Aaron looked at Infernape's current status panel, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
Good.
Completely broken.
Just the way I like it.
Infernape's original Iron Fist Ability had become Super Saiyan Monkey.
This Ability was basically an upgraded fusion of Blaze and Iron Fist.
It fit perfectly with the Saiyan trait of getting stronger the harder they were pushed.
Every time Goku was on the verge of getting beaten to death, he would pull out some absurd new trump card.
Either he would unlock the next stage of Super Saiyan, or he would pin the enemy down with a Spirit Bomb and finish the fight in one shot.
In short, the worse a Saiyan got beaten, the more their potential was pushed out.
Then they turned around and wiped you off the map.
Who would have thought Infernape would inherit that trait too?
His potential had gone from Champion-class to Champion, which was within Aaron's expectations.
What he had not expected was that Super Saiyan 3 would only unlock at Champion-class level, and Super Saiyan 4 would not unlock until Champion level.
How damn frustrating.
Damn System.
Always locking skills behind progression.
It made him want to punt a Poochyena.
(Poochyena: I'm calling my lawyer!)
Still, for now, being able to activate Super Saiyan 2 was already ridiculously strong.
Even if a peak Gym-level Pokémon came along, Infernape could face it head-on.
No more nonsense.
Just throw hands.
Aaron then used the Kaio-ken Skill Card from his System backpack on Infernape.
[Skill Name: Kaio-ken]
[Proficiency: Mastery]
[Type: Fighting]
[Power: 144]
(Original 120, Mastery-level bonus ×1.2)
[Category: Physical]
[Description: Throws a tremendously powerful Kaio-ken punch, with a 30% chance to lower the enemy's Attack and Special Attack by 2 stages...]
Anything produced by the System was bound to be premium quality.
After Infernape learned Kaio-ken, it immediately reached Mastery-level proficiency.
Very nice.
Now Infernape finally had a proper Fighting-type skill.
Aaron had never liked Fighting-type moves like Close Combat, which lowered both defenses after use.
He was a cheater, after all.
His whole thing was high power with no drawbacks.
Otherwise, what kind of cheater would he be?
Next came choosing one of Infernape's skills to upgrade to Apotheosis level.
Aaron fell into thought once again.
Then a flash of determination crossed his eyes.
"Screw it... I'll turn him into One-Punch Monkey!"
"Give it to Kaio-ken!"
"120 power doubled is 240 power. One punch, one knockout!"
Aaron finally decided to upgrade the newly learned Kaio-ken to Apotheosis level.
"Ding~ Do you wish to raise Kaio-ken's proficiency to Apotheosis level?"
The System's voice rang in Aaron's mind.
Aaron immediately selected confirm.
"Ding~ Kaio-ken skill proficiency is being raised..."
"Ding~ Upgrade complete!"
"Ding~ Kaio-ken has reached Apotheosis-level proficiency. For detailed information, please check it yourself, Host."
The System's voice continued ringing in Aaron's ears.
Aaron's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly opened Kaio-ken's current information panel:
[Skill Name: Kaio-ken]
[Type: Fighting]
[Power: 240 (Power doubled at Apotheosis level)]
[Level: Apotheosis]
[Category: Physical]
[Cast Speed: Instant (Priority +1)]
[Description: Throws a tremendously powerful Kaio-ken punch, with a 30% chance to lower the enemy's Attack and Special Attack by 2 stages...]
[Special Effect: After hitting the enemy, has a 100% chance to lower the enemy's Attack and Special Attack by 2 stages while raising the user's Attack and Special Attack by 2 stages. Can stack up to 3 times...]
[Flavor Text: Have you ever been bullied by a fist? Today, you will.]
...
A 240-power Fighting-type skill.
It had arrived.
Add Infernape's Super Saiyan Monkey Ability, then activate Super Saiyan mode, and the result was a punch with enough power to tear through anything in its path.
One-Punch Monkey.
No one suited that title better than Infernape.
Aaron was extremely satisfied.
Not only could Kaio-ken lower the enemy's Attack and Special Attack, it could also raise Infernape's own Attack and Special Attack.
As expected of a cheat skill.
This was exactly the kind of shameless effect he wanted.
Aaron walked out of the Fighting Gym in complete satisfaction.
Then he rushed straight to the Fighting Tournament registration area, registered himself, and naturally wrote Infernape's name as his designated Fighting-type Pokémon.
Each contestant could only use one Pokémon, and it had to be Fighting-type.
That was the rule of the Fighting Tournament.
"Hello. Your registration has been completed. The tournament will begin tomorrow morning at 9:00 at the Pokémon Fighting Gym."
"Please remember to arrive on time."
The young woman in charge of registration gave Aaron a sweet smile as she spoke.
"Okay. Thank you."
Aaron nodded slightly, then turned and left.
...
Aaron walked down the street and spotted a Pokémon TM shop.
A thought stirred in his mind.
Should he buy a few TMs for Infernape?
He still hadn't bought Frog Boss's Rest TM either.
Might as well get them all at once.
Aaron walked into the TM shop.
"Welcome, sir. What TMs are you looking for?"
As soon as Aaron pushed the door open and entered, a young woman walked over and asked him with a smile.
"Uh..."
Aaron thought for a moment, then said,
"Do you have Rest, Swords Dance, and Rock Tomb?"
"Yes, sir. Please follow me."
When the young woman heard that, the smile on her face grew even brighter.
She led Aaron to a TM cabinet and took out the three TM discs he needed.
"Sir, these are the TM discs you asked for."
The young woman smiled as she spoke.
Aaron glanced at them, then asked,
"How much?"
The young woman pointed at the three TM discs and said,
"The Rest TM is relatively cheap. It's only 200,000."
"The Rock Tomb TM is 600,000, and the Swords Dance TM is a little more expensive at 1,000,000."
"That comes to 1.8 million in total."
"I can give you a discount and make it 1.75 million. How does that sound?"
The young woman was clearly used to this. She calculated the price instantly.
Aaron nodded and did not haggle.
He simply said with absolute confidence,
"Swipe the card."
The young woman's eyes lit up at once, and a trace of joy flashed through them.
If this sale went through, she would get a solid commission.
She really had not expected that this teenager in cheap clothes would be so rich and decisive.
He was handsome too, and loaded.
The young woman's gaze toward Aaron carried a faint hint of interest.
"Of course, sir."
The young woman reached out and brushed Aaron's hand as she took his bank card.
Aaron remained expressionless.
Faced with her teasing, he stayed completely unmoved.
The young woman felt a little disappointed.
Another clueless pretty boy.
Then she took Aaron's card and went to swipe it.
...