Aaron looked at Senior Darren's confident smile, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
A strange smile appeared on his face as he took a Poké Ball from his waist, tossed it out lightly, and said calmly, "Snorlax... I'll leave this to you."
A flash of light passed, and a massive, deep-blue, chubby Pokémon appeared on the Pokémon battle arena.
"Snor... lax!"
The moment Snorlax appeared, it narrowed its tiny eyes and let out a loud cry.
"Snorlax?"
"Junior, your Snorlax is pretty big. That really is a nice Pokémon..."
"Junior... I'll let you make the first move. Come at me, hehe!"
When Senior Darren saw that this Snorlax was a whole size larger than an ordinary Snorlax, a hint of surprise appeared on his face.
Still, he did not take it seriously. He grinned as he spoke to Aaron.
"Fine... then Senior, you'd better be careful."
"I'm making my move..."
A bright, sunny smile appeared on Aaron's face as he said calmly to Snorlax, "Snorlax... use Standard Armament - Gum-Gum Jet Bazooka!"
"Snor... lax!"
Snorlax let out a low growl. Its body suddenly became scorching hot, white steam rising from it.
Its fist shot backward, stretching and retracting as black, steel-like Haki wrapped around it, giving off a terrifying aura.
"Snor... lax!"
Snorlax growled again, and its black fist blasted toward Luxray like a rocket launcher.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
It was so fast it hardly made sense.
The air itself seemed to burst apart, releasing wave after wave of explosive blasts.
Darren had been careless. Until that moment, he had not taken Aaron's Snorlax seriously at all.
By the time he reacted, it was already too late.
Snorlax's black fist, wreathed in white steam, slammed into Luxray like a rocket launcher.
"Boom!"
A tremendous crash rang out.
"Awooo!"
Luxray let out a pained howl. Its body was sent flying by Snorlax's punch and smashed heavily into the wall.
A huge crater was blasted into it, sending countless chunks of shattered stone tumbling to the ground.
Luxray lost its ability to battle on the spot, its eyes spinning in circles.
The invincible Luxray that had swept all three of Ricky's Pokémon had just been instantly knocked out by Aaron's Snorlax with a single punch.
Everyone present was stunned.
They stared at the scene in disbelief.
At that moment, the entire battlefield fell into a deathly silence.
"..."
Several seconds passed.
Then a freshman could not help swallowing hard before stammering, "W-what... what just happened?"
The stands immediately erupted into a fierce commotion.
"Damn... Luxray got knocked out in one punch?"
"That cat just swept that freshman's three Pokémon! Why did it get one-shot here?"
"Can someone tell me what's going on?"
"I want to know too... and why can that Snorlax's arm stretch so far?"
"This is ridiculous beyond ridiculous... ridiculously ridiculous! Is he throwing the match or what?"
"I don't think so... didn't you see the upperclassman's eyes almost pop out of his head?"
"True... that expression doesn't look acted. Otherwise, he should go into acting."
"So that means... this Snorlax is terrifyingly strong?"
...
The sight left the sophomores silent, the freshmen boiling with excitement, and the girls screaming.
Comparison was what made the difference so obvious.
Luxray had been a one-against-three powerhouse, with Ricky reduced to nothing more than a backdrop.
Yet when it was this freshman's turn, how had Luxray been knocked out with one punch?
Could this Snorlax also be a Gym-level Pokémon?
Or even higher?
The more everyone thought about it, the more absurd it felt.
It was simply unbelievable.
At that moment, Ricky, who was beside the cat-eared upperclassman, was completely dumbfounded.
He blurted out, "That's impossible..."
"I couldn't even beat that damn cat, so how could it get one-shot? This has to be fake, right?"
Ricky swallowed frantically, cold sweat of shock running down his forehead.
Beside him, the cat-eared upperclassman also covered her mouth, her eyes wide as she stared at the scene in disbelief.
In her mind, Aaron's earlier words surfaced again.
"If I said I was Aaron..."
"Would you believe me?"
"Gulp..."
The cat-eared upperclassman could not help swallowing hard. Looking almost frantic, she asked Ricky, "Ju... Junior, do you know what your friend's name is?"
Ricky froze for a moment, then said in confusion, "Of course I know... he said his name is Aaron."
"Aaron!"
"Boom!"
Ricky's words exploded through the cat-eared upperclassman's mind like a nuclear bomb.
For an instant, her head buzzed, and a violent ringing filled her ears.
Her mouth fell wide open.
Wide enough to fit a big sausage.
The cat-eared upperclassman stared in shock.
Her eyes locked firmly on the black figure standing tall on the battlefield below as she muttered to herself, "He... he really didn't lie to me!"
"He really is Aaron, number one on the Hidden Dragon Rankings?"
"I... I even laughed at him?"
"Oh my God... I'm dead. I'm so dead."
The cat-eared upperclassman's mind went completely blank. Regret, frustration, panic, and every other emotion flashed through her eyes.
Her face changed like a performance in itself.
One moment red, the next pale.
She felt like she was going insane.
"Ah... someone save me..."