"A Beedrill and this unknown mantis can evolve again?"
"If I capture both of them, that'll be a massive score."
"Hahahaha!"
The burly man burst into loud laughter, greed burning in his eyes.
Aaron's expression darkened.
Just as he thought, this guy had been hiding in the shadows, watching his battle with Moss.
Mega Evolution had already been exposed.
Aaron had originally planned to wait until after entering university. Once the timing was right, and once he had stockpiled hundreds of Mega Stones, he would publish a paper and become the discoverer of Mega Evolution.
He might even become famous overnight.
Maybe he could become a Pokémon Professor too.
Since you saw it…
Then don't blame me.
A cold killing intent rose in Aaron's heart.
Still, there was one thing he wanted to know.
He looked at the burly man and asked,
"How did you find me?"
The man grinned.
"Information gathering is what we Pokémon Hunters do best. We have people everywhere."
"Finding your trail wasn't hard."
"I didn't know your exact location at first, but that battle of yours made enough noise for half the forest to hear. So I came to take a look."
Mockery filled his eyes as he spoke, as if Aaron and the others were already prey in his hands.
Aaron immediately understood.
The Pokémon Hunters' intelligence network really was impressive.
He thought back to the Treecko incident and the Bulbasaur clan incident.
Both had shown him just how terrifying that network could be.
For an organization like this to keep surviving inside tightly controlled Hualis, they had to possess extraordinary capabilities.
"Your target is my Infernape, right?"
Aaron spoke calmly.
The burly man froze for a moment.
Then he burst into laughter and clapped.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Hahahaha! As expected of this year's King of Fighters. Sharp mind."
"That's right. My mission is to bring back your Infernape. Someone offered a very high price for it."
"But now…"
His gaze shifted with obvious greed.
"I want your Beedrill and that kid's red mantis too."
"You're dreaming!"
"I'll never hand Scizor over to you!"
Moss shouted angrily.
"Hehe… that's not up to you, kid."
The burly man's grin widened.
"Anyway, villains die from talking too much. I won't waste any more words."
"Aggron, get them!"
"Use Rock Slide!"
"ROOOAR!"
Aggron let out a furious roar.
Yellow-brown energy surged from its body as the ground trembled violently.
A massive boulder erupted from the earth and smashed toward them.
"Hmph. As long as I'm here, you don't get to act this arrogant."
The old man glared coldly at the burly man.
"Scizor, X-Scissor!"
"Scizor!"
Scizor let out a low growl.
Green light gathered around its pincers before it slashed forward in a glowing X.
SLASH! SLASH!
The cross-shaped slash cut straight through the giant boulder, breaking it apart into rubble that scattered across the ground.
Aggron's attack was neutralized.
By then, Aaron had already led Moss to a safer area.
Moss's Scizor could no longer battle.
And since Scizor was his only Pokémon, he could not help in this fight.
"Moss, stay here. I'll help your grandpa."
Moss's expression was ugly.
He wanted to help, but Scizor was unconscious, and he had no way to fight right now.
If he went over there, he would only become a burden.
So he could only nod.
"Okay… be careful, Aaron."
Aaron nodded, then walked toward the battlefield.
At the same time, he opened Aggron's status panel.
[Name: Aggron]
[Gender: Male]
[Nature: Adamant]
[Type: Rock/Steel]
[Ability: Rock Head]
[Base Stats Total: 530]
[Level: Champion-Class (Stage Peak)]
[Pokémon Potential: Champion-Class]
[Known Moves: Iron Head (Perfect), Rock Slide (Perfect), Head Smash (Mastery), Rock Tomb (Mastery), Iron Tail (Mastery), Heavy Slam (Proficient), Iron Defense (Proficient), Metal Sound (Mastery), Protect (Proficient), Metal Claw (Proficient), Harden (Proficient), Take Down (Proficient), Metal Burst (Proficient), Headbutt (Proficient), Earthquake (Proficient), Dragon Claw (Proficient)...]
[Description: Aggron, the Iron Armor Pokémon and the evolved form of Lairon. Its steel armor is incredibly hard, and both its Defense and Attack are astonishing.]
…
Its strength had reached the champion-class peak stage.
Its aura was terrifying, and it had likely been stuck at this level for a very long time.
The old man's Scizor was also at champion-class peak stage, the same level as Aggron.
For a while, the battle between Scizor and Aggron was hard to decide.
But the burly man had no intention of fighting fair.
He grinned at the old man, then pulled five more Poké Balls from his waist.
Under the old man's shocked gaze, he shouted,
"Hahahaha!"
"Come out… my monsters!"
Flashes of light burst across the clearing.
Five powerful Pokémon appeared at once, their eyes glowing scarlet.