Upon hearing this, Aaron showed a hint of surprise. He nodded at Blaze.
"Hey, I'm Aaron."
Blaze flashed a bright grin.
"Aaron, right?"
"The guy who scored 530 on the exam. Your name's everywhere right now."
"We should have a Pokémon battle sometime."
Aaron smiled and nodded.
"Anytime."
"Nice. I like that. Straightforward."
Blaze laughed, clearly pleased.
"Then we're friends now."
"Alright, enough talking. Head to the Insight Stone and get your Pokémon training. Don't waste time."
Braveon cut in.
Aaron nodded and walked toward the Insight Stone with Blaze and Braveon.
Only when he got close did Aaron realize just how massive it was. At least thirty meters wide and over fifty meters tall, like a towering peak, radiating a faint, mysterious glow.
By now, everyone had gathered around it, their Pokémon already released. Fortunately, the stone was large enough to accommodate all of them.
Braveon and Blaze released theirs as well.
Braveon's lineup made Aaron's eyes narrow slightly.
One of his Pokémon had Master-level potential, and its current strength had already reached early Gym level.
An extremely rare Pokémon.
Lucario.
The rest were:
Aegislash, Metagross, Noivern, and Golisopod.
Metagross and Noivern had Champion-level potential, while Aegislash and Golisopod were at Elite level.
As expected of the most monstrous genius in Hualis, aside from himself.
Truly impressive.
Blaze, on the other hand, was clearly a Fire-type specialist.
His team consisted of:
Charizard, Arcanine, Blaziken, Emboar, and Incineroar.
Among them, Charizard, Arcanine, and Incineroar had Champion-level potential, while Blaziken and Emboar were at Elite level.
His strongest, Charizard, had already reached peak Elite level, closing in on Braveon's Lucario.
Definitely not someone to underestimate.
Aaron glanced at the others.
Even the lowest potential among them was Elite level, and everyone had at least one Pokémon with Champion-level potential.
That wasn't surprising.
These were the top fifteen of the younger generation in Hualis.
If they didn't have this level of strength, that would be the real surprise.
But one person caught Aaron's attention.
A girl with short hair and a sweet face, around 1.6 meters tall.
Cute overall... except her chest was completely flat.
One of her Pokémon shocked him.
A Hydreigon with five heads.
Or rather, a five-headed Hydreigon.
A thought crossed his mind.
Bloodline awakening.
Drake's ace Dragonite had also undergone bloodline awakening.
Its strength was terrifying. Reports said it had just entered Champion level and was already defeating veteran Champions.
That alone showed how powerful awakened Pokémon could be.
Aaron hadn't expected to encounter another one here.
His horizons had definitely been broadened.
As expected of the top talents of Hualis.
Their reputation wasn't undeserved.
...
Aaron smiled and released all five of his Pokémon.
Greninja, Snorlax, Gyarados, Sceptile, and Beedrill.
The moment they appeared, they immediately drew everyone's attention.
Gyarados, in particular, was impossible to ignore.
Eight meters long, with dragon horns and four clawed limbs, it looked like a true dragon.
The crowd reacted instantly.
"Damn… that Gyarados is huge!"
"And it has four claws too. That's bloodline awakening, right?"
"Man, I'm jealous… Liora's Hydreigon awakened, and now there's another one."
"That's Aaron. This year's top scorer."
"He's definitely not ordinary… strong competition."
"I wonder who's stronger, him or Braveon?"
"Come on… obviously Braveon. He's the successor to an Aura Guardian."
"Wait… an Aura Guardian!?"
"No wonder he's ranked first. That reputation makes sense."
The crowd buzzed with discussion.
Liora, the short-haired girl ranked third, couldn't help glancing at Aaron's Gyarados, a hint of surprise in her eyes.
"Aaron… your Pokémon aren't ordinary either."
Braveon looked at Aaron's team, a strong fighting spirit rising in his eyes.
"Yours aren't either."
Aaron replied calmly.
The two exchanged a smile before preparing to let their Pokémon begin training.
Aaron turned to his team.
"Alright, everyone. Put your hands on the stone."
"It'll boost your comprehension temporarily."
"It'll help a lot with learning Apotheosis-level skills."
"Do your best."
"Make it count."
The Pokémon nodded.
Snorlax's thick arms, Gyarados's claws, and Sceptile's palms all pressed against the stone.
Beedrill looked at its twin stingers, hesitating for a moment.
"…Seriously? No hands?"
Then it pressed its whole body against the stone.
"Bzzz…"
The Insight Stone emitted a soft glow, enveloping them.
All of them closed their eyes and began focusing.
Seeing no one was paying attention, Aaron turned to Greninja.
"Frog Boss. Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu."
"Ten clones for training. Ten to scout the area."
"Grenin."
Greninja nodded, formed a hand sign, and instantly created twenty identical clones.
Why not make more?
Because Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu had side effects.
If all the clones' experience returned at once, it could overload the brain.
Aaron wasn't taking that risk.
The body could heal.
The brain? Not so much.
The clones split up immediately.
Ten blurred into black streaks and shot deeper into the secret zone.
...