Author's note: Hey guys, apologies for the late upload, this chapter is much longer and I've had a few pressing errands to run and I do hope that I haven't kept any of you waiting for too long! Either way, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, see ya in the next one!

Mccree VS Lucio

Mccree wasn't much of a morning person. Despite all those years of training in Blackwatch, the Texan did wish that he could wake up one morning, lie around for a bit, and let out a good ol' "IT'S HIGH NOON" before even getting out of bed.

He couldn't do that this morning, though. Yawning as he silenced the alarm clock, Mccree stumbled to the washroom, finding Gabriel already inside, almost done washing up. His commander did look much more weary than he was, black circles under the eyes and all.

"Look tired, Gabe. Had 'nuf sleep?"

"No, it's getting harder these days, I don't know why. Gettin' nightmares sometimes too. Anyways, good luck on your match today. Shouldn't be too difficult for a veteran like you."

Mccree smirked. "Don't jinx it, old man."

*A while later*

"Are you guys pumped?"

A deafening reply of yes.

"Well can I invite our friend Mccree down to join me in the arena?"

Much like the match yesterday, the stadium was packed full of fans of the celebrity in-house, in this case, the world-renowned DJ, Lucio. They chanted Mccree's name over and over, all excited to see their idol in action against the stereotypical cowboy.

The Texan grinned under his hat. Giving Gabriel a quick fingerbang, Mccree combat rolled from the competitors' seats into the arena, landing in a crouch with his poncho draped over most of his frame. He stood back up, tossing away his cigar.

"Competitors, send out your first pokemon."

"We've got a bullet with your name on it. Go, lycanroc!"

The midday form wolf pokemon landed on the hard packed earth, howling a battle cry. This time, the arena took the form of a plateau right under the sun, complete with an artificial pit forming a circumference.

"Alright, show me what you can do! Get out there, politoed!"

The frog pokemon uttered a growling cry, and the skies darkened with rain clouds. First a few drops, then a downpour, causing a ceiling to extend over the spectators to protect them from the rain. The two trainers in the battle, however, didn't seem to mind.

"Playing the weather game, are we? I'll play along. Lycanroc, get back! Go, tyranitar!"

The armor pokemon stomped in, replacing lycanroc. With a roar, tyranitar dispersed the thunderclouds and whipped up a dust storm instead, severely hampering politoed's vision.

"Doesn't matter, politoed! Hit it with scald!"

Politoed released a stream of boiling water from its mouth. The sand particles dampened and stuck together upon contact with the water, wasting some of the attack's potential. However, tyranitar's size was too large for politoed to miss, and despite the sandstorm weakening the attack, a good volume of water landed on its frame.

Tyranitar roared in pain, shaking to rid itself of the water. Mccree could see small flames flickering and disappearing on tyranitar's flank, and knew he could not afford any of his pokemon to be burned.

"Deliver that burn, politoed! Scald'em one more time!"

"Back, tyranitar! Be prepared, lycanroc, now move! Dodge it!"

Lycanroc hit the ground running, swerving past the column of hot water. Feeling the sand rush, the wolf pokemon sped towards its opponent.

"Round'em up, lycanroc! Stone edge!"

The rocks in lycanroc's mane detached, floating above the wolf pokemon. With a howl, the rocks sped towards politoed, landing in a coordinated ring around it to prevent escape.

"Escape, politoed! Use hyper voice to break the rocks!"

Amplifying its bellowing cry, politoed materialized sound waves and struck its rock prison, causing cracks to appear. Raising its frequency some more, through the swirling sands, it made out the faint image of lycanroc charging right at it…

"Crunch!"

Lycanroc broke through the cracked stones, its canines glowing white. Politoed, with what little warning it had, managed to move aside and shove its arm into lycanroc's mouth, the latter biting down hard.

"Quickly, politoed! Scald!"

The frog pokemon blasted boiling water once more, aimed right at the wolf pokemon attached to its arm.

"Release, lycanroc! Avoid it with accelerock!"

Lycanroc obediently let go, using the speed of accelerock to avoid the boiling water. Swiftly turning, it slammed back into politoed, throwing it into the air. The sandstorm buffeted the frog pokemon, winding it to the ground.

"As I always say, I'm the quick. You're the dead."

Jack sighed from up in the Champion's chamber. "How many times does he have to quote western movies?"

Ana chuckled. "He's doing well, Jack. Let Jesse brag a little."

Lucio was getting frustrated. Politoed had a severe disadvantage in a sandstorm, but if he could stutter lycanroc long enough for drizzle to take effect, Politoed just might regain the speed advantage.

"Alright, politoed, use hyper voice!"

No matter how fast lycanroc was, it couldn't outspeed sound. The high frequency waves spread everywhere, leaving the wolf pokemon a sitting duck. The many spectators could see that hyper voice was not very physically damaging, but Mccree noticed that lycanroc's eyes were squeezed shut, its head tucked down to its chest.

Reinhardt stroked his beard. "My friends, this strategy seems familiar. Do you recall when we last observed this in our grand tournament?"

Torbjorn thought of it first. "Wasn't that Amelie's battle two days ago? When she used galvantula's bug buzz to stutter staraptor? Gabriel, you really should'nt tell everyone all your tricks! At this rate, the battles are going to get boring!"

Gabriel smirked. "I didn't teach Amelie that. Jesse did. And he darn sure knows how to deal with it."

True enough, lycanroc did not stay distracted for long. But it was long enough. Regaining its senses just in time to see an oncoming scald, lycanroc could hardly move out of the way, the boiling water connecting its one of its forepaws.

Howling in pain, lycanroc could not keep tyranitar's sandstorm going. The dust cleared, and politoed was clear to reactivate drizzle. The rain poured once more, politoed surfing swiftly on the torrents.

"No rest for the weary, lycanroc. Stone edge!"

Rocks emerged once more from lycanroc's mane, and were sent flying towards the frog pokemon. However, politoed skated across the pools of water collected from the downpour with superior speed, avoiding the rocks and closing the gap between the two pokemon.

"If you let him getcha it's all over, lycanroc! Hit him with accelerock!"

Lycanroc's eyes now glowed white, a sheen the rocks in stone edge quickly mirrored. With a growl, the stones grew and sped up, some close enough to hit politoed. The frog pokemon jumped from one pool of water to another to avoid the rocks, some of which were beginning to slam into the ground a hair away.

"Break its concentration, politoed! Hyper voice!"

Swimming towards lycanroc, politoed magnified its cry again, the sound waves blasting lycanroc back. Yet, the wolf pokemon refused to break, even as politoed got closer and closer, desperately raising the amplitude of its hyper voice. The rocks flew nearer, until one managed to nail politoed in the foot, earning a roar of pain.

Pinning the frog pokemon to the wet earth, lycanroc raised the remaining rocks above its incapacitated foe.

"Looks like someone called the undertaker."

Lycanroc slammed all the pillars down at once. Throwing up clods of mud, the frog pokemon was not to be heard. Once again, Jack sighed.

"Politoed is unable to battle. Mccree gets a point."

"Drat! Why so serious about this, man? Anyways, go, exploud!"

The loud noise pokemon landed on the wet earth, playing an intro theme with the sound generators all over its body.

"Battling's my thing, partner, can't help but take it seriously. Lycanroc, stone edge!"

Despite certain signs of fatigue, Lycanroc sent another barrage of rocks from its mane at exploud.

"Exploud, you know what to do."

Inhaling sharply, exploud released a deafening burst of sound, shattering all the rocks and blasting lycanroc back. The spectating crowd covered their ears, but lucio fans still cheered their idol on.

Lycanroc was on the ground now, one leg too weak to stand. Exploud loomed menacingly over the wolf pokemon, ready to finish it off.

"Exploud, surf!"

The rain had subsided to a mere drizzle now, but exploud still created a wave from the remaining water on the earth, riding on top of it. With a roar, the wave crashed down on lycanroc, when the water cleared, the wolf pokemon had swirls for eyes, unconscious.

"Lycanroc is unable to battle. Lucio gains a point."

"Hmph. Moves like that don't need much aim. Go, cacturne!"

The scarecrow pokemon was quick to replace its recalled teammate. Mccree had styled this pokemon similar to himself, its spiky four-tipped hat a shade of brown, and a red poncho of dried leaves draped around its neck. The remaining moisture on the ground was promptly absorbed into the scarecrow's pokemon's spines, strengthening it.

"Amp it up, exploud! Boomburst!"

Exploud began to inhale, the stray sand particles drawn towards its gaping mouth. Before it could release the blast, cacturne advanced on the loud noise pokemon, putting its hands together and forming spiny orbs between them.

"Feed em' cacturne! Seed bomb!"

Cacturne flung the orbs into exploud's mouth, slamming one into its eyes for good measure. Blasts of green shook the arena, exploud being forced back with the concussive explosions.

"Sucker punch, now!"

As the dust cleared, exploud already had a boomburst prepared, but once again, cacturne swiftly intercepted it, landing a spiked punch square in exploud's face, following up with an uppercut. Performing a backflip, the scarecrow pokemon landed a scissor kick in exploud's chest, sending it airborne.

"You gotta hit it now, exploud! Turn it up!"

Righting itself in the air, exploud finally released the boomburst. Cacturne dug its roots into the ground, crouching while pulling its hat over its head, standing firm against the sonic blast. Grains of sand blasted across its face, but the scarecrow pokemon didn't seem to mind.

Exploud, now on the ground, advanced towards cacturne, maintaining its boomburst. Gabriel looked on with worry, remembering how lycanroc fell to Lucio's pokemon in a similar way.

The loud noise pokemon was now at point blank range, screaming down at cacturne with maximum frequency. Cacturne shrieked in pain, raising its hands. But instead of covering its ears, it punched exploud hard in the eye.

"Good one, cacturne! Follow up with drain punch!"

Drawing back its other fist, cacturne formed a green orb in it. Slamming it into exploud's other eye, green streaks of energy flew from exploud and were absorbed into cacturne's spines. Cacturne stood up straight, righting its hat.

"Attaboy. Fold em, cacturne, drain punch!"

Now it was cacturne that stood over the doubled-over exploud, seed bombs in hand. Prying open exploud's mouth, cacturne loaded its explosives, pushing the loud noise pokemon back, before connecting a full-force drain punch.

The blast shook the arena, Lucio fans growing worried for their idol's chance of victory. Meanwhile, junkrat giggled from his seat before roadhog stopped him with a cuff around the neck.

"Brings a tear to mah eye…"

"Exploud is unable to battle. Mccree gets a point."

"Might as well get this over with! Go, altaria!"

The humming pokemon trilled a high-pitch song of draconic origin, earning applause from the audience. Lucio raised his gloved hand, a key stone attached to it.

"Let's get serious, altaria! Mega evolve!"

The altarianite and key stone shone with a resonant blue, and altaria's tails extended, its billowing cloud of a body expanding outwards, covering its neck and forming two separate arms, glimmering with an iridescent sheen.

"He can't touch you, altaria! Use dragon dance!"

Trilling an uplifting tune, altaria surrounded itself with a pinkish aura, concentrating it in its arms and wings. It seemed to dance, cacturne's attempts at hurling seed bombs proving futile, direct hits barely scratching the thick cloudy cloak of the humming pokemon. Drain punch was easily avoided with the advantage of flight, but repeated seed bombings began to take a toll on altaria's stamina.

"Alright, that's enough, altaria. Now, return!"

Trilling joyously, altaria dived straight for cacturne.

"Now, cacturne! Sucker punch!"

Cacturne's fist dug deep into altaria's left wing, but before any significant damage could be done, the scarecrow pokemon had been smothered on the ground, sending up twinkling sparks signifying the pixilation of the humming pokemon's return. Once altaria got off and removed cacturne's hat, the scarecrow pokemon was unconscious.

Ana smiled at the adorable yet powerful humming pokemon, reminding her of Fareeha in her childhood, accidentally knocking out her friends in martial arts class and immediately checking if they were all right.

"Cacturne is unable to battle. Lucio gains a point."

"Interesting taste in soprano music ya got there. Looks like you got the hot hand for now. Go, tyranitar!"

The armor pokemon lumbered onto the battlefield once more. This time, Mccree had to make full use of his star pokemon to achieve victory. His metal arm had been made a long time ago, but had recently been fitted with a key stone, just for use in moments like this.

"It's high noon, tyranitar. Mega evolve."

Tyranitar roared as the spines on its shoulders elongated, its tail becoming more pronged and its chest armor perforating, exposing its seething inner core.

"Go at it, altaria! Return!"

"Dodge with dragon dance!"

As bulky as the armor pokemon was, tyranitar managed to avoid altaria's flailing arms and tails with mystic, frentic movements. Altaria screeched in frustration, feigning with its tails and then tackling tyranitar in the chest. Gathering light in its right wing, altaria attempted to nail the armor pokemon in the eyes, but was stopped by tyranitar's powerful fist.

"'Scuse us, partner. Ice punch!"

Ice spread over tyranitar's fists, creeping onto altaria's clouds. The humming pokemon screeched in pain and shock, unable to detach itself from the icy handhold.

"Stone edge!"

With a savage smile, tyranitar stomped the ground, causing blades of stone to rise and slam hard into altaria's body of clouds. The humming pokemon shrieked, blasted back by the sharpened rocks.

Lucio rushed to his pokemon's side, worried to see multiple puncture wounds on altaria's chest. Lucio noticed the sky getting darker, looking up, finding only tyranitar plummeting down, a ring of sharpened stones levitating around it.

"Draw!"

The EDM musician dashed out of the way, commanding altaria to do the same. A hail of sharpened rocks came crashing down, altaria barely managing to get airborne and avoid the shower with a few more minor injuries.

"Plan B, then. Crunch!"

The armor pokemon changed course, mouth wide open and fangs glowing white, heading straight for the humming pokemon. Despite all its injuries, altaria managed to veer aside, using its tails to snare tyranitar around the outstretched neck. The armor pokemon was caught severely off guard, and slammed harshly into the ground below, forming a crater.

"Finish him, hyper voice!"

Altaria inhaled sharply, before blasting a high soprano note at the grounded tyranitar.

"Protect yourself! Stone edge shield!"

Summoning more rocks, tyranitar formed a large, domed, spiky-edged hield above itself, absorbing the attack. Altaria kept the note going, closing in on the armor pokemon and trying different angles to drop tyranitar's guard.

"Wait for it…"

Altaria suddenly veered to tyranitar's left, attempting to stun its opponent.

"Go for its left wing, now!"

Tyranitar suddenly dropped its guard, slamming its shield's spined edge into altaria's left wing. Surprisingly, altaria's left wing spontaneously combusted, the humming pokemon squealing in shock. Pressing its advantage, tyranitar crunched hard on the frayed wing, twisting its head to remove the cloudy padding.

Spiky shells fell to the ground from altaria's mutilated wing, causing the crowd to gasp.

Jack was impressed. "Sticky seed bombs. A pretty good memento if you ask me."

Altaria screeched in pain, only to be silenced by an ice punch to the face. Unable to regain its flight, the humming pokemon was open to tyranitar's every follow-up, taking a crunch to the neck and another ice punch in the back as the armor pokemon drove it back further and further.

The plateau's edge wasn't far off now. Tyranitar landed another stone edge, riddling the grounded altaria's wings with jagged fractals.

"Finish it, tyranitar! This. Is. Overwatch!"

The armor pokemon readied a spartan kick, about to send the incapacitated altaria into the void. Out if the blue, altaria screeched with sudden defiance, snaring tyranitar's outstretched leg with its tails. In one swift motion, the armor pokemon was dragged off the plateau, roaring in surprise.

Tired but victorious, altaria got on its feet, trilling a cheerful tune. Lucio took a bow, and the audience went wild with applause.

"Tyranitar is unable to battle. Lucio gets the final point and wins the match."

Mccree was still in a state of shock of how he fell so easily to altaria's feign of weakness. Tyranitar's faint roaring was silenced with a dull thud, and Mccree recalled the armor pokemon into its pokeball.

"I'll deal with you later."

Lucio approached the Texan with a broad grin and an outstretched hand.

"Been a pleasure, Mccree. I loved the challenge your pokemon proved to be. You guys really do have that power in you."

Mccree hesitated, before shaking it warmly.

"Same here, Lucio. Mighty fine battle, partner. Would do that again anytime."

Up in the Champion's chamber, Gabriel facepalmed, sighing. Torbjorn was the first to go up and tease him.

"Looks like yer 'star pupil' just got beaten by a frog in skating wear! Don't worry, Gabe, we all know you're not a good teacher, or we would've all been wielding dual shotguns by now! How old fashioned would that be?"

Gabriel chuckled as he watched Lucio wallride around the seats, giving his fans hi-fives and signing autographs.

"I'll deal with him later."

*Later*

Mccree gulped down another shot of whiskey, pointing drunkenly.

"Nail the stone edge this time, tyranitar, go for the wings… Eh, want another shot, Gabe?"

Mccree's mega tyranitar, tired by repeated drunken orders to use stone edge, used ice punch instead. However, its opponent was alert, flying out of reach and blasting bursts of light at the armor pokemon from its 3 heads.

"Nah, any more and I'll be as drunk as you are. Hydreigon, flash cannon!"

Outside the bar, hydreigon's 3 heads converged their beams, landing a direct hit on tyranitar's seething core.

"Yknow, I kinda wanted to ask ya about your nightmares and stuff… you doing ok, boss?"

The friendly battle raged on outside, tyranitar, without a proper command, went wild, channeling the heat leaking from its core to land an improvised fire punch, grabbing hydreigon's left head in a deadlock.

"That ain't your concern, Jesse. It's getting worse, sure, and nightmares ain't a common thing for me, but maybe if you paid more attention to training, you would've won the battle today. I don't know, maybe getting piss drunk will magically put me to sleep."

Hydreigon retaliated violently, crunching on tyranitar's shoulder while blasting a dragon pulse at its flank with its free head.

Mccree giggled girlishly. "Maybe I'll tell Angela about it."

All of a sudden, the battle outside calmed, and the two pokemon started roaring, not at each other, but at the waning moon. Puzzled, Gabriel was the first to speak.

"Well, looks like they've had enough for today. Back in, Hydreigon. And no, you will not tell doc about it."

Mccree laughed again, recalling tyranitar who squirmed restlessly.

"Watch me, partner."