BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
All data copied successfully.
A mechanical voice sounded from the main terminal.
Aotum, who had been close to losing his mind moments ago, immediately calmed down. His eyes sharpened as he pulled the data drive free, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
"Finally."
"You took long enough."
He carefully hid the drive on his body, then turned back to the surveillance monitors.
By now, Aaron's Pokémon had already wiped out nearly half of the army.
Only seven Pokémon were suppressing hundreds of enhanced Pokémon, all of them Gym-level or Champion-class. If Aotum had not been watching it with his own eyes, he never would have believed something like this was possible.
But it was happening right in front of him.
His expression darkened as he glared at Aaron on the screen.
"I never thought Hualis was hiding a monster like this."
"I have to bring this information back to Ransei."
"If that man isn't eliminated soon, he'll become a major threat."
Aotum clenched his teeth.
"Fine."
"Then I'll make things even worse for you."
He reached out and pressed another button.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Self-destruct mode activated.
Countdown initiated.
Sixty seconds remaining.
Evacuate immediately.
Red warning lights flooded the hidden chamber, and the alarms began screaming.
Aotum turned and left without hesitation.
Now that the secret had been exposed, there was no way he could stay in Hualis. His father had already arranged for people to meet him in Ocean City. As long as Aotum made it there, he could board a Corestone ship and leave the country.
Then he would be safe.
...
Outside the Corestone facility, lightning split the sky while the ground shook beneath the battlefield.
Rain poured down over the mountainside, washing the blood into dark red streams. Roots coiled across the broken earth, flames still burned in scattered patches, and thunder continued to hammer the battlefield from above.
The ground was littered with the corpses of the berserk Pokémon army.
It looked like hell after a storm.
Among Aaron's Pokémon, Snorlax was the only one seriously injured. The enemy could barely touch the others, so Snorlax had taken most of the attacks head-on.
In its giant Nika Form, Snorlax's attack and defense had risen dramatically, but its speed had dropped. Even with Observation Haki, there were too many attacks to avoid them all.
Aaron saw Snorlax panting heavily, wounds spread across its massive body, and immediately gave the order.
"Snorlax, Drums of Liberation!"
Drums of Liberation.
As long as the heartbeat continued, Snorlax would not fall.
Once activated, the move could restore its body and stamina to peak condition. It could only be used twice per day.
"SNOOOR-LAX!"
The massive Snorlax roared.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
A powerful heartbeat echoed from inside its body, deep and heavy like war drums.
White light radiated from Snorlax as its wounds closed in seconds. Its breathing steadied, its strength returned, and the white flames around its body surged even brighter.
"SNOOOR!"
Feeling power flood back into its body, Snorlax let out an excited cry and charged straight back into the battlefield.
Its fists blurred again.
Gum-Gum Gatling tore through the enemy ranks, smashing Pokémon into the blood-soaked ground one after another.
...
High above the battlefield, Jian and his team stared down in stunned silence.
Nearly half of the Pokémon army had already been wiped out.
By seven Pokémon.
And less than ten minutes had passed.
"This kid's Pokémon are insane..."
"Insane? I don't even know what I'm looking at anymore."
"Are those really all his?"
"One Pokémon like that would make a Trainer famous for life. He has seven."
"I'd settle for the dragon. Put me on that thing and I'm retiring happy."
"Keep dreaming. I'm taking the giant white Snorlax."
"You couldn't even afford its food."
"For a Snorlax like that? I'd find a way."
The officers looked at Aaron's Pokémon with open envy.
They were too strong.
Too cool.
Jian's mouth twitched when he heard them.
These idiots really had no survival instincts. They were joking about stealing Aaron's Pokémon like he wasn't a decorated national hero.
If the wrong person heard that, they would be lucky to get away with just a beating.
Jian shook his head helplessly.
Then—
BOOOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted from the Corestone facility.
The blast swallowed the entire building in an instant, and the thunderous roar rolled across the mountainside.
The Pokémon around the facility were immediately engulfed by the explosion.
Aaron's pupils contracted.
"Sceptile!"
"Sage Art: Wood Release: Hōbi Barrier!"
"Everything you've got!"