Chapter 300: Bruno vs. The Royal Mask!
2024-05-15 Author: Samsung Charmander (Author Name)
Pallet Town, Ash's house.
At 2 PM, Ash's mother, Delia, had gone out shopping with her good friends. Meanwhile, Ash, Brock, and the temporarily-joined Todd Snap, the three guys, were lounging on the sofa, holding glasses of fruit juice, occasionally clinking them together and taking a sip.
Their faces were flushed and their eyes were glued to the television screen, their breathing growing heavy.
The scene on the screen showed two shirtless men facing off, surrounded by the constant flashing of white camera lights, which made them exceptionally excited.
"Hey, you three! Is it really okay to be watching this kind of stuff the moment Auntie Delia leaves?!"
Misty walked in just then, her face full of complaints. She raised the TV remote to change the channel, still muttering.
"Honestly, the Indigo Plateau Conference starts in a month, and you were talking about special training... but you sleep until noon every day, and then watch this stuff right after eating. At this rate, I think you'll only make it to the Top 16 in the conference this time."
Before Ash could move, Brock had already snatched the remote, his expression unfriendly.
"Woman! This is a critical moment, don't change the channel!"
"That's right, we *are* doing special training right now," Ash explained earnestly.
Dubious, Misty could only slowly turn her gaze to the TV screen. Her eyes met the sight of two bare-chested men standing in an Arena, surrounded by all sorts of flashing cameras and waves of cheers.
So, it was two muscular, shirtless men punching each other in an Arena.
Men truly were strange creatures. As kids, they loved watching these kinds of shirtless competitive sports.
Now that they were older, they still loved watching shirtless competitive sports.
"Huh? Wait, these two look a little familiar...?"
Misty soon recognized the two shirtless men on the screen.
One was a man with spiky black hair. His muscular build was extremely imposing, and he looked to be over two meters tall, like a small giant.
Shirtless, his muscles were on full display, every single one rock-solid. It looked like he could crush a Wartortle's head just by flexing his joints.
He wore a simple, worn-out white training uniform on his lower body, and bizarrely, he even had black handcuffs and shackles on his wrists and ankles, as if to restrain his own power.
It was none other than the Kanto Elite Four Fighting Master—Bruno!
"The other one... is so familiar..."
Misty tried hard to recall the man facing Elite Four Bruno. She saw that this man was also shirtless, wearing gladiator-style tights on his lower half. His muscles weren't as exaggerated as Bruno's, but they were extremely well-proportioned, and his aura was in no way inferior to his opponent's.
The most peculiar thing was that he was wearing a red and black mask over his head, completely concealing his face.
"Ah, I remember now! It's The Royal Mask!!" Misty exclaimed in sudden realization.
In the P1 World Fighting Tournament held two years ago, it was this dark horse, The Royal Mask, who had blazed a trail all the way to the Grand Finals.
Although he was defeated by a mysterious old man from the Galar Region in the final step of the Finals, he was still an expert remembered by countless people.
As for Elite Four Bruno, he had been eliminated by the mysterious old man in the semi-finals, so the two of them had never faced each other directly.
"Exactly. So now, The Royal Mask has officially issued a challenge to Master Bruno," Brock explained. You could hear the deep admiration and praise he had for Bruno in his voice, as if Bruno were his life mentor.
This was why he also took his shirt off during Gym challenge matches.
It was just like Misty's feelings towards another member of the Elite Four, Lorelei.
"It's a pity. This battle was from a week ago. We missed the live broadcast, so we're just watching the replay now," Brock said with a sigh.
"That's right. These two are both modern-day experts. If I can copy one or two of their great secret techniques, this Indigo Plateau Conference will be a piece of cake, don't you think, Misty?"
Ash took a big slurp of his fruit juice and said with a smile, his eyes then turning to the screen with a fiery gaze as they began to dart back and forth.
"Pikachu, you pay attention too. Today, we're going to steal every last move from these two!"
"Pika!"
The Pikachu beside him nodded, its little mouse eyes also beginning to dart around.
Misty: "?"
*Isn't there still a Top Player chilling out in that muddled head of yours?*
*Just drag that Top Player out for a little dance, and wouldn't you be able to copy anything you want?*
With that thought, she also sat down, joining the three in appreciating the brawl between the brawny men on the screen.
Her focus was different from the three boys; she was simply interested in observing the starkly different styles of pectoral and abdominal muscles on display.
This was a fighting tournament, not a traditional Pokémon battle, so the combat was somewhat constrained, lacking any flashy, type-based moves.
Bruno sent out a Humanoid Pokémon with four arms and a dark cyan body. Around its waist, it wore a large, golden champion's belt.
It was a Machamp.
The Royal Mask, on the other hand, sent out a fiery-red, humanoid, tiger-headed Pokémon with black tiger stripes all over its body. Around its waist, it wore a belt made entirely of golden energy and flame.
It was his strongest Ace, the Incineroar that had helped him fight his way into the Grand Finals!
Soon, Machamp and Incineroar were clashing head-on, trading a flurry of powerful martial arts moves. The immense force of their blows sent shockwaves of energy scattering in all directions, and every punch they exchanged drew resounding cheers from the audience.
Evenly matched.
Still evenly matched.
The champion at the time, Master Ma, had fought both of them. He once said that their strength was on par with each other; unless it was a matter of life and death, the outcome couldn't be decided.
Finally, the Incineroar took a sharp leap backward, landing atop a high pillar on the Arena. It spread its arms, letting its body merge with the lights surrounding the Arena.
"Here it comes, here it comes!!" Ash shouted excitedly.
He had seen this opening stance from Incineroar on a public television in Vermilion City before, but the move was so cool that it made the TV explode on the spot, so he couldn't see what happened next.
This time, he had to watch carefully!
"Pikachu, watch closely and learn well!!"
"Pika!"
Pikachu had already climbed onto a high platform on the sofa. Mimicking Incineroar's posture, it spread its small paws, seemingly merging with the air. Hallelujah.
On the screen, the Incineroar suddenly bounced into the air, leaping five or six meters high. An unsettling black and red flame erupted from its body as it flew toward Machamp, its momentum overwhelming, its dark flames as terrifying as a Demon God's.
Malicious Moonsault!!
"BOOM BOOM BOOM!!"
A powerful sound of explosion rang out.
In the next second, as if even the television couldn't handle it, its frame began to tremble. The screen was covered in gray static, and puffs of white smoke even started rising from the back of the set.
The TV... had blown up again.
Everyone: "?"
"Thud!"
In the real world, an Electric Mouse Pokémon also came flying off the sofa, crashing onto the floor. Its body collided with the floorboards, emitting a crisp sound of impact.
Its body, as if hit by a Dimensionality Reduction Attack, had turned into a 2D yellow mouse pancake.
It had been very dedicated to its copy.
"Pokedex Beep. Pikachu has mastered a new move: Flying Press. Proficiency 0.1%. Diligent practice is required for successful execution."
The Pokedex suddenly interjected, even playing a rather festive BGM.
Everyone: "???"
(end of chapter)