The dust was quickly swallowed by the surrounding forest.
Once again, Sceptile had stopped Tyranitar's attack cold.
The massive wooden shield stood like a wall of steel, completely unmoved.
At this point, everyone had practically run out of ways to react to Aaron's Sceptile.
It was fast, powerful, and its defense was so absurd it barely made sense.
What was anyone else even supposed to do against something like that?
Pack up and go home?
Across the field, Quincy stared at the shield in disbelief.
Even Tyranitar's strongest attack had failed to break through.
Despair crept into his eyes as the color drained from his face.
"Am I really going to lose to a freshman...?"
He shook his head.
"No... No way."
Quincy refused to accept it.
Once word got out, he would become a laughingstock overnight.
Aaron took one look at him and knew the fight was already over.
Quincy's face had gone ashen, and whatever fighting spirit he had left was completely gone.
"Sceptile... that's enough."
A grin tugged at Aaron's mouth.
"Let's finish this in the flashiest—uh, most spectacular way possible."
Then his expression sharpened.
"Sage Art: Wood Release — Wood Human Technique!"
"Scep-tile!"
Green light flared in Sceptile's eyes.
With a low growl, it brought its hands together.
A tremendous surge of life energy erupted around its body.
Then, keeping its hands clasped, Sceptile drove them down against the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The battlefield convulsed.
The massive roots spread throughout the forest suddenly pulled back, exposing the earth beneath them.
Then a huge fissure tore open across the ground.
The rumbling only grew louder.
And what happened next was something everyone there would remember for the rest of their lives.
A thunderous roar erupted from deep underground.
It sounded like something ancient had awakened beneath the battlefield.
Boom!
A gigantic wooden arm burst from the fissure and dug its fingers into the earth.
A violent shockwave blasted outward in every direction.
Boom!
Another enormous hand emerged beside it and seized the ground.
Then came the head.
Broad shoulders followed.
A towering torso slowly rose from the depths.
Finally, the rest of the enormous figure hauled itself free.
A massive wooden dragon coiled around its waist raised its head and unleashed a deafening roar.
Then the golem itself straightened to its full height.
Dozens of meters tall, the wooden giant towered over the battlefield like a Titan.
It threw back its head and unleashed a thunderous roar of its own.
The force of the sound sent hurricane-like winds ripping across the arena.
The Sage Wood Human had entered the battlefield.
...
The instant the wooden giant emerged, everyone's minds went blank.
For several seconds, no one said a word.
Every eye remained fixed on the enormous figure dominating the battlefield.
The entire arena fell so silent that a pin drop would have sounded loud.
Even the administrators were frozen in shock.
One elderly official had somehow knocked his wig crooked and still had not noticed.
Then the viewing platform erupted into chaos.
"Holy crap... what the hell is that?"
"That's bullshit! There's no way that's legal—he has to be cheating!"
"What the hell... Is that thing supposed to be a god?!"
"No way! This guy's a freshman?! Someone report him—he's obviously hacking!"
"So this is what the number one Trainer on this year's Hidden Dragon Rankings can really do..."
"He's way stronger than last year's number one. No wonder he cleared the ninth floor and broke a record that had stood for thousands of years."
"With something like that on the field, who among the younger Trainers could possibly stop him?"
"There's no question anymore. He's the strongest young Trainer of this generation."
...
The towering construct dominated the battlefield like a wooden Titan, its sheer presence enough to silence the entire arena.
"This can't be..."
Quincy slowly looked up at the giant.
His blood ran cold.
"What the hell is that thing...?"
Several students from Classes 1 and 2 had already dropped to the ground, while the rest stood frozen in stunned silence.
All they could do was stare at Aaron.
Aaron, meanwhile, remained completely calm.
"Sceptile... finish it."
"Super Wood Human Barrage!"
His black trench coat snapped violently in the wind as he gave the command.
"Scep-tile!"
Sceptile stood atop the wooden giant's shoulder, dozens of meters above the ground.
Its cross-shaped pupils glowed with green-white light.
It gave a low growl.
In response, a fierce light ignited in the golem's eyes.
The wooden colossus raised both fists high above its head.
Then it brought them crashing down toward Tyranitar.
"Tyranitar! Protect!"
Quincy nearly buckled as he screamed the order.
Tyranitar was trembling too, but Quincy's shout snapped it back to its senses.
A transparent energy barrier immediately formed around its body.
Then the first fist came down.
BOOM!
The golem's fist crashed against the barrier like a siege hammer.
Then came the second.
BOOM!
One punch.
Two.
Three.
Then the blows came too fast to count.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The wooden colossus hammered away without pause.
Each impact shook the battlefield.
The ground cracked.
Chunks of earth collapsed inward.
Smoke and debris blasted into the air.
It looked less like a Pokémon battle and more like a full-scale missile barrage.
The thunderous impacts echoed across the battlefield.
...