Man Versus Beast

***

SuperSlowbro: Dude thinks he's a pokemon!

FantasticFearow: He is going to get his ass beat...

Sovereignkicker: Kick that punching pansy's ass, master!

***

I could hear numerous notifications going off from May's pokenav behind me as my declaration of fighting the Primeape was streamed live, but I didn't care.

Instead, I busied myself with stripping off my upper wear, including my jacket, shirt, and weighted vest. Then it was followed by the wristband on my left wrist, and then finally my weighted boots and socks.

By this point the notifications from the stream had gone silent, probably in disbelief from all the weight I was wearing, while I focused on stretching and loosening up my muscles before stepping up to face my opponent.

"Prime!" The Primeape declared as I stepped up, telling to get back down before I hurt myself.

"You sure about this partner? What about your hand?" Lucario asked me from the sideline.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Plus I doubt that this Primeape is as hard-headed as a Legendary." I told him without looking back, not caring about the storm my comment was probably about to create. After all, it's not like I stated WHICH Legendary I had punched.

Primeape and I glared at one another as silence descended upon the area, the confusion radiating from the surrounding pokemon almost palpable at the current situation. I bet they had never seen a human battle a pokemon before.

Though it took him a minute to register this was happening as well, King Onix finally roared out that the battle had begun, and Primeape immediately lunged at me.

Right hook.

Reading his intentions through his aura, I deftly dodged the attack by leaning back just far enough that the punch went right by me. I then followed up by immediately leaping forward while bringing my knee up, smashing it into Primeape's nose before it could recover from the miss.

"""!!!"""

"PRIIIIIIIIIIME!"

Stunned silence permeated the arena as Primeape recoiled from the hit, and squealed in pain due to the sensitivity of it's nose.

But the pain only seemed to last for a second before it turned it's attention towards me, a vein throbing noticeably in it's forehead. I could feel it's aura spiking outrageously in response to it's anger from getting hit, increasing it's strength significantly as the ability Anger Point activated.

Anger Point worked by increasing their offensive output whenever they take a particularly bad hit, like on the nose. But it also worked in my favor, as the tradeoff was that they became significantly less intelligent as a result. Making it a mindless berserker.

"BUKEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

With a berserk squeal, Primeape rushed me while it's fist began glowing with ghostly energy, Rage Fist.

"I don't think so!" I exclaimed as I ducked out of the path of the attack, letting it sail right over me before I shot back up to hit it again. This time with my fist as I channeled my aura through it.

Like I had said before, even in an enraged state the Primeape was nowhere near as hard to hit as Zapdos. With no guard I easily landed my blow in the space directly under Primeape's left arm, before ducking away as it tried to hit me yet again.

Unfortunately it appeared as if my attack had no affect on Primeape as it charged to attack me yet again, but then again it WAS in a berserk state right now. Even if it wasn't acknowledging the damage it was taking, it was still there.

Scratch that, it DID affect the Primeape.

It was even more pissed off now.

"BIGUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

With it's increased rage, it's stats also increased as it threw another wild punch at me.

"!!!"

Despite being able to read what kind of attack it was going to do through it's aura, I had barely managed to avoid it while a painful stinging sensation flared up on my cheek.

Taking a slight distance from Primeape, I reached up and ran my thumb along my cheek where it was burning, only for it to come away slightly red.

"Alright then, you're on." I growled while channeling my psychic powers.

***

"???"

Lucario cocked his head as he felt a strange energy emanating from his partner accompanying his aura. Normally Ace's eyes would glow with an amber color when he used his aura, but now his entire body had gained a soft reddish glow.

"Woah! Since when could Ace's aura do THAT?" May exclaimed in awe.

"Thats not aura..." Lucario replied, making her look at him questioningly.

Before May could ask WHAT it was if not aura, the entire gallery became stunned as Primeape lunged at Ace yet again to attack, only to be halted in place with the same reddish glow surrounding it's body.

"BUKEEEEEEE!" It squealed in fury from not being able to move, rather than concern, before it was slowly lifted up into the air. When that happened, both Lucario and May realized what it was Ace was using.

"When did Ace get psychic powers!?!"

"I KNEW there was something off about him since yesterday!"

Declaring such at the same time, both watched in awe as Ace lifted Primeape up into the air via telekinesis, before throwing it across the arena. It didn't go out of course, but Ace did earn himself a few scant seconds to recover from the intense psychic exertion.

Lucario frowned when it became apparent that that maneuver had come with a cost, as he could feel his partner now experiencing another headache like the one yesterday, while a few drops of blood dripped from his nose.

"He must not be too proficient with it yet." He said to May, who was radiating concern beside him with her camera all but forgotten by this point.

Headache or not, Ace was given no respite after a few seconds, as primeape swiftly leapt to it's feet and angrily charged him yet again with another squeal to deliver a devestating series of attacks. In response, the glow around Ace sharpened as he deftly dodged Primeape's attack by shifting his weight to one side to avoid the first before doing the same for the second, then the third and fourth.

Again and again Primeape attacked Ace while growing increasingly irritated that none of it's attacks connected, while Ace easily dodged them over and over. But this could not last, as Lucario could tell Ace's headache was increasing with each passing second that he used his psychic powers, along with the amount of blood coming from his nose.

But then it appeared that Ace's chance had come as Primeape over extended on a desperate swing, giving him an opening.

Swapping from psychic to aura, Ace proceeded to lay into Primeape with his own flurry of savage attacks into the pokemon's body. Unlike the berserk Primeape though, each one of Ace's hits connected in the places where they could do the most damage, regardless of if Primeape felt it or not.

Soon he was the one pushing Primeape back as the damage he was dealing began to stack up, getting to the point where Primeape could not ignore it anymore when it became more of a struggle to lift it's arms, or move it's legs. But the more it was driven into a corner, the more angry Primeape was getting.

Ace was barely able to cross his arms in front of himself in time before Primeape hit him, sending him flying back and allowing it to regain the momentum as it charged him yet again. Instead of dodging this time, Ace conjured a small aura barrier that blocked Primeape's attack in it's tracks.

"Have a taste of this!"

With his declaration, Lucario felt Ace channel all of his remaining aura into his legs before he leapt upwards a second time to drive his knee into Primeape's nose yet again.

"BUKEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

Apparently Primeape felt THAT as it recoiled from the attack, making space as Ace continued flying upwards above it before angling himself back downwards.

"And now the finisher!" He declared with his fist cocked back, elctricity crackling up his entire arm as he channeled the power of Zapdos.

"BWEE!?!"

*KER-KRACK!*

Thunder clapped as lightning flashed, engulfing Primeape as Ace's Thunder Fist connected. And once the ringing in everyone's ears cleared, there was merely silence as they beheld the result of the battle.

"Ooooooooohn!" King Onix declared, announcing Ace's victory as he stood tall over Primeape, who was now laying unconscious and charred from the power of the lightning.

***

HyperHypno: Did that just happen!?!?!!?!?!

JustaJynx: DUDE SOLOED A PRIMEAPE!

StrongasOak: FAKE AND GAY!

***

My blood thundered in my ears and my lungs burned as I tried to fill them with fresh air, even as my head throbbed from the intense headache and blood poured from my nose.

But despite all that, my smile was wide in the wake of my victory over Primeape.

A glance around me showed all of the pokemon stunned at the result, but I ignored them as I raised a fist up and looked directly at King Onix.

"WE WILL ROCK YOU!"

My voice echoed off of the surrounding mountain faces, before I turned and walked back to where Lucario and May were waiting.

"Are you ok?!" May asked me immediately.

"Other than my head feeling like a Machamp's punching bag, I'm just tired." I said truthfully while fighting the urge to collapse right then and there. Thankfully Chansey quickly came over and started using Heal Pulse on me, easing up the majority of my aches. Specifically my head.

While she did that, Lucario hurriedly dug out the bento that Joy had made for me before we left this morning, which I hurriedly scarfed down while May tried to wipe the blood from my face.

"So when did you plan on telling us you were psychic?" Lucario asked while I ate.

'I only realized while I was asleep last night, and I planned to tell you guys when I had a better grasp on my abilities.' I mentally told them while still eating my food, surprising both May and Lucario from hearing my voice within their heads.

"Thats weird..." May uttered, even as she dug out her own bento as well. But instead of eating it, she offered it to me as I finished off my own.

"Thank you." I said out loud this time, before finishing hers off as well. Even then I still felt ravenous due to how much energy I had to use.

But by the time I had finished eating my headache had lessened a lot, and May had managed to clean up most of the blood from my face so that I was somewhat presentable. After that I looked over at King Onix, who nodded his head in affirmation.

I had completed his challenge of defeating three of his generals, so it was his turn to battle now.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOHN!" He roared out to get the attention of all the surrounding pokemon, before moving to the arena himself. I also made my way to my place at the other end, noticing as I did so that none of the surrounding pokemon were looking at me with hostility anymore. Instead, it appeared I had earned some respect from them by beating Primeape myself, who was still unconscious.

Though part of my ego swelled at that, I ignored all of that while focusing on beating King Onix. As they liked to say, pride cometh before the fall.

This time the Machamp from before stepped forward to officiate the match, pointing to King Onix questioningly, before pointing to me when my oppoenent answered that he was ready.

"Ready." I answered while grabbing the pokeball I intended to use for this match from my belt. Yes, I didn't intend to use Lucario for this match either.

He may be a sure bet, but none of my pokemon would ever grow if I didn't push them to take risks. Instead of doubting them, I planned to trust in them to secure the win for all of US.

"Go, GYARADOS!"

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The air itself seemed to vibrate as I let out my bull Gyarados, who immediately roared at King Onix as if to say 'you ain't shit!' Which was funny considering that King Onix was more than twice the length of my Gyarados, and likely outwieghed him by several hundred pounds.

But that was ok. Gyarados was ALL muscle, and it was time for him to show it.

"MaCHAMP!"

With a cry, Machamp began the match.

"Gyarados, HURRICANE!"

In response to my first command, powerful winds began to whip and rage around Gyarados with such intensity that they even began to lift him from the ground.

"OHN!" King Onix roared at my pokemon, before his entire tail gained a metallic sheen as he jabbed it at Gyarados.

Unfortunately for him, while using Hurricane to fly, Gyarados was just as agile in the air as he was in the sea. It made me excited for the day he was able to fly without using the move.

Gyarados flowed around the attacking tail with a grace that matched neither his size nor his intimidating features, before his own tail began to radiate water type energy as it was covered in it's own liquid layer.

*SLAM!*

*SPLASH!*

"OOOOOOHN!"

King Onix roared irritably as Gyarados' Aqua Tail slammed into his face with the force of a watery torpedo, sending him reeling from the four time weakness to water, which in turn washed all over him from the attack. But a king would not go down so easily.

Despite the water washing over his body, King Onix swiftly retaliated by swinging the upper half of his body back at Gyarados for a full weight Slam.

"GYAAAAAAAA!" Gyarados roared as he was sent crashing to the ground despite the winds that carried him thus far, the same winds that Onix seized control of as he used them to trigger a powerful Sand Tomb.

Gyarados was instantly trapped within a swirling vortex of sand and dirt, blinding him while the rough sand also began rubbing his scales raw.

"Tch..."

I clicked my tongue as my mind raced with ideas to free Gyarados from the vicious Sand Tomb he was trapped within. Unlike the usual Sandstorm, Sand Tomb was significantly more dangerous since it was far more intense than the former, and was entirely focused on the target instead of the full arena.

The strongest moves Gyarados knew were Hurricane, Hydro Pump and Aqua Tail, moves that would be useless to help him out of his current predicament. The former would only empower the Sand Tomb even more, while the latter two were focused attacks that wouldn't help in breaking out of the swirling vortex of sand.

Plus, naturally King Onix would not let this chance go.

"Ooooooohn!"

With a roar, he slammed his tail against the ground with enough force that the entire arena began to shake, triggering a powerful Earthquake that did even more damage to Gyarados.

"Damn it... Try to gather as much water type energy as you can, and unleash it all at once!" I quickly ordered Gyarados, clinging to one move in particular that might help him break free. I then projected the image of what I wanted him to do based on television footage of battle that Ash and I had watched as kids.

"Think you can do that?" I asked him.

"GYAAAA!"

Gyarados roared his confirmation at my question, and began doing as I ordered him despite the continuous Earthquake that was being powered by King Onix.

I could feel him gathering energy within himself in an attempt to recreate the move I just showed him, which he had never even tried to use before. But both of us had no other option, especially when King Onix began chucking large boulders at Gyarados for a Rock Tomb on top of the Sand Tomb. It was obvious he intended to fully seal Gyarados' movements.

'Now! Gather all of that energy into your mouth!' I mentally commanded him, lest King Onix realize what it was we were planning.

'Now release it!'

"GYARADOOOOOOOOOOOS!" He roared as he relased the water in the way I had shown him from before, creating a massive wave that swept through the arena to wash away the Sand Tomb, the Rock Tomb, and to buffet King Onix's entire body.

"OOOOOOOOHN!" King Onix groaned from the exceptional damge he took from the Surf attack.

"Don't let up! He won't go down with just that!" I told Gyarados. He was battered, bruised, tired, and definitely needed a break. But, if we let this chance go then we can kiss any chance of victory goodbye.

Gyarados was on the same page apparently, as he readily charged forward to deliver another powerful Aqua Tail on King Onix, followed by another, and then another.

King Onix was soon completely soaked while the entire section of the arena around him had turned into a thick sludge of mud, weakening him and hindering HIS movements this time.

However, even after the serious of devestating attacks that he was four times weaker towards, and the change in terrain, King Onix was still up as he roared once more before swinging his own tail at Gyarados as it gained a metallic sheen. Despite taking the Iron Tail this time though, Gyarados just roared back as he delivered another Aqua Tail before getting hit again himself.

Soon the duo entered a slug match as they repeatedly delivered their own tail attacks onto one another, while also refusing to go down. And everyone watching loved it.

All around us the pokemon were cheering their king on, while I could also hear May's pokenav continuously going off as the comments poured in. May herself was even cheering alongside Combusken, while Lucario watched the battle silently as he awaited the outcome.

While everyone else was cheering and watching the match, I was directing Gyarados to any openings King Onix had to take full advantage of them, as well as any incoming attacks for him to block or avoid.

'To the left.'

'Now the right, and then up the middle.'

'Go for the head!'

I lost track of time as the match continued between Gyarados and King Onix, not knowing if seconds, minutes, or even hours had passed as I focused on keeping Gyarados up and in the match. But it was getting to the point where it was becoming truly dangerous.

King Onix wasn't a king for no reason, as any other Onix in his position would have gone down by this point. Especially with my Gyarados as their opponent.

But not only had King Onix held out this long against an opponent he was significantly weaker to type-wise, it also looked as if he might actually win.

I grit my teeth as the slug match continued, but it was evident that both pokemon were beginning to slow down as the exhaustion and the damage they had suffered started catching up to them.

"Gyarados!" I eventually cried out loud.

"???"

"Thats-"

*Crash!*

"!!!"

A stunned silence filled the arena at what just happened.

Right as I was about to forfeit the match for Gyarados and King Onix's sakes, the great and mighty king collapsed to the ground unconscious.

The king had fallen.