"Are you done transforming yet?"
Arceus's fragment was starting to regret several life choices.
It had just watched Greninja transform again, and by this point, even its divine patience was beginning to crack. Its voice came out flat, almost numb.
At that moment, Aaron finally raised his head.
His eyes appeared beneath his bangs.
Blood-red.
He split his mouth into a grin, revealing a row of sharp teeth.
"Not yet," he said in a low voice.
"There's still one left."
"Me."
The moment those words fell, Aaron threw his head back toward the red full moon.
"ROOOAR!"
An inhuman roar tore from his throat.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
Deep, heavy heartbeats followed, each one like a war drum pounding through the moonlit battlefield. Aaron's body swelled at terrifying speed. Thick fur spread across him, and a sturdy tail grew from behind his back.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ground beneath him exploded apart, sending dust and shattered stone billowing into the air.
In a matter of seconds, Aaron had grown to a shocking seven meters tall.
Dense fur covered his massive body. His muscles bulged like armor beneath it, and his black hair fell past his waist, whipping violently in the wind.
He looked like a Great Ape capable of tearing the world apart.
Whoosh...
The giant ape opened its mouth and exhaled a blast of hot, murky air, blowing the dust around him straight into the sky.
"So this is the power of a Great Ape?"
A rough voice came from the enormous figure's mouth, filled with barely contained excitement.
"Incredible..."
Aaron clenched his massive fists.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two bursts of compressed air exploded in his grip, as if he had crushed the air itself.
"But this still isn't the limit."
"I can go even further."
His crimson eyes flashed with excitement.
"Super Saiyan 2."
"Activate."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
An even stronger power erupted from Aaron's gigantic body.
Golden aura flames ignited around him, streaked with flickering lightning. His long black hair instantly turned bright gold, blazing beneath the moon.
Super Saiyan 2 Great Ape Form.
Aaron.
"ROOOAR!"
The golden Great Ape radiated terrifying pressure as he threw his head back and unleashed a mighty roar.
A massive shockwave swept outward, blasting away the dust and rubble around him.
...
Hovering in the air, Arceus's fragment stared at him in complete silence.
For a moment, it looked as if its soul had left its body.
"I must have woken up in the wrong world," it murmured.
"This is not the world I created. I am absolutely sure humans are not supposed to turn into that."
Even as a fragment of the Original One, it was starting to feel lost.
After that furious roar, Aaron's eyes burned with fighting spirit. He turned toward his Pokémon and bellowed.
"Everyone!"
"Attack together!"
"Cut loose and hit it with everything you've got!"
"Champion or not..."
"We're smashing through it!"
Aaron immediately gave the orders.
"Snorlax, use Conqueror's Haki."
"After Belly Drum, coat your entire body in Conqueror's Armament."
"Then enter Conqueror's Snakeman Mode and use Armament: Gum-Gum Flaming Cobra!"
"Charizard, Thunderflame Dragon's Roar!"
" Infernape, Fire Punch!"
"Greninja, Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu. Have some clones use Work Up, while the rest spread out and form a Water Shuriken Formation!"
"Then Flying Thunder God Technique, Second Stage."
"Rasenshuriken!"
Aaron had them go all out from the very start.
Against an opponent like Zeraora, holding back was not strategy. It was suicide.
Besides, even Aaron did not know how strong his team would be when all of their power was brought together like this.
After this battle, he would find out.
"SNOOORLAX..."
Snorlax opened its mouth and gave a low growl.
An invisible pressure surged toward Zeraora.
Conqueror's Haki.
Activated.
The force slammed into Zeraora and directly lowered its Attack by two stages.
Zeraora immediately felt its body grow heavier, and its eyes narrowed.
A red glow flared over its body.
Its muscles tightened and bulged.
Bulk Up.
At the same time, Snorlax was already wrapped from head to toe in Conqueror's Armament. Its body compressed inward, turning leaner and more powerful, while white flames rose around it like smoke from a god's mantle.
"SNOOORLAX!"
Snorlax roared.
Its right arm stretched and twisted into the shape of a cobra, wrapped in blazing white Sun God flames.
Then it shot toward Zeraora with terrifying force.
The high-speed cobra tore through the air like a streak of white fire. In an instant, it was already in front of Zeraora.
But Zeraora had finished using Bulk Up.
Lightning flashed through its eyes.
Its body darted sideways like a bolt of electricity.
Quick Attack.
In a blink, it slipped past Snorlax's Flaming Cobra.
Its speed was astonishing.
But in the next instant—
BANG!
The air exploded.
The cobra that had missed its target made a violent turn in midair.
It whipped back around and shot after Zeraora again, like a living serpent that would not stop until its fangs sank into its prey.
Zeraora's pupils shrank.
It had not expected the attack to turn.
Caught off guard, it had no time to dodge. It crossed its arms and took the attack head-on.
BOOOOM!
…