Aaron ignored the whispers around him.
He turned and walked up to Zoroark, giving it a faint smile.
"Zoroark... you can go."
"You're free now."
There was sincerity and pity in Aaron's eyes as he looked at Zoroark.
For a Pokémon to meet a Trainer like that was truly tragic.
A Trainer could have many Pokémon, but to a Pokémon, its Trainer could be its whole world.
"Zoro..."
Zoroark's eyes grew moist.
It gazed deeply at Aaron, as if trying to carve his image into memory forever.
Then it bowed deeply to him, let out a quiet cry, and with a few quick leaps, disappeared into the forest.
A faint smile appeared on Aaron's face as he murmured to himself,
"I hope you find a Trainer who truly cares about you."
After settling Zoroark's matter, Aaron's expression turned serious.
He turned toward the Shiny Infernape quietly watching him, a burning light flashing through his eyes.
"Infernape... I want to catch you."
"Will you accept my challenge?"
Just then, the System's voice suddenly rang out.
"Ding~ Congratulations, you have triggered a quest: Capture the Monkey King."
"Look at this guy's powerful build, those flashy Shiny red limbs, that overflowing style. How could you possibly miss a Monkey King this cool?"
"Capture Infernape to complete the quest."
"Quest reward: Infernape may choose one skill to upgrade to Apotheosis level, Pokémon Candy (Elite) ×1..."
A faint smile appeared on Aaron's face.
By now, Infernape's injuries and stamina had already recovered. The flame on its head burned fiercely, clearly showing that it was in excellent condition.
When Infernape heard Aaron's words, fighting spirit flashed in its eyes.
It cried out at Aaron.
"Infer... nape!"
Then it nodded and took an attacking stance, signaling for Aaron to come at it.
Aaron smiled faintly and said to Greninja beside him,
"Frog Boss... I'll leave this to you."
"Grenin."
Greninja nodded coldly.
It walked in front of Aaron, staring at the Infernape opposite it with its usual dead-fish eyes.
When the surrounding crowd saw that Aaron was about to capture this powerful Infernape, those who had been about to leave stopped in their tracks again.
They wanted to see just how strong this mysterious teenager really was, the one who had made a Champion lower his head and apologize.
...
At that moment, the battle began.
Infernape launched the first attack.
"Infer... nape!"
Infernape let out a low growl. A dense white glow suddenly lit up around its right fist.
Its body turned into a streak of red and white light as it rushed straight at Greninja.
Mach Punch, activated.
As expected of a Gym-level Pokémon, its momentum was on a completely different level from an Elite-level Pokémon. Even Aaron felt a faint pressure from it.
"Greninja... dodge with Quick Attack!"
Aaron did not choose to clash head-on with Infernape.
He was not stupid.
Infernape was a Gym-level Pokémon, and this Infernape's Attack was absurdly high.
On top of that, Fighting-type moves were super effective against Greninja.
Going head-to-head right now would just be reckless.
"Grenin!"
Greninja let out a low cry.
Its figure instantly turned into a black flash and vanished from where it stood, dodging Infernape's Mach Punch.
Infernape's pupils narrowed slightly.
It had not expected this black frog to be so fast, fast enough to dodge what should have been a decisive strike.
Thanks to Quick Attack's special effect, Greninja's Speed had already risen by two stages.
It was even faster now.
"Infer... nape!"
Seeing that Mach Punch had missed, Infernape immediately attacked again.
It opened its mouth and sprayed countless Embers at Greninja, like a fire-breathing monkey.
"Greninja... use Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Aaron's voice quickly sounded beside Greninja's ear.
"Grenin."
Greninja gave a low, muffled cry and brought its hands together.
In an instant, twenty shadow clones appeared around it.
"Grenin!" ×20
The shadow clones cried out in unison.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Infernape's Embers struck one of the shadow clones directly.
The clone instantly turned into white smoke and scattered.
"Shadow clones, use Work Up!"
"Greninja... use Rasengan."
Aaron's calm voice drifted over.
"Grenin!"
Greninja's true body let out a low growl.
A pale blue glow lit up around it. Pale blue energy quickly gathered between Greninja's hands, forming a massive, rapidly spinning sphere of energy.
Then it slammed the Rasengan fiercely toward Infernape.
At the same time, the clones had already finished using Work Up.
Both offensive stats instantly rose by +6, and the boost was immediately transferred to Greninja's main body.
VMMMMM...
A terrifying aura suddenly surged out of Greninja's body, even stronger than Infernape's.
This was the terror of Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu at Apotheosis proficiency.
"Infer...!"
Feeling the terrifying aura radiating from Greninja, Infernape's pupils shrank slightly.
Electricity suddenly flashed around its body.
CRACKLE!
A fist wrapped in lightning slammed fiercely into Greninja's Rasengan.
Thunder Punch, activated.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
BOOOOM!
The instant Greninja's Rasengan collided with Infernape's Thunder Punch, dazzling electricity burst outward.
A massive explosion rang through the entire forest.
Thick smoke rolled out like a missile had detonated.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
A black figure and a red figure leapt out of the center of the explosion at the same time.
They were none other than Greninja and Infernape.
BZZT... BZZZT...
Greninja did not seem badly injured, but arcs of electricity flickered around its body.
It was clearly paralyzed.
What terrible luck.
Thunder Punch only had around a 30% chance of paralyzing the opponent, yet Greninja had actually been hit with it.
As for Infernape opposite it, its body bore injuries from the explosion.
It panted softly, clearly having suffered from that energy clash as well.
The surrounding crowd was already completely stunned.
Whether it was Greninja's abnormal speed, or the fact that it could clash head-on with a Gym-level Infernape despite only being Elite-level without falling behind, both left everyone deeply shocked.