"Holy shit... unless I'm seeing things, that Greninja's aura is only Elite-class, right?"
"That's right... it's definitely an Elite-class Pokémon! And it's actually keeping up with a Gym-level Pokémon. That's ridiculous."
"So this kid is that young, but he's already an Elite-class Trainer? Maybe even close to Gym-level?"
"Hiss..."
"It just hit me... this guy looks around eighteen or nineteen, and he's already an Elite-class Trainer."
"I'm in my thirties, and I only just became an Elite-class Trainer. Feels like I wasted half my life training a Poochyena."
(Poochyena: Huh!? What did I do!?)
"As expected of someone who could make Champion Quentin lower his head and apologize. He really is a monster."
"I keep feeling like he looks familiar... but I just can't remember where I've seen him before."
"Hahaha... don't try to act close now. I didn't hear you saying he looked familiar earlier."
...
Everyone was shocked by Aaron's strength and started discussing it among themselves.
At that moment, the battle between Greninja and Infernape was still ongoing.
When Infernape saw the arcs of electricity flickering around Greninja, it immediately grinned.
It knew Greninja had been paralyzed.
Right now, Greninja was easy prey, ready to be beaten down.
A paralyzed Pokémon had its Speed halved and a 25% chance of being unable to use its moves, making it an extremely nasty status condition.
"Infer... nape!"
Infernape let out a smug cry.
Then a clean white glow lit up around its fist, and its figure turned into a streak of white light as it shot toward the paralyzed Greninja.
Mach Punch, activated.
When Aaron saw the smile on Infernape's face, the corner of his mouth curved slightly.
He smiled faintly and said to Greninja,
"Greninja, transfer the paralysis to a clone."
"Then use Rasengan again."
"Grenin."
Greninja's dead-fish eyes widened.
The electric arcs around its body vanished in an instant.
At the same time, strange sparks suddenly flickered over one of the Greninja clones nearby.
This was the special effect of Apotheosis-level Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu.
It could transfer status conditions from the main body to a clone.
Once again, the absurd power of this cheating skill showed itself.
Immediately afterward, a pale blue glow lit up around Greninja.
Between its hands, a spinning ball of energy quickly condensed.
A pale blue sphere, rotating at high speed, formed in its palms.
Rasengan.
When Infernape suddenly saw the electricity around the black frog disappear, its eyes nearly popped out of its head.
"Nani!?"
It let out a startled cry.
That black frog had clearly been covered in electricity just now.
How had it vanished all of a sudden?
Was this cheating?
Infernape's few remaining brain cells were not enough to process what had just happened.
But Greninja's Rasengan was already closing in fast.
Infernape could only grit its teeth and keep charging forward.
BOOOOM!
Infernape's Mach Punch and Greninja's Rasengan slammed violently into each other.
A massive explosion rang through the entire forest.
Rasengan was treated as a Flying-type skill, while Mach Punch was a Fighting-type move.
Flying was super effective against Fighting.
The result was obvious.
Amid the rolling smoke, a white-and-pink figure was blasted straight back.
"Infer... nape...!"
It was Infernape.
Infernape let out a pained cry as its body flew backward several meters and crashed heavily onto the cold ground.
Its injuries were serious, and it was panting hard.
But relying on its astonishing willpower, it still tried to stand again.
A hint of appreciation flashed through Aaron's eyes.
Then he said to Greninja again,
"Finish it. Main body and clones, all use Water Shuriken."
"Grenin!" ×21
Every Greninja on the field cried out in unison.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Countless blue shuriken flew toward Infernape like bullets.
Infernape's eyes widened.
Damn it... I'm already this badly hurt, and you're still jumping me?
The Water Shuriken were simply too fast.
On top of that, Infernape was badly injured and had no strength left to dodge.
It could only fall on the spot, full of resentment.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Countless Water Shuriken struck it directly.
Infernape stared weakly up at the sky, as if accusing someone of having absolutely no sense of fair play.
So this was how you bullied a monkey...
Then its body collapsed to the ground. Its eyes turned into spirals, and it completely lost the ability to battle.
"Go... Poké Ball!"
A faint smile appeared on Aaron's face. He took out a new Poké Ball and threw it at Infernape.
Infernape was pulled straight inside.
The Poké Ball shook slightly on the ground.
Click!
A clear sound rang out.
Infernape had officially been caught.
Because this was Aaron's seventh Pokémon, the Poké Ball instantly vanished and entered the System space, where it would be stored by the System.
Aaron could take it out at any time.
Infernape... I caught it!
Aaron made a joyful declaration in his heart, but his face remained calm and expressionless as he steadily left the area.
All that remained was the dumbfounded crowd.
For a long time, none of them could recover.
...
"Ding~ Congratulations, you have completed the quest: Capture Infernape!"
"Ding~ Congratulations, you have received the reward: Infernape may choose one skill to upgrade to Apotheosis level, Pokémon Candy (Elite) ×1..."
On the way back, the System notification rang beside Aaron's ear.
The quest was complete.
Aaron then gave the Pokémon Candy to Snorlax.
Snorlax's level also reached Elite Peak.
With Infernape's addition, his Pokémon were now divided into three tiers.
Gym (Early Stage): Infernape.
Elite (Peak Stage): Greninja, Snorlax, Charizard.
Elite (Late Stage): Gyarados, Sceptile, Beedrill.
Before he knew it, he already had seven powerful Pokémon.
Any one of them would be enough to shock the entire country.
Aaron's heart filled with pride.
"Ding~ Please choose a skill for Infernape to advance to Apotheosis level as soon as possible."
"Please stop getting carried away, Host."
The corner of Aaron's mouth twitched slightly.
Damn System.
You really know how to ruin a moment.
...