that guy," Blaziken said, "If I'm not mistaken, he killed his own ally for losing to Machamp, right?" Machoke trembling and uttering, "Oh god, this is sounding similar to Giratina."

Aipom nodded and said, "Well, Deoxys had an ally by the name of Rayquaza, the one who, as you said, was killed after he lost to Machamp. But the move Machamp used to defeat him was Ultimate Driver. The only problem was that, according to Mommy, he only had a small idea of how he pulled it off. It wasn't incomplete like your move, Machoke..."

The boy narrowed his eyelids as she continued, "but he still wasn't sure how he used it. It wasn't until he almost lost to Deoxys that he finally figured it out."

"So he had to realize it on the spot," Machoke said, "Kinda like my Sunset Slam," Aipom nodding and replying, "Though I'm kind of hoping to avoid that."

The others seemed confused as she added, "So here's the idea. For the first few days, Machoke, I'll have you train normally and then next week, you'll get started on training that Muscle Tornado of yours on a practise dummy. I'm certain with a few attempts, you'll be able to figure it out."

Machoke nodded as Blaziken smirked and said, "Yeah, giving yourself two weeks to prepare for this was definitely a good idea. That'll give you ample time to work on that move and maybe show us how it's done."

However, before the group could even think about doing that, there was one thing the group needed to take care of first, and that was a funeral for Psyla. After all, she was Gardevoir and Gallade's aunt and there was no way the two were going to forget to pay their respects, especially since she died putting a powerful villain into captivity.

Needless to say, everyone arrived for the event. Sure, most of Gardevoir's friends outside of Tokyo did not know Psyla, but there was no way they would not come to show their respects. And of course, Kirlia and Ralts had been given time off from work to attend the funeral as Psyla was, of course, Kirlia's sister.

And needless to say, the funeral was as depressing as any funeral could be. Though Gardevoir was at least grateful that everyone had come. And now she hoped more than before that Machoke would be able to defeat Giratina so hopefully something like this would not happen again.

However, her train of thought would have to end as she and Gallade walked over to Kirlia who was the most heartbroken, the woman sniffing, "I still can't believe it. I should have fought that beast in her place," Ralts sighing, "Yeah, you would have kicked that dinosaur's butt."

Gallade sighed, "Well, at the very least, she died a hero," Gardevoir pursing her lips and saying, "Thank you, Auntie."

And she had all the reason to say this as Psyla was the one who taught her how to control her power. She was just as special to Gardevoir as Machoke was, if not more.

Once the funeral was over and everyone was headed home, Machoke patted Gardevoir on the shoulder and said, "She seemed like a nice lady," the girl nodding and replying, "Yeah, I only knew her for a little while, but I really liked her."

"Don't worry," the boy replied, "I'll make sure something like this never happens again."

"I like you, Machoke," Gardevoir suddenly said with a sweet smile, Machoke's cheeks turning bright pink as she added, "Even when you fight your hardest, you always make sure never to kill your opponent, not even the worst villains out there. I really like that about you. You know just how much force to apply to win a match without it being fatal. You're even willing to spare Giratina's life if you beat him."

"Oh, yeah, of course," Machoke replied before clearing his throat, Reika listening in on the conversation with a warm smile. That was part of the reason she used to be attracted to the boy.

And come the following day, Machoke started to train vigorously with the others. Of course, Octillery and Gothitelle had to return to Hawaii as it was their job to protect that location, so they could not help him out, but it hardly mattered. Machoke felt more comfortable training with his allies in Tokyo anyway.

On the third day of training, Machoke was having a sparring match with Gallade, Blaziken and Gardevoir all at once. Aipom figured if he could handle three opponents at a time, he might stand a much better chance against Giratina. However, the boy did regret asking them not to hold back as he got thrashed quite a bit and was ultimately knocked on his back by Gardevoir's Moon Hook.

Seeing him struggling to get up, the girl gasped and squeaked, "Sorry, Machoke!" Aipom looking at a timer and saying, "Not bad. You lasted three minutes this time," the boy groaning, "I think I'd like to go back to one-on-one matches."

"Hey, you won't beat Giratina with that attitude," Aipom remarked as Reika, who had come by with the other girls to watch, sighed, "I hate to say it, but this does seem a tad excessive. Even two opponents might be good enough."

"No, Aipom's right," Machoke groaned as he finally managed to rise to his feet, "I just gotta keep trying."

"Well, you'll probably need some more opponents to practice on, then," came a familiar British voice, everyone turning in shock to see that Lucario and Talonflame had finally recovered and left the hospital.

"We heard about your challenge to Giratina," Talonflame said with a smirk, "I gotta hand it to you, kid, you got balls."

"Yes, and as much as you don't think so, I believe you might just be the right one for the job," Lucario added as Blaziken grinned, saying, "Well, you two are a sight for sore eyes."

"You recovered quickly," Machoke said as Talonflame remarked, "Hey, don't forget who you're talking about here. A strong finisher may be enough to leave most heroes in the hospital, but not us."

"Well, it's nice to see you guys up and at it again," Gallade said as Aipom stated, "So, judging by your words earlier, I'm guessing you're here to help Machoke train for his match."

"Damn right we are," Talonflame remarked with a smirk as Lucario added, "If he's going to fight the most infamous villain of all time, he'll need as much help as he can possibly get."

The wording did sound a tad insulting, but Machoke knew what he meant as he grinned and said, "Well, I'll be honest, I don't think I could ask for better sparring partners."

And with all said and done, Machoke trained with Talonflame and Lucario for the rest of the day. When night came around, it was time for him to head off to bed as Aipom said, "I'm proud of you, Machoke. Back in the day, it would have taken a lot to get you fired up for something like this, but you're really taking this challenge seriously. I'll admit, I didn't think you knew what you were doing when you issued it."

"Honestly, I didn't," Machoke replied with a nervous laugh, "but it's too late to turn back. I'm the son of the former world champion. I need to do my absolute best to keep the people of Earth safe."

With all said and done, it seemed Machoke might just have what it took to win. But could he also figure out his new finishing move by the time the match rolled around? He certainly had a lot of time to pull it off, so it was a big possibility.