Greninja could only be described as a complete upgrade—like trading a musket for a cannon. If Frog Boss went all out, even Aaron wasn't sure what level of strength he'd reached.
One of these days, he'd test it on some unlucky punk out there.
Somewhere far away—
"Hah! Bring it on!"
...
The night passed quietly.
Aaron actually slept in until eight today, which was rare for him. After washing up and eating breakfast, he headed straight to the Pokémon Battle Arena.
Grace and Ethan were already there.
The moment Ethan spotted Aaron, his eyes lit up and he waved enthusiastically.
"Aaron… morning!!"
"Morning… Ethan."
Aaron smiled back, then looked at Grace.
"You're early too, Grace."
Grace nodded slightly, looking at him.
"Morning…"
"Let's start."
Aaron smiled.
"Didn't expect you to be this impatient, Miss Grace. Alright then—Ethan, I'll have to trouble you to be the referee."
"OK, OK! Leave it to me!!"
Ethan patted his chest, brimming with confidence.
"Ding~ Triggered Mission: Rough Up Grace…"
"As the ultimate show-off, how could I not flex in front of a beauty!?"
"Defeat Grace with dazzling combat skills and thoroughly dominate her to complete the mission."
"Mission Rewards: Advanced Pokémon Candy ×1, Substitution Technique (Skill Card) ×1…"
The system's warm, pleasant voice echoed in Aaron's ears, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.
...
Aaron and Grace stood facing each other. A light breeze swept across the field, stirring up fine dust.
Grace's gaze was steady and resolute.
"This match will be a 3v3 Pokémon battle…"
"The battle ends when one side's Pokémon all lose the ability to fight!"
"The battle begins!"
At Ethan's command, both of them threw their Poké Balls at the same time.
"Go… Frog Boss!"
"Come out… Leafeon!"
Two Pokémon appeared on the field simultaneously: a jet-black Greninja, and a cute Pokémon with leaf-shaped ears and a leafy tail.
It was one of Eevee's evolutions—Leafeon.
Eevee was extremely rare in this world, and its adorable looks made it especially popular with girls. A single Eevee was worth at least one million on the market, and evolving it into Leafeon required another huge sum to buy a Leaf Stone.
No wonder she was from a wealthy family.
And when it came to Eevee, this world had only discovered Flareon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Leafeon, and Glaceon. Espeon, Umbreon, and Sylveon hadn't been found at all.
Aaron couldn't help but feel anxious on behalf of this world's Pokémon scholars.
How could they be this useless?
Aaron grumbled inwardly, then used the system to scan Leafeon's attribute panel.
[Name: Leafeon]
[Gender: Female]
[Nature: Careful]
[Type: Grass]
[Ability: Leaf Guard]
[Base Stats Total: 525]
[Level: Intermediate (Late Stage)]
[Pokémon Potential: Champion-Class level]
[Known Moves: Swift (Proficient), Tackle (Proficient), Self-Destruct (Proficient), Growl (Proficient), Quick Attack (Proficient), Leech Seed (Basic), Magic Coat (Basic), Baby-Doll Eyes (Basic)…]
[Description: Leafeon, the Verdant Pokémon, one of Eevee's evolutions. Leaves drift through the air around it, carrying a refreshing scent...]
...
Intermediate (Late Stage), with Champion-Class potential.
Aside from Aaron, this was the highest-level Pokémon in Training Camp No. 1.
Truly worthy of the top student's class monitor.
Even the academy leadership had labeled her the most promising candidate to break into the national top 500. She really did have the strength to back it up.
...
"Greninja!?"
Off to the side, Ethan stared at Frog Boss, eyes wide.
"Holy crap… yesterday it was Frogadier, and today it's a Greninja!?"
"Aaron, you're insane—did you feed it steroids!?"
"Got any left? Toss me some too…"
Aaron shot him an exasperated look.
You're the referee, not some random spectator. Can you be professional for once?
Grace also looked stunned by the jet-black Greninja towering at 1.8 meters. Her lips parted slightly, clearly caught off guard.
Her expression grew heavy.
It was already terrifying as Frogadier—now that it had evolved into Greninja, it had to be even stronger.
But so what?
Grace's eyes sharpened, and her resolve only hardened as she issued her first command.
"Leafeon… use Baby-Doll Eyes!"
Grace's clear voice rang out.
Baby-Doll Eyes was a priority +1 move that lowered the opponent's attack.
She was planning to strike first and suppress Greninja's damage output—playing it safe right from the start.
...