Aaron walked over to the cash box.
Inside was the 200,000 prize, which Rick had deliberately prepared to stir up everyone's greed.
Aaron picked up the box, smiled faintly at Rick, and said,
"I'll gladly take this."
At that moment, Rick was already frozen in the ring, cold sweat covering his forehead.
His first reaction was to grab at the box in Aaron's hands and shout,
"No! You can't take that money!"
How could Rick possibly hand it over?
That was 200,000.
His entire fortune.
Some of it was even borrowed. He had never imagined that a human could actually beat a Pokémon.
Wait...
Humans couldn't beat Pokémon, could they?
Then this guy definitely isn't human.
A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Rick.
He looked at Aaron excitedly and shouted,
"I can't give you this money!"
"You cheated!"
"You're not human at all!"
"You're a Pokémon transformed into a human!"
The moment he said that, the crowd below froze.
A Pokémon transformed into a human?
Right...
That really was possible.
Otherwise, how could a clean-cut pretty boy beat that skinny monster?
The crowd immediately began discussing it. Some found it suspicious, while others thought Rick was just refusing to admit defeat and looking for an excuse not to pay.
Seeing the crowd start questioning Aaron's identity, Rick's face lit up.
Feeling smug, he continued,
"Think about it, everyone!"
"My fighter's a born monster!"
"He's been freakishly strong since he was a kid!"
"How could someone like him lose to some pretty boy?"
"This kid definitely isn't human!"
"I know there's a Pokémon called Ditto that can transform into humans."
"This kid must be one of those Pokémon!"
"He's the real scammer here!"
The more Rick talked, the more convinced he sounded.
He was really starting to believe his own bullshit.
Rick's "reasonable" explanation made many people in the crowd feel as if they had suddenly figured it all out, and they immediately started cursing at Aaron.
"Damn it. So he was a Pokémon transformed into a human. I knew that pretty boy couldn't beat him."
"Huh? Aren't you the guy who said he'd cut his dick off? Didn't you run away just now?"
"Bullshit. I went to get a knife. Look, I brought it back. I was about to do it, but then this guy turned out to be cheating us. He deserves to get exposed."
"Good thing you didn't cut it off yet. Otherwise, your dick would've suffered for nothing."
"Kid, hurry up and turn back into your real form. You've already been exposed."
"So it's Ditto. I've heard of that Pokémon. It really can transform into a human."
"Fuck. We almost got cheated out of 200,000 by this kid. This is fraud. Call the police!"
"Exactly! Call the police and let him rot in jail!"
...
The crowd below all started demanding that the police be called to punish Aaron.
The moment Rick heard "police," he froze.
He hurriedly waved his hands and said,
"Police? No, no, there's no need to call the police."
"I, Slick Rick, am a generous man."
"I'll give him a warning this time. But if there's a second time, I definitely won't let him off easy."
The crowd immediately began praising Rick, calling him a good person and a man with a big heart.
Aaron, who had been watching the whole performance from the side, suddenly burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha..."
Rick froze.
Then his face darkened.
"What are you laughing at?"
Aaron looked at him mockingly, then turned toward the crowd.
"You people really will believe anything, huh?"
"Watch closely."
Aaron swept his gaze across the crowd, then slowly walked over to the skinny teenager.
"What are you doing!?"
Rick's pupils shrank as a terrible feeling rose in his chest.
He shouted at Aaron, but it was already too late.
Aaron knocked the skinny teenager unconscious with one punch.
Then, under everyone's disbelieving gazes, the skinny teenager's body suddenly rippled and melted down into a soft, pink, dough-like Pokémon.
Ditto.
"..."
The entire arena fell silent.
Only then did everyone realize the truth.
The skinny teenager was the one transformed from a Pokémon.
Rick had been scamming them from the very beginning.
He had played everyone for fools, then nearly framed an actual human to avoid paying the prize.
Shame and anger flooded the crowd.
Everyone turned toward Rick, glaring at him like they wanted to tear him apart.
Rick was drenched in sweat, panic written all over his face as he stammered,
"Everyone... listen to me."
"I didn't know he was Ditto!"
But the furious crowd had no interest in hearing his excuses.
They surged forward and beat Rick so badly his teeth went flying.
"Aaaah!"
"Help!"
"Stop! You're gonna beat me to death!"
...