New Kind of Evolution, Part 1

Incineroar learned the best named ability Pokemon games ever had, bulk up- and he's using it for the best possible reasons! Thanks for joining us all throughout 2021, hope your holidays were merry and bright, and Happy New Year, folks!

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Incineroar sneered, growling slightly as he glanced at the crowd on the other side of the stadium door. There was no way around it- the stadium was nowhere close to being full. In the Pokemon realm, Incineroar- Cin to his friends, Cindy to those who get their face punched in- was one of the biggest celebrities, the most famous luchador wrestler, someone so-called trainers would kill to have working for them. Or at least, that's how it used to be. Now, there was that little nerd, Rowlet, that twig, Cinderace, and- the biggest bane to Incineroar- the new rockstar, Rillaboom. Flames licked at the red and black feline's claws just thinking about that big, stupid ape. He pushed the thoughts aside, though- he had a fight to win.

But even in the ring, once his refuge, Incineroar couldn't get away from the thought he was being overshadowed. The other wrestler, a Machamp, was giving him more trouble than he expected, and then one trainer in the audience shouted at the feline.

"Hey! Incineroar, quit pussy-footing around! Rillaboom would've drummed that Machamp out of the ring by now!"

Incineroar felt his eye twitch. He roared, and punched Machamp in the face, hard enough to make his opponent swoon. He stormed for the announcer's mike and snatched it out of his hand. "You wanna come up here and say that to my face, chico?" Incineroar snarled. "I don't give a fuck- I'll face any pokemon in the ring, and if Rilla's man enough to do it, I'll beat him like a cheap drum!"

"...I'll beat him like a cheap drum! I'll beat him like a cheap drum!"

"Yeah, I get it, Mac, I get it," Incineroar snapped. The cat was now pouting, sitting across from his agent, Machoke. The veteran of the pokemon sporting world glanced at his feline charge, sighing heavily as he put the remote down.

"Cin," Mac began. "That little outburst is getting big numbers. It sounds like you were issuing a challenge, calling Rillaboom out."

"Maybe I was!" the feline snapped.

The other pokeman gave the wrestler a level look. "Are you sure about that? Because we can back down now before this gets out of hand."

"Mac!" Incineroar leapt to his feet, pounding his fist on the table. "I am tired of seeing my fans think I'm over the hill compared to a musical monkey! Lemme at him, and do what I do best! Book the fight! Get him on the phone!"
"I can't do that, Cin," Mac sighed.

"Don't you wimp out on me!"

The machoke held up his hand. "I can't, because he's already here." He leaned across the desk, clicking a button on his intercom. "Send in Rilla."

The door to Mac's office was thrown open, and Incineroar's tail swished nervously as the ground shook- Incineroar was tall, broad-shouldered, and packed with dense, athletic muscle. And he was absolutely dwarfed by Rillaboom. The hulking, ape-like pokemon was packed with dense, heavy muscle. He loomed over Incineroar, his arms thicker than Cin's waist. He slicked his green mane back, glancing down at the cat with a smirk.

"So," Rilla rumbled in a deep voice. "Wanna fight, pussycat?"

"I- uh- woah," Incineroar gasped, backing off to take in the huge pokemon.

Rilla smirked wider, whipping out his phone. "Uh-oh, Rilla fans- looks like Cindy's roar here is way worse than his bite."

"What- are you- are you recording this?" Incineroar replied.

"Nah, streaming!" Rilla held up his phone's camera. "Live to my Poker feed."

"Your what?" Incineroar growled, flames teasing at his tail and fingers. "Okay, you know what, Rilla? You know how King Kong ends? That's- that's going to be you! Falling off the skyscraper, splat- that's you."

Rillaboom scoffed. "Aren't luchador wrestlers supposed to be good at smack talk?"

"I will see you in the ring!" Incineroar roared, one of Mac's office plants bursting into flames as the feline pokemon stomped out of the room.

It took Incineroar about ten minutes after he left his agent's office before he realized his mistake- Rillaboom could pound him into next week, based on his size. He needed to close that gap, and he needed to close it fast. Evolution was the first thought, but no- he was Incineroar, he was the best there was- there was nothing past him. Right? There had to be a way for him to increase his power.

"Wait. Wait." Incineroar stopped, thinking to himself. "What type of Pokemon is Rillaboom?" He rushed for the bulbapedia, and let out a triumphant roar. "Grass! Alright- alright. Fire beats Grass- all I have to do is…" He glanced at his fingers, flexing them to summon a few sparks. "Feed my fire."

Incineroar spent days researching what could build up a fire pokemon, going for the types of articles Trainers used. He kept coming back to the same thing- charcoal. Maddeningly, no articles told him how to use charcoal. "Charcoal held by fire-type pokemon will increase their power…" he murmured, reading word for word. "Well how does that work?" He shook his head- if there wasn't anything else, this was his best bet. He placed an order for dozens of bags, and hoped he would learn what to do along the way.

When he got his massive order of charcoal a day later, the feline was left staring at the small hill of charcoal. Grabbing a nugget of it in his hand, he experimented- just holding it didn't seem to do anything. Crushing it just got coal dust in his eyes. He was getting agitated- his match with Rillaboom was only days away, and he wasn't any stronger, and he had just wasted hundreds of dollars in charcoal. Losing his temper, he unleashed his fury swipes, swinging madly at the charcoal, each hit tinged with fire. The flames ignited, and the charcoal was starting to burn- it didn't matter to Incineroar, but with so much flammable material surrounding him, he was going to burn a crater in his own yard. But as the flames licked at his body, he began to feel more energized- and, more importantly, stronger.

Bathed in flame, Incineroar's arms tensed, and he was struck by inspiration- instinctively, he had unlocked a new ability; bulk up. Incineroar smiled toothily, breathing in the fire, letting it scorch against his body. The flames grow higher, and Incineroar grew bigger. The feline pokemon breathed in, his chest inflating, but never receding. His arms surged, biceps swelling up like balloons. His legs cracked the ground beneath him, thighs swelling out and bulging, massive, striped pillars rolling off one another. His champion's belt strained against the thick, brick-sized abs carving themselves out of his expanded torso, and his immense back flared out like wings.

The wrestler roared, bringing his augmented arms in to flex, biceps grinding against his chest, the ground cracking in his wake. This was more like it- and he couldn't wait to see the look on Rillaboom's face.