Hideki trembled as he stared at his last pokeball, hoping this would be the one he needs.

Out of the ball emerged an even larger pig pokemon, with metal bands and large, red eyes- a primeape.

As one of the other trainers called for the battle to begin, Primeape lunged forward uncommanded, fists clenched.

Moving faster than he could command his Pokemon, Ray watched as Wartortle got slammed with two punches to the face.

It looked back for orders as a bruise formed on its face. Ray's freckles still shone red.

He knew how to fight off a fast pokemon. After all, the dojo is where to test your skills.

"Wall to wall, let's go!"

The turtle grinned from ear to ear.

"One two, primeape!"

As the pig pokemon towered over a fallen Wartortle, it wound up for the next couple of punches. No one knew how prepared the strangers were.

As the pokemon punched down, Wartortle slipped away and put the momentum into a full pinwheel! Primeape dealt a massive blow from a face full of shell and flew into the wall!

"Don't let him go! WALL TO WALL!"

Suddenly everyone knew what that meant.

Wartortle leaped to where Primeape shook itself off and grabbed its arm. The pokemon exchanged glances; one of fear, the other of joy.

Wartortle flung Primeape into the opposite wall! As the opponent tried to gather itself, Wartortle met it with another body slam to the body!

"Super effective," Ray smirked as the Pig Pokemon collapsed on the mat.

Wartortle slipped back to Ray, who scratched it behind its ear. The pokemon growled happily before returning to its pokeball.

"Who's next," Ray called triumphantly.

"Wipe that smirk off of your face kid," said the next challenger. His karate could barely fit his muscular body.

"The name's Anthony, kid. And this is where you go crying to the PokeCenter. Maybe to your Mommy."

The other trainers chuckled.

"The only time I'm going home is after I become a pokemon Champion. You dealing or not?"

Anthony tossed out his own Machop, far muscular than the last one.

"Ready, little boy? Choose your champion."

Red was curious to see how his next pokemon would do. It didn't take long to evolve it, but he had no idea if it was ready. Still, he was willing to try it.

A brown mole with three heads dug a space into the mat and poked out happily, only to stare in panic at the towering Machop.

Dugtrio looked back to Ray with a drop of sweat growing on its head.

"Nevermind the size, Dugtrio! Get ready."

The three heads looked at each other, gulped and took a deep breath.

"Focus energy, Machop!"

The heavyweight pokemon concentrated on building power, increasing its attack. Anthony was planning something serious.

"Let's do what we practiced! Hidden fury!"

Immediately, the Dugtrio disappeared underground. The other trainers loudly complained that the move was about to be elemental. The Dojo leader held a hand.

"Let's see what this 'frankenstein move' is."

Anthony scanned the arena, waiting for the first movement to command Machop to attack. Yet Ray already told him.

He shuffled his foot in the direction of the target. Based on the shuffles, Dugtrio knew where to pop up.

And so it did, hitting the unsuspecting pokemon with a blend of dig and fury swipes. Technically, it was an attack, with the mole's two heads counting as fists.

Two attacks at once can take out a small pokemon fairly quickly. Machop couldn't take any more hits after those, and it collapsed on the mat. Dugtrio shook with victory and disbelief.

"You think it's over? It ai'nt, little kid. Prepare your little three-headed mole for a beatdown!"

A towering beast of a pokemon rises to the challenge. It roars before flexing its massive muscles and adjusting its power belt. A machoke dwarfs dugtrio again, sending another drop of sweat down Dugtrio's back as it trembled it its hole.

"It's time to whack-the-mole," Anthony exclaimed as Machoke cracked its knuckles.

"We got 'em, Dugtrio! Just follow my command," Ray comforted Dugtrio from afar.

"Kid, the art of training is that your pokemon can fight on their own, not to hold their hand the entire way."

He ignored the "advice" as blood rushed to his ears whenever he called him "kid".

"We'll see how your advice goes. Strike first. I dare you."

Anthony saw a fire in Ray's eyes. This wasn't any ordinary kid. His mistake was ignoring that observation.

"Send him a two-two, Machoke!"

The heavy pokemon launched at Dugtrio, fists raised. Yet it didn't flinch, not after hearing one command from Ray:

"Parry, then strike."

Almost supernaturally, every punch hit air. Machoke went beyond the two-two, attempting to strike every part of Dugtrio, but speed was on the mole's side.

Then Machoke threw on frustrating punch too many. Two heads grabbed the fist and held it tight. The third head struck Machoke at point-blank range in rapid succession. After the two heads let the hand go, Machoke stumbled back with a dizzy head.

Both trainer and pokemon knew the battle was over. Hidden fury was silently called.

After Dugtrio hid below, Anthony's sweat was even more visible.

"Machoke, get ready for a dig. I feel it coming. Be ready to dodge."

"Hey, Anthony," Ray called with a smirk. The opponent never noticed his shuffling shoe.

"Is that what you call 'holding its hand'? Because I think that's what you originally meant."

The other trainers joked in agreement. Meanwhile, Machoke stood up, its head still dizzy from multiple hits to the head.

Suddenly, the ground opened, the mole struck with a Dig and Fury Swipes, and the superpower pokemon crashed in a heap onto the floor.

Dugtrio's three heads bounced happily before willingly returning to its pokeball. Anthony shook his head as he went to shake Ray's hand.

"Nice job, kid. I've never seen moves like that. Where did you learn to combine moves like that?"

Ray shrugged. "Just picked it up, I guess. Good fight."

"You too, kid."

Ray's freckles lost their color as Anthony walked away.

"Who's next," Ray called to the Dojo Leader.

"I only want you to battle two more people. Michael, show him what your Primeape can do."

A stocky man walked forward. His blackbelt, tied around his waist, was thicker than his fist. Immediately, without talking, his Primeape stood at the ready.

Ray, however, thought for a second, then shrugged his shoulders as he tossed out a different pokeball. The moment it popped open, a majestic bird flew up into the air, took in its surroundings, and hovered near the ceiling before landing next to its trainer. Its ribbons of red feathers caught the slightest of breezes while its sharp beak nibbled at Ray's hand.

"C'mon Pidgeotto. Let's show this Primeape what you can do."

Pidgeotto hopped onto the mat, treading lightly to avoid puncturing its talons. Primeape hopped between feet, eager to tenderize a bird between its fists.

"Let the battle begin!"

"Pidgeotto, quick attack, then relay!"

Immediately the bird took off. It slammed into Primeape, flew back around, then slammed back into the pig pokemon. It hovered, keeping itself comfortable in the air.

All of a sudden, the Primeape took a step back.

"Pidgeotto, get ready to par. Here it comes."

As the Primeape went aerial, Pidgeotto as ready.

Some of Primeape's punches hit true, but all Pidgeotto needed was to catch one. When it did, it was at the bird's mercy.

In one swoop, it flung Primeape into the ground!

Yet Pidgeotto struggled to stay in the air. Its head was drooped and its flaps were significantly weaker. It needed to come back.

"Pidgeotto, you did great! Return!"

A flash of red light contained Pidgeotto as he searched for a new pokemon. This was about testing his pokemon, not winning outright. Though he was considering it, if he was going to train anymore today while the sun shone outside.

"Are you forfeiting the match, Ray," The referee asked.

"No," he replied, as his last unopened pokeballs juggled in his hands.

Time to shock some trainers, he thought as he launched his next pokemon.

Indeed it shocked. Out of the white light stood a gigantic mantis, with sharp teeth, long blade-like arms and monstrous wings. It hovered above the ground before landing, a long hiss drawing out of its mouth.