People generally did not like messing with the Primeape Territory.
It was only now that Eric truly understood why. No, it wasn't because of their overwhelming strength, nor was it because they employed brilliant, pack-hunting tactics.
It was because these Pokémon were incredibly, mind-numbingly irritating!
Even after watching Poliwrath casually swat away their vanguard and Haunter melt the ground beneath their feet with corrosive sludge, the Primeapes didn't retreat. Their self-preservation instincts were completely overridden by pure, unadulterated anger. They just shrieked, beat their chests, and charged forward like furry, raging torpedoes.
Worse, their shrieking acted like a beacon. More and more Primeapes swung down from the canopy, their eyes bloodshot as they mindlessly threw themselves into the fray.
"Looks like they really want to serve as targets for your training," Eric said, his voice completely failing to hide his mounting irritation.
He unclasped his third Poké Ball. "Fearow, get out here. Aerial Ace. Let's thin the herd."
Fearow materialized with a sharp, eager cry. She immediately took to the sky, using her impressive mobility to weave through a barrage of wildly inaccurate Rock Throws and Cross Chops. She folded her wings, initiating a series of rapid, hit-and-run Aerial Aces that sent the frenzied apes tumbling into the dirt like bowling pins.
Eric casually leaned against a tree trunk, watching his team systematically dismantle the monkey army.
But the noise was deafening. The shrieking of the Primeapes mixed with the furious, heavy roars coming from the opposite side of the clearing.
The Ursaring army had arrived.
Dozens of massive, seven-foot-tall bears stomped into the clearing, their fangs bared as they locked eyes with their sworn enemies.
Eric immediately called, "Poliwrath, Fearow, Haunter! Fall back. Let them fight each other."
Eric had no intention of fighting a two-front war for absolutely no reason. He grouped up with his Pokémon, intending to slip away into the shadows while the two tribes tore each other apart.
But as Poliwrath stepped back to rejoin Eric, an Ursaring charged straight at them and aimed a Slash directly at Poliwrath's back.
Poliwrath didn't even turn around. He simply shifted his weight, raising a fighting-energy-covered gloved hand to parry the heavy strike, the impact creating a dull thud.
Eric stopped walking.
He looked at the Ursaring. Then he looked at the Primeapes, who were now indiscriminately throwing rocks at both the bears and Eric's team.
"..."
Eric closed his eyes, taking a slow, deep breath.
Over the past few weeks, he had gone through many incidents that made him feel powerless. In all of those, he had been forced to act calm, collected, and relentlessly pragmatic just to survive.
And while he did do that for survival, all of it had been penting up inside him.
And now, a bunch of overgrown teddy bears and angry monkeys wouldn't even let him walk away in peace.
Eric opened his eyes. The pragmatic, cautious survivor vanished, replaced by a teenager who desperately needed to blow off some steam.
"That's it," Eric said, his voice dropping into a dangerously calm register. "Everyone is going down."
"Rrath!"
"Kekeke!"
"Fearow!"
His Pokémon instantly sensed his shift in mood. They didn't hesitate. They were battle maniacs, after all.
"Fearow, Poliwrath. You take the Ursarings. Break their lines," Eric commanded. "Haunter. You have the Primeapes. Drown them."
The clearing erupted into a beautifully chaotic, completely one-sided curb stomp.
Poliwrath and Fearow became a flawless tag team. Fearow used Tailwind, blowing a gale-force wind that sped up Poliwrath's movements, which was further sped up when he used Rain Dance. The muscular fighting-type danced through the heavy, lumbering swings of the bears, delivering precise, devastating Brick Breaks that dropped them one by one. Whenever an Ursaring tried to gang up on him, Fearow would dive from the sky, landing a dizzying Drill Peck right on their heads.
On the other side of the battlefield, Haunter was having the time of his life.
He stayed strictly within his Poison-type energy training, but the sheer volume of targets made it incredibly satisfying. He zipped through the trees, spitting rapid-fire Toxics and summoning massive waves of bubbling Sludge that completely bogged down the shrieking apes.
Through it all, Eric stood calmly near the edge of the clearing.
Gardevoir hovered gracefully in front of him, her eyes glowing with a soft, pink light. She wasn't fighting, but she had recovered enough to summon a sturdy Light Screen and Reflect barrier. Any stray rocks or errant elemental attacks that flew toward Eric, Ralts, or Growlithe harmlessly bounced off the invisible walls.
Ralts watched the absolute carnage with wide eyes, shocked at the brutality, while Growlithe barked enthusiastically, cheering Poliwrath on.
Gardevoir glanced back at Eric and offered a gentle, amused smile. To her, Eric was always calm and cautious, not one to act on his impulse like this.
After ten minutes of uninterrupted beatdowns, the clearing was littered with groaning, unconscious Pokémon.
But the commotion had finally drawn out the heavyweights.
The earth shook as, from the northern treeline, an absolutely massive Primeape, its fur bristling with raw Fighting-type energy, dropped into the clearing. It was covered in deep, jagged scars.
From the southern treeline, an equally massive Ursaring stepped out, leaning heavily on one leg but radiating a terrifying, furious aura. It shared similar, matching scars.
The two Territory Leaders had arrived.
```
Pokémon: Primeape (Leader)
Level: 42
Type: Fighting
Potential: Deep Green
Pokémon: Ursaring (Leader)
Level: 43
Type: Normal
Potential: Deep Green
```
Both were Advanced-level Pokémon.
The Ursaring Leader scanned the battlefield. Seeing dozens of its tribesmen unconscious on the ground, its eyes narrowed. But recognizing the sheer power radiating from Eric's team, the bear hesitated. It was a seasoned veteran; it knew when a battle was a lost cause.
The Primeape Leader, however, was not burdened by the concept of 'thinking'.
Seeing its fallen brethren, the ape's eyes rolled back in pure, unadulterated rage. It let out an ear-splitting shriek, its body glowing with blinding, white-hot Fighting-type energy.
Close Combat.
It completely ignored the Ursaring Leader and charged straight at Eric, moving with the terrifying, explosive speed of an Advanced-level brawler.
Eric didn't flinch. He didn't even take his hands out of his pockets.
He just looked up at the grinning ghost hovering above him.
"Haunter," Eric said casually. "You can use your Ghost-type energy now. Shadow Ball."
"Haunt!"
Haunter let out a roar of absolute, unrestrained joy. Having been forced to rely on his weaker Poison-type energy all day, the release of his Quasi-Grade 5 Ghost-type energy was like a dam breaking.
The temperature in the clearing instantly plummeted below freezing.
A massive, hyper-condensed sphere of pitch-black, swirling ghost energy materialized between his hands in a fraction of a second.
He casually shot it forward.
The Shadow Ball met the charging Primeape Leader perfectly in the center of the clearing.
KABOOOOOOM!
The resulting explosion was deafening. A massive shockwave tore the remaining grass from the earth. The Advanced-level Primeape Leader, who had been charging with the fury of a thousand suns, was instantly swatted out of the air like a mildly annoying fly.
It crashed through three consecutive oak trees before embedding itself into a boulder, completely and utterly unconscious.
One shot.
The clearing went dead silent.
The few remaining conscious Primeapes stared at their invincible leader, who had just been deleted from the battlefield in a single move, snapping them out of their rage for a moment.
Eric turned his head, his calm, indifferent eyes locking onto the scarred Ursaring Leader standing on the other side of the clearing.
The massive, Advanced-level bear looked at the crater where the Primeape Leader used to be. It looked at the grinning, terrifying ghost hovering above Eric.
Slowly, carefully, the Ursaring Leader took a step backward, raising its paws in a very clear, universal gesture of surrender.
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