Surprises only lived up to their name when they caught you off guard.
When Xu Mu and his niece Xu Hong found Pancham, the valley's lord, everything seemed to be going according to plan.
"Rooar!"
[Humans, what are you doing in my territory?]
Pancham was enjoying some Combee honey with his two companions when two humans barged in.
Already bad-tempered, Pancham flared up at once.
"Nothing much. I just want a fight."
Xu Mu grinned and sent out three Pokémon.
"Charizard, you take Pancham."
"Slaking, Ursaring is yours."
"And Snorlax, you're fighting Beartic. Got it?"
Compared with Pancham, Ursaring and Beartic weren't as strong. One was an Early Master, while the other was at the peak of the Elite Four level.
Slaking should be fine. It was at the peak of the Elite Four level, so facing an Early Master Ursaring shouldn't be too much trouble.
After all, it had a Trainer backing it up. One minor rank wasn't a huge gap.
Snorlax, though, was in a tighter spot.
Snorlax was only a Mid-Stage Pseudo-Elite Four. To stand up to a Beartic at the peak of the Elite Four level, it would need a solid strategy.
Enough talk. Time for today's first battle: Pancham versus Charizard!
Charizard was now at the late Elite Four level. With Mega Evolution, it could just reach Early Master.
(The author was desperately trying to prove the power scaling hadn't broken!!)
"Roar!"
[So you're the Black-and-White Fatso I'm fighting?]
As usual, Charizard opened with trash talk!
Charizard picked its nose with its left hand, pointed dismissively with its right, and sneered at Pancham.
Pancham was stunned. You barged into my territory, and now you're mouthing off at me?
You really are a Charizard. Would it kill you not to spew something for once?
"Rooar!"
[Bastard,