When Donovan heard the words of Hank, his trusted aide and bodyguard, his expression changed slightly.
His narrow eyes flicked toward Aaron.
Seeing Aaron's calm expression, without the slightest trace of panic, Donovan's heart sank.
Does this kid really have some serious backing?
But when he thought of his own powerful backer, Donovan's expression returned to normal.
A trace of disdain appeared on his face as he said lightly,
"Hank... even if this kid has some impressive background, could it possibly be stronger than a Champion?"
Only then did Hank remember that Donovan's backer was a Champion-level Trainer.
One of Hualis's Ten Champions.
Hank finally relaxed slightly and said,
"You're right, Mr. Donovan."
"I was overthinking it."
"Hahahaha..."
Donovan exhaled a mouthful of smoke in high spirits and let out a loud laugh.
...
At that moment, Aaron narrowed his eyes slightly.
Looking down at Deputy Chief Harris, he said calmly,
"You called my Pokémon a bug?"
"And you said you were going to put it down?"
Aaron's voice was calm, but Deputy Chief Harris suddenly felt a powerful pressure lock onto him.
For a moment, Aaron seemed less like a young man and more like something far more dangerous, staring straight through him.
"Ah!"
Deputy Chief Harris instantly broke out in a cold sweat and let out a terrified cry.
His obese body toppled straight to the ground, and he stared at Aaron with a face full of fear.
A moment later, he came back to his senses.
Humiliation and rage surged straight to his head.
Deputy Chief Harris's face flushed crimson. He got to his feet and shouted at the Pokémon police officers under him,
"Open fire! Shoot him on sight!"
"This is rebellion!"
"He dared to attack the deputy chief of the Pokémon Police Department! Outrageous! Does the law mean nothing anymore?"
"This man released a Pokémon in the city to openly threaten the Pokémon police, and he attacked me. He's a terrorist!"
"Open fire and shoot him immediately!"
Click. Click. Click.
One by one, the Pokémon police officers thumbed off the safeties on their special-issue sidearms and trained their weapons on Aaron and the enormous Gyarados hovering above him.
These special-issue sidearms could cause serious damage to Pokémon.
Even Advanced-level Pokémon would be injured if they were hit.
At that moment, the onlookers and the old director widened their eyes, panic showing on their faces.
No one had expected this fat man to be so shameless, twisting the truth right in front of everyone.
He had directly pinned the crime of attacking the Pokémon police onto Aaron, even labeling him a terrorist.
The crowd hurriedly spoke up one after another.
"Young man... hurry and recall your Pokémon!"
"You can't fight people with power and connections."
"Don't shoot! He's still so young. He doesn't know any better!"
"Young man... hurry and recall it. Don't ruin your life over one moment of anger!"
"It's not worth throwing your future away for this!"
"That's right... stop now."
...
"Wait, don't shoot!"
The old director staggered out and shouted at the Pokémon police officers.
"You want us to move out, don't you?"
"Fine... we'll move out right now."
"Put the guns down, please..."
The old director's frail body stood in front of Aaron as he spoke to Donovan off to the side.
He knew their target this time was still him.
As long as he agreed to move out, everything could be reduced from a major incident into a small dispute, then swept away entirely.
He truly could not bear to see a young man in the prime of his life throw away his future for their children's home.
Seeing the old man agree to move, Deputy Chief Harris revealed a smug look.
In truth, he had only been using the situation to put on a show of authority.
If he really had to shoot a young man dead, he would not dare.
If the matter blew up, cleaning it up afterward would be a nightmare.
After all, there were so many witnesses, and some people were filming with their phones.
Even if he managed to smooth it over, it would still leave a stain on his career.
Who would do something that stupid?
"Grandpa Director... don't worry."
"They won't dare shoot."
Aaron smiled faintly at the old man and spoke calmly.
"You..."
The old director was just about to say something, but Aaron stopped him.
Aaron walked out calmly.
He looked at Deputy Chief Harris, Donovan, and the others, then said slowly,
"Do you know who you're pointing those guns at?"
"Hm?"
"Hahahaha..."
When Donovan and Deputy Chief Harris heard this, they could not help laughing.
Donovan looked at Aaron teasingly and said,
"Kid... I'll give you this. When it comes to bluffing, you've got some talent."
"Tell you what. Recall your Pokémon, apologize, and walk away. Do that, and we'll pretend today never happened."
"Hahahaha..."
Donovan took a puff from his cigar and laughed loudly at Aaron.
Aaron smiled faintly when he heard that and said calmly,
"I hope you can still laugh in a moment."
Then Aaron took a glittering golden medal out from his System backpack.
Several large words were clearly engraved on it.
Highest National Honor
Beneath them were several smaller words.
Recipient: Aaron
"Hm?"
Donovan frowned.
He had no idea what the thing was, and a mocking sneer spread across his face.
"What the hell is that?"
"Some kind of superhero transformation device?"
Donovan did not know what he was looking at.
But someone else did.
Deputy Chief Harris's tiny eyes suddenly widened.
He practically stumbled over himself as he scrambled over to Aaron, staring at the gleaming gold medal in Aaron's hand.
Cold sweat poured down his forehead like a burst pipe as he spoke in disbelief.
"The Highest National Honor Medal?"
"This... this is impossible!"
"You're so young... how could you have received the Highest National Honor Medal?"
"You're dead, kid..."
"You actually dared to forge the Highest National Honor Medal?"
Harris refused to believe it.
How could someone this young possibly have received the Highest National Honor Medal?
Besides, in all these years, there had been no news about this medal being awarded.
For a top national merit medal like this, Hualis would definitely have held a grand award ceremony.
But there had not been the slightest news.
So this medal had to be fake.
At that moment, Harris's brain went into overdrive. He transformed into a discount Sherlock Holmes and "solved the case" on the spot.
Harris raised the gun in his hand and aimed it straight at Aaron's head, shouting,
"Forging the Highest National Honor Medal..."
"Is a felony!"
"Punishable by death!"
Click!
He flicked off the safety.
He was about to shoot Aaron on the spot.
"Stop!"
"Anyone who touches him answers to me!"
At that tense moment, a deafening roar came from the sky.
...