After a brief moment of silence, the arena erupted into thunderous applause and deafening cheers.
"Woooooo!!"
"Greninja is invincible!!"
"Black Frog is forever the GOAT!!"
"This Greninja is insane! I'm definitely catching one someday!!"
"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!!"
"Bro, what's wrong with you? Why are you swearing nonstop!?"
"What else am I supposed to do? I'm not exactly educated. Swearing's the only way I can show how shocked I am."
"…That's kind of sad."
"Holy crap… I just realized who that Greninja's trainer is! Oh my god!!"
"Who!? Who is it!?"
"It's that high schooler who caused such a huge stir recently—the one personally recruited by two League Champions at Sealine Academy!!"
"Aaron!!"
"Holy crap!?"
…
As one of the onlookers suddenly recognized Aaron, he shouted it out in shock.
Once again, Aaron's name rippled through the crowd.
Two League Champions had personally come to recruit him!?
What kind of honor was that!?
What kind of talent did he have to earn a personal invitation from two League Champions?
The more they thought about it, the more astonished they became. The way they looked at Aaron now was filled with admiration and awe.
Aside from Rowan Wright's faction, whose expressions darkened, the rest of the crowd was in an uproar.
Victor was so hyped he started jumping up and down, breaking into a ridiculous celebratory dance that looked like a mix between basketball moves and a victory shuffle, flailing around like he'd just won the championship himself.
Richard had been grinning so widely it looked like his face might split in two.
But the moment he heard the crowd mention Aaron's background, he froze.
No wonder Aaron had seemed familiar—it was him.
Regret flickered across Richard's eyes. He wished he could slap himself.
How had he been so blind?
Why hadn't he recognized Aaron sooner?
All his attention had been on Sebastian, and he had completely overlooked him.
The more he thought about it, the worse he felt.
Even though his faction had won, Richard couldn't bring himself to feel happy.
With Aaron's talent, reaching Champion level was only a matter of time.
And he had actually snubbed someone like that.
"It's all Sebastian's fault…"
"Damn you, Sebastian!!"
Richard dumped all his frustration onto Sebastian, his resentment growing by the second.
Meanwhile, poor Sebastian had no idea he'd just become the target of Richard's fury.
…
On the battlefield,
"Since all four Pokémon on the Blue Team are unable to battle—"
"The match is over!!"
"Victory goes to the Red Team!!"
The referee waved his flag and officially announced the result.
Nathan looked at Aaron for a long moment, recalled his Gyarados, and walked over.
"You're strong," he said seriously. "With your strength, you'd rank at least in the top twenty of the Hidden Dragon ranking."
"I lost today."
"And I accept it."
"Your Greninja is impressive."
"I hope we get to battle again in the future."
A faint smile returned to Nathan's face as he extended his hand.
Aaron smiled back.
"Thanks for the compliment."
"You're welcome to challenge me anytime."
He reached out as well. The two shook hands and exchanged a brief smile.
After that, Nathan and Emma left.
As for Sebastian—he had already slipped away, likely too embarrassed to stick around.
"Ding~ Congratulations on completing the quest: Head to Simon's place and put on a proper show!!"
"Congratulations on receiving rewards: Water Shuriken Barrage (Skill Card) ×1, Pokémon Candy (Advanced) ×1…"
At last, the system's voice rang in Aaron's ears.
A smile appeared on his face as he immediately opened his backpack to check the Water Shuriken Barrage Skill Card.
[Name: Water Shuriken Barrage]
[Type: Water]
[Power: 0.05 (per shuriken)]
[Category: Special]
[Description: Condenses water energy into countless tiny sword-like projectiles. Quantity determined by proficiency level…]
(Basic: 100; Proficient: 500; Mastery: 1000; Perfect: 2000; Apotheosis: 10000…)
"Hiss…"
Aaron drew in a sharp breath as he read the panel, excitement flickering openly in his eyes.
"If I combine the sheer volume of Water Shuriken Barrage with Flying Thunder God Markers, wouldn't that leave my opponents with nowhere to escape?"
"I could tear them apart."
He couldn't help but grin to himself.
Although the skill's damage wasn't impressive at lower levels, at Apotheosis—10,000 shuriken.
Wouldn't that turn the opponent into a pincushion?
Each shuriken carried 0.05 power. Ten thousand of them meant 500 total power.
Absurd.
And with Sage Mode amplifying the damage—that would push it to 1000 power.
Just the thought of Frog Boss unleashing a storm of blades in the future made his eyes gleam.
Of course, it was unrealistic to expect all 10,000 shuriken to hit.
That was only the ideal scenario.
As for the remaining Pokémon Candy, he would save it for Grovyle. Once it advanced to the Advanced tier, it could evolve into Sceptile.
Aaron felt a surge of anticipation.
"Aaron…"
At that moment, Victor, Simon, and Richard walked over, Richard wearing an overly polite smile.
"Aaron… I really have to thank you."
"I truly failed to see your potential before. Please forgive my earlier oversight."
Richard grabbed Aaron's hand with both of his, his tone overly earnest.
Aaron calmly pulled his hand back and gave him a cool look.
"No need for that."
Richard's smile faltered for a split second.
He quickly produced an ornate box and held it out.
"As a gesture of my appreciation, I'd like to offer you our family's only Pokémon Held Item."
"I hope you won't take my earlier attitude to heart…"
Aaron immediately accepted the box, a bright smile spreading across his face.