Chapter 133: The Royal Mask and Champion Lance!
Author: Samsung Charmander (Author Name)
Tough love.
After a round of "education," Ash slowly stood up from the training ground. He was black and blue all over, his face and clothes covered in dust and grit, looking as filthy as a beggar.
He even had scrapes in many places, with numerous bloody wounds.
"Damn! Charmeleon, you're really ruthless!"
"Tsk, I'll have to get a few more rabies shots."
However, Primeape and Charmeleon were both raised domestically. He knew their backgrounds, so there was no need to worry about them carrying the Mad Dog Virus unique to the Arcanine clan.
It spreads from dog to dog, from dog to other creatures, and from dog to human.
"Roooar..."
"Roooar..."
Two wails of pain slowly followed half a second later.
As miserable as Ash looked, the two Pokémon were in even worse shape.
They were bruised all over, as if every bone had been broken. Their faces were beaten to a pulp, and they lacked the strength to even push themselves up, lying on the ground like dead dogs. The flame on Charmeleon's tail was nearly extinguished.
"Hmph, is this all the strength you have?"
Ash flexed his arms, then turned and lifted Primeape by its neck, its body as limp as a pile of mud.
Not that Primeape really had an organ one could call a neck.
Ash's tone deepened as he asked:
"Well? Have you submitted?!"
"Chii, chii."
Primeape nodded. Its voice was no longer the furious roar from before but the characteristic cry of a baboon. It had clearly been thoroughly subdued. The minds of Fighting-type Pokémon are just that simple. No need for fancy talk-no-jutsu persuasion; if your fist is bigger than mine, I'll listen to you.
"Good Primeape!!"
Ash's eyes immediately lit up. He knelt on one knee and hugged Primeape's round body.
"Chii, chii!!"
Primeape was also deeply moved and hugged its Trainer back, its eyes shining brightly.
"You're being too formal! We'll burn incense and become sworn brothers right now. From now on, we'll call each other brother. You'll call me big brother, and I'll acknowledge you as my little brother!"
"Chii, chii!!"
The two hugged again. At this moment, the soul bond between man and monkey merged to a new height.
Charmeleon: "..."
Lying beside them, it watched the passionate display, an inexplicable look of distaste flashing in its eyes.
Afterwards, Ash returned Primeape to its Poké Ball. It had to participate in the P1 Grand Prix tomorrow, so he would need to find Nurse Joy to get it properly patched up later. Now that their souls were highly unified, they would surely be invincible!
Next, he walked over to Charmeleon and, copying his earlier actions, lifted it by the neck as well.
"Charmeleon, do you submit?"
Charmeleon, however, didn't immediately switch sides like Primeape. The pride of a Fire-type Pokémon is quite high. Charmeleon's eyes stared intently at Ash.
The youth's face was covered in dirt, yet it stirred something in Charmeleon's thoughts.
It unconsciously recalled that day when, in the pouring rain, Ash had used his own body to shield the flame on its tail.
"Roooar!"
The flame on Charmeleon's tail suddenly flared up. It extended a fist, its gaze burning as it looked at Ash.
Although he couldn't understand the language of Pokémon, Ash understood Charmeleon's meaning.
"I'll acknowledge your strength for now, but if your commands are too poor, I won't hesitate to disobey."
Hearing these slightly tsundere words, Ash couldn't help but smile secretly, then also extended his fist to bump Charmeleon's.
The two were of one mind.
"You're being too formal! Let's burn incense and become sworn brothers right now! From now on, we'll be brothers! I'm the eldest, you're the second brother, and Primeape is the third brother!"
Ash used the same trick again, trying to raise their affection level further.
Unexpectedly, Charmeleon wasn't as simple-minded as Primeape. It countered with a scorching Flamethrower. The almost point-blank attack instantly charred Ash's head.
"Roooar!! (Forget being brothers, but I can be your dad.)"
Obeying was one thing, but unleashing a Flamethrower was also Charmeleon's way of expressing affection.
Ash: "..."
With dark lines on his forehead, he recalled Charmeleon, and then the corners of his mouth turned up in a relaxed smile.
In any case, these two troublemakers had finally become obedient, at least for now.
The future was looking promising.
The next day, in the central square of the town, a high Arena, a full thirty meters wide, had been set up. At its edges stood four black pillars covered in sponge, and several long red ropes connected the pillars, separating the Arena from the spectator area below.
By now, a considerable crowd of onlookers had gathered around the Arena, discussing animatedly.
This was a tourist town backed by Celadon City, and this kind of eye-catching competition was an absolute favorite for every gossip lover.
Early in the morning, Ash and his two companions arrived at the Arena area. The other two didn't register; only Ash entered Primeape into the competition.
In truth, winning the top three in this kind of city-level fighting competition wasn't too difficult. The difficulty was about the level of an average Gym battle, and he was unlikely to encounter any real experts, which put Ash's mind at ease.
"Snipe Shandou, and take the championship title!"
He had already figured out the whole script.
Soon, a large crowd had gathered around the Arena. The time had come. Several staff members began to set up the battle arena, arranging the sound system and posting the competition schedule and tournament format.
With a burst of exciting BGM, a Host with an afro and large red boxing gloves stepped onto the Arena and picked up a microphone.
"Everybody!! Get hyped!!"
The surrounding crowd then inexplicably began to cheer in response. The atmosphere was so fervent that Ash even suspected they were all a planted audience.
The competition hadn't even started yet. The Officials first showed some highlight clips from the last P1 Grand Prix to liven up the atmosphere.
Among them was a clip from the grand finals showing the Masked Man facing off against Master Ma.
This time, Ash got to see the ending. Although Malicious Moonsault was cool, the Incineroar was ultimately defeated by Master Ma's Urshifu with "Wicked Blow," a move which ignored all defenses.
"That tiger is so cool."
"Whoa, this Master Ma is so strong!"
"Of course he's strong! I heard his wife is only in her 30s or 40s. The old sword is still sharp!"
Listening to the surrounding chatter, Ash was secretly shocked. Isn't Master Ma in his seventies or eighties?
His golden spear never falls.
"Ahem, we interrupt this program with a special announcement."
After the highlight reel, the afro-headed Host suddenly dropped a bombshell.
"The runner-up of the last fighting competition, The Royal Mask, will be participating in this year's Champion League to challenge the Kanto Region's strongest champion, Mr. Lance!"
This sentence was like a bombshell, instantly causing an uproar in the crowd.
Even Ash was utterly shocked, his mouth nearly hanging open.
Because he himself was currently undergoing training to challenge the Indigo League!
I'll be able to fight that powerful Masked Man at the League Conference!?
Ash's breathing instantly became heavy, almost labored, but the battle intent in his eyes burned intensely.
"Damn, he's actually going to challenge Lance? I respect that courage."
"Here's some trivia for you: the Masked Man has challenged Lance before and got totally wrecked, hehe."
"Looks like he's out for revenge? Doesn't that make it even more interesting?"
The crowd began to buzz with discussion. Hearing the keywords again, Ash was secretly surprised. He hadn't expected that the Masked Man had already fought Champion Lance, the very same person that Brother Red was always talking about, claiming he could one-hit KO him. And apparently, he got crushed?
Curious, and seeing that the competition had yet to begin, Ash took out his Pokédex and opened Alola Headlines, wanting to see if there was any reliable information.
As far as he knew, the Masked Man was from Alola, so Alola Headlines should have plenty of information, right?
—
(Trivia: In the games, the Masked Man really did get wrecked by Lance, hehe.)
(end of chapter)