As a gentle breeze swept across the battlefield, the dust slowly began to settle.
A lone figure stood upright before the crowd.
Dark-skinned. Dead-fish eyes.
It was none other than Aaron's Greninja.
Not far away, a crimson figure lay sprawled in a deep crater like a slaughtered chicken, its eyes spinning as it slipped into unconsciousness.
Completely unable to battle.
The once-invincible gamecock…
had fallen just like that.
For a moment, the entire Pokémon Battle Arena sank into an eerie silence.
No one spoke.
You could hear a pin drop.
"Hisssss…"
A collective intake of breath rippled through the stands.
Everyone stared at the scene below in utter disbelief.
Blaziken—its speed pushed to the absolute limit, its physical attack doubled—had actually been defeated!?
And by a Pokémon at Advanced?
Was this some kind of joke!?
Shock and confusion were written all over the spectators' faces.
"Gulp…"
The sound of people swallowing echoed clearly through the silent arena.
Then the whispers erupted:
"My eyesight's terrible—can someone tell me what just happened down there? I swear I just saw Fire Chicken drop like it was sent to the slaughter!!"
"Bro, you're not imagining it! The chicken really went down…"
"Holy crap!!"
"How did Fire Chicken go from strutting around like a boss to eating dirt that fast!?"
"I wanna know too! Maybe the frog was even faster!?"
"This ending came out of nowhere—I can't even process it!!"
"You can't process it? I bet Rowan's taking it even worse…"
...
In the main spectator section,
Rowan shot to his feet, eyes wide, disbelief written all over his face.
His mouth hung open as he gripped the armrests so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?"
This was beyond absurd.
Rowan had never imagined things would flip so suddenly. Just moments ago, he had been grinning like an idiot.
And now, in the blink of an eye, everything had come crashing down.
His heart sank straight to the bottom.
For a long moment, he couldn't even react.
Beside him, Richard was the complete opposite. His whole body trembled with excitement as he burst into laughter.
"Good!"
"Excellent… Hahaha!!"
"That's the kind of person I back!!"
Then he turned to Rowan with open mockery.
"Little Rowan… I told you not to celebrate too early. So? Got slapped in the face, didn't you?"
"Hahahahaha…"
"Never thought you'd see this day, huh?"
The tables had completely turned. Rowan and Richard had switched places.
Rowan's face darkened like an incoming storm. He gripped the armrest tightly, staring at Aaron below as if he wanted to tear him apart.
...
On the battlefield,
Emma, Sebastian, and Nathan stood frozen in shock.
Emma covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide as she whispered,
"This… how is this possible!?"
Sebastian flatly refused to accept it. How could this brat defeat the Blaziken that had just humiliated him?
Could it really be true, as Simon claimed, that this kid surpassed even the so-called geniuses on the rankings?
The thought made his head buzz.
Wasn't this the textbook case of someone hiding their true strength?
Nathan's pupils shrank to pinpoints. He couldn't believe his invincible Blaziken had fallen like this—so suddenly, so decisively.
One moment, Blaziken had stood proud and dominant.
The next, it lay motionless in the crater.
Nathan simply couldn't accept it. He swallowed hard and stared at Aaron.
"How did you do that!?"
Aaron shot him a sideways glance.
"Take a guess."
Nathan froze.
His face darkened. The corner of his mouth twitched.
"Guess my ass…" he cursed inwardly.
"Huff…"
Taking a steadying breath, Nathan recalled the unconscious Blaziken.
Then he hurled out another Poké Ball.
"Come out… Gyarados!!"
A flash of light erupted as a massive Pokémon materialized on the battlefield—
the Atrocious Pokémon, Gyarados.
[Name: Gyarados]
[Gender: Male]
[Nature: Jolly]
[Types: Water / Flying]
[Ability: Intimidate]
[Base Stats Total: 540]
[Level: Elite (Mid Stage)]
[Potential: Champion Level]
[Known Moves: Tackle (Mastery), Glare (Proficiency), Bite (Mastery), Ice Fang (Mastery), Crunch (Proficiency), Waterfall (Proficiency), Hydro Pump (Proficiency), Dragon Dance (Basic), Waterfall (Basic), Flamethrower, Thunderbolt…]
[Description: Gyarados, the Atrocious Pokémon and the evolved form of Magikarp. Extremely savage in temperament, it can fire destructive Hyper Beams from its mouth…]
...
Compared to his own Gyarados, this one was nowhere close.
Aaron couldn't help but feel a little satisfied.
The difference only became obvious once you put them side by side.
The final clash was about to begin.
"Gyarados… Thunderbolt!"
Nathan's brows drew together as he gave the command, his tone sharp and serious.
"ROAR—!"
Gyarados bellowed as yellow energy surged across its body. A thick bolt of lightning ripped through the air toward Greninja.
"Greninja… Quick Attack. Dodge it!"
"Then Sage Art: Smack Down!"
Aaron's calm voice rang out from behind.
"Nin—!"
Greninja's figure became a streak of black lightning, narrowly slipping past Gyarados's Thunderbolt.
In the next instant, it appeared behind Gyarados, a stone already forming in its hand.
Wrapped in yellow-white energy, the stone shot forward toward the Gyarados hovering in midair.
It moved like a bullet fired from a gun.
"Whoosh—!"
Gyarados heard the sharp crack of splitting air—and then pain exploded through its body.
"ROAR—!!"
With a howl of agony, the low-hovering Gyarados was slammed straight down, crashing heavily into the ground as it writhed in pain.
Sage Art: Smack Down was a Fairy-type move.
Its power was amplified, and it forcibly dragged Flying-types down to the ground.
Against Gyarados, the type advantage made the blow especially brutal.
In the end, unable to withstand the overwhelming impact, Gyarados fainted.
The Gyarados that had just made such an imposing entrance couldn't even endure a single move from Greninja.
The crowd was shaken once again.
The Pokémon Battle Arena fell into silence for the second time.
What kind of frog was this!?
Even a bullfrog wouldn't dare be this outrageous!