Aaron continued deeper into the forest.
"Boom! Boom! Boom...."
Suddenly, a series of heavy, resounding impacts reached his ears.
Curiosity stirred in Aaron's heart, and he followed the direction of the noise. As he moved farther in, a massive figure gradually came into view.
It was a Snorlax!!
And judging by its build, it was clearly larger than an ordinary Snorlax. A normal Snorlax stood around 2 to 2.1 meters tall, but this one—
Aaron estimated it to be at least 2.5 meters!!
What baffled Aaron the most was that this Snorlax wasn't sleeping.
Instead, it was repeatedly punching a small hill, blow after blow.
As if… it were training!?
A Snorlax training!?
That wasn't scientific at all…
Snorlax were famously lazy—eat until full, sleep after eating, wake up and eat again. That kind of lifestyle was their trademark.
Was this really the Snorlax he knew!?
Aaron fell into a brief daze, then activated the system's scan function to pull up the Snorlax's status panel:
[Name: Snorlax]
[Gender: Male]
[Nature: Hardy]
[Type: Normal]
[Ability: Thick Fat]
[Base Stats: 540]
[Level: Intermediate (Late Stage)]
[Pokémon Potential: Champion level]
[Known Moves: Tackle (Mastery), Defense Curl (Mastery), Power-Up Punch (Mastery), Body Slam (Proficiency)........]
[Description: Snorlax, the Sleeping Pokémon. An ordinary Snorlax eats 400 kilograms of food a day, then sleeps after filling its belly. However, this particular Snorlax seems to possess an abnormal desire to grow stronger......]
...
"Hiss...."
After seeing the stats, Aaron immediately sucked in a sharp breath.
This thing actually had Champion level Potential!
And its move proficiencies were outrageously high—several were already at Mastery level!!
Did this Snorlax train its moves every single day!?
This was diligence taken to an extreme…
Its strength was equally impressive, having reached Intermediate (Late Stage). In a small secret zone, this was absolutely top-tier.
"My second Pokémon has to be you!!"
Aaron stared at the Snorlax, a burning gleam flashing through his eyes.
Cute and hardworking—who wouldn't love a chubby guy like this!?
"The Nika Fruit and Armament Haki are definitely going to this Snorlax. Just imagining it going Gear Fourth and turning into a springy Snorlax already feels invincible, hahaha…"
Aaron thought to himself, the corners of his mouth curling upward.
He walked up to the Snorlax and spoke solemnly:
"Snorlax… accept my challenge!!"
"If you lose, you'll become my Pokémon!!"
The Snorlax, still in the middle of training, glanced at Aaron with its half-closed eyes, then turned its head and continued swinging its fists.
It completely ignored him.
Clearly, this "scrawny" human didn't spark any desire to fight…
Aaron: "..."
The corner of his mouth twitched violently.
His face filled with speechless disbelief. This damn fat guy was actually looking down on him!?
Just wait—I'll beat you until you call me boss!!
"Come out… Froakie!! Prepare for battle…"
Aaron tossed out a Poké Ball, and Froakie appeared on the ground.
"Froakie…"
The moment Froakie emerged, it saw the massive Snorlax. It turned to look at Aaron and croaked at him twice, as if saying:
"Boss… do you really think I'm some kind of bullfrog!?"
Aaron gave an awkward laugh.
"Froakie, believe in yourself!!"
"We can definitely win this..."
A serious expression appeared on Froakie's face. It croaked toward Snorlax twice more:
"Froakie—Froakie—!!"
Snorlax seemed to sense the fighting spirit radiating from Froakie. It finally stopped punching the hill.
"Snorlax… Snorlax...."
It called out toward Froakie, as if saying: I accept your challenge!!
A flash of excitement crossed Aaron's face.
Come on!!
Beginner (Mid Stage) versus Intermediate (Late Stage)!!
Give it everything you've got, Froakie!!!
Aaron's eyes burned with intense battle intent.
...
Meanwhile, inside the academy's surveillance room.
When the old principal and several school leaders saw Aaron actually challenging Snorlax, the room immediately erupted.
They were all familiar with that Snorlax—it was practically the king of the Small Zone.
Its strength had reached Intermediate (Late Stage), firmly placing it at the top of the food chain there.
Most frightening of all was how diligent this Snorlax was. It trained its body and moves every single day, with combat experience and move proficiency that were both extremely high.
And yet Aaron only had a Beginner (Mid Stage) Froakie—and he dared to challenge it, crossing more than an entire major tier!?
Wasn't this a death wish!?
"How can Aaron be so careless? His strength may be good, but jumping an entire tier like that is clearly unscientific."
"Exactly… Aaron was reckless this time. He's still too young and doesn't know his limits."
"Forget it. Let this be a lesson for him—temper his edge a little…"
"Mhm… geniuses always need polishing. This is a good opportunity."
"Principal, what do you think!?"
...
Inside the monitoring room, the school leaders stared at the screen, so anxious they practically wanted to drag Aaron out themselves as they argued.
This time, the old principal didn't speak right away. A thoughtful expression appeared on his face before he slowly said:
"Maybe… he really can win."
"This kid can't be judged by common sense."
"Let's just wait and see!!"
...