Chapter 99. Primeape, Are You Trying to Earn My Approval?
"Oddish, you can do it."
"Oddish, you can do it!"
On the D-class ring, a little girl kept cheering for her Oddish.
Oddish was obedient and kept ramming its head into a Pikachu.
"Pika—"
The center-parted rolled over and turned its back toward Oddish.
From its expression, it even seemed to be enjoying itself.
"Ah~"
On the other side, Ash yawned.
This wasn't the battle he wanted at all, and he regretted registering center-parted.
Drowsy, Ash leaned against the railing and shut his eyes to rest.
"Oh my, the Trainer of this Pikachu has actually fallen asleep too. Is this a brand-new tactic?"
The announcer keenly noticed something unusual here and immediately switched to commentating the D-class ring.
"Huh? What? What?"
Ash snapped awake.
Only then did he realize he had become the center of attention.
"Center-parted, get up and fight. Everyone's watching you!"
Although he knew Natsume had customized a "wear-them-out" strategy for him, Ash's face still burned under all those eyes.
"Pika-pika~"
The center-parted lifted a hind leg and farted.
Exhausted from the repeated ramming, Oddish was caught off guard, leaned back, lost its balance, and tumbled off the ring.
"Let us congratulate this Pikachu that only knows how to sleep on taking the win in an unbelievable way!"
The announcer's impassioned voice rang out, while Ash covered his face and crouched down, cheeks burning.
"So embarrassing…"
He felt this kind of thing should be left to someone thick-skinned like Natsume.
"Ten-minute intermission. Round Two starts right away."
Nurse Joy appeared on site to treat some of the injured competing Pokémon.
"Though it's said to be a grassroots event, it feels pretty official," Honora nodded slightly from the stands.
"Look, Group C in the second round has Brock. And Group A has Rebecca's father!"
Misty pointed at the big screen.
"Is Brock about to go on?"
In the preparation area, Ash hugged center-parted and found Natsume.
"Natsume, this is so embarrassing!"
Ash raised center-parted, which was sleeping soundly in his arms.
"If we win the championship like this, won't the audience end up throwing vegetables at me?"
"How about wearing a mask?" Natsume suggested.
"A mask… that's a bit self-deceptive."
"I have a Gary Oak mask."
"I'll take ten!"
Ash snapped his head up.
Natsume really did take out ten masks modeled on Gary Oak.
Ash held one, eyes wide.
"Natsume, where did you get these?"
Ash pulled the silicone mask over his head; from a distance, he was indistinguishable from Gary Oak.
"Ash, I've told you many times," Natsume said seriously.
"Told me what?"
"When you're out in the world, identity is what you give yourself."
"Then, Natsume, how many 'identities' like this do you have on you?" Ash leaned in and whispered.
"Not many… a hundred or so."
At most, he had a hundred-plus faces for all the big names in the Pokémon world.
And a few sets of uniforms for the major organizations, painstakingly reproduced.
That's all.
"My goodness, unprecedented!"
The announcer's blustering voice continued.
They looked back to see that the second round had begun.
To their surprise, the broadcast director did not switch to the A-class ring.
On the screen, Brock appeared.
But what drew the announcer's gasp was clearly not Brock's Geodude, but his opponents.
A Primeape, and a Drowzee.
"Where are your Trainers?"
Brock felt this Primeape looked familiar, but with their Trainers absent, his curiosity only grew.
"Heavens, I asked the judges—these two have entered the tournament as wild Pokémon!"
"The one communicating with staff is that Primeape's partner—Drowzee!"
"Folks, the P1 Grand Prix fever has already spread to the wild Pokémon scene!"
With the announcer fired up, the broadcast director sensibly switched all four screens to the C-class ring.
If even wild Pokémon were hurrying to enter the P1 Grand Prix, that was perfect publicity.
"Hoo-wah, hoo-wah!"
Primeape's razor-sharp gaze scanned the arena.
The moment it saw Ash and Natsume, it paused for an instant, then swiftly looked away.
"Natsume, is that the one that stole my cap?" Ash felt it looked more and more familiar.
"Seems like it," Natsume said oddly, glancing at Primeape, then at the Drowzee behind it.
What a strange combo.
"All right, battle start! Let's see a showdown between wild Pokémon and well-trained Pokémon!"
At the signal, the battle began.
"I won't los—ah!"
Before Brock could finish, he was sent flying by his own Geodude.
"Ugh! Honestly… good thing Miss Rebecca isn't here," Misty muttered from the stands, covering her face.
"Wow, as expected, but that was way too fast!" the announcer exclaimed.
The broadcast director cut to Primeape.
After sending Geodude flying, its gaze roamed the arena as if searching for something.
"Oh? Could it be that this powerful Fighting-type Pokémon has come to this tournament looking for a human it approves of to be its Trainer?"
"Hard to imagine how strong it'll be after proper training!"
The feed kept switching with Primeape's head turns.
"Hey, hey, hey, is Brock the broadcast director? Why does the camera keep lingering so long whenever it hits a pretty lady in the audience?" Ash griped.
He really wanted to know why Primeape was here, but the broadcast director wasn't helping.
Finally, the feed switched to the A-class ring.
On the ring, a hard-featured man stood with arms crossed, facing off against a muscular hulk.
Between them stood a Hitmonchan and a Poliwrath.
Primeape's commotion drew Anthony's attention.
When the big screen froze on his face, Anthony blinked.
"Heavens, Primeape has locked eyes on Mr. Anthony. Has it taken a liking to him?"
The announcer cried out.
Anthony turned and saw that Primeape was staring fixedly at him.
"Hmph."
A faint smile tugged at Anthony's lips.
Of course—he and Hitmonchan trained in the mountains every day.
Maybe Primeape had noticed him back then.
It had come all this way to earn his approval.
Anthony instantly filled in a whole drama in his head, and nodded slightly toward Primeape.
"Huh?"
Primeape tilted its head.
In the preparation area—
"Pff!"
The water Natsume had just sipped sprayed back out, his face barely holding straight.
With telekinesis, he roughly skimmed Primeape's thoughts—it wanted to beat Anthony to a pulp.
Reason unknown.
If not for that Drowzee with human-world experience doing its utmost to dissuade it, Primeape would probably have rushed him the moment their eyes met and started swinging.
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