Aaron's expression remained calm as he spoke to Greninja:
"Greninja… Water Pulse!!"
"Grenin…"
Greninja cupped its hands together. A water-blue sphere of energy rapidly condensed between its palms—
Water Pulse!!
—Whoosh!
A sharp sound rang out as Greninja hurled the Water Pulse forward. It collided head-on with Gardevoir's Draining Kiss.
—Boom!
A violent explosion erupted, clouds of steaming vapor billowing into the air.
"Greninja… Water Shuriken!!"
Aaron's voice rang out again. Greninja instantly formed several shuriken of condensed water and flung them toward Gardevoir.
Water Shuriken was Greninja's signature priority move, its speed almost impossible to track.
"Gardevoir—Instant Teleport, dodge!!"
A burst of purple light flared as Gardevoir vanished in an instant.
In the very next second, she reappeared behind Greninja.
Instant Teleport—
A move that seemed useless in the games, yet terrifyingly effective in real combat.
Even priority moves could be avoided.
In principle, it was similar to the Flying Thunder God Technique.
However, unlike Flying Thunder God, Instant Teleport could only be used within direct line of sight and required no preset spatial coordinates.
That convenience came at a cost.
It still needed a brief activation window—even if it was only a second.
That delay was the greatest difference between the two.
...
"Gardevoir… Thunderbolt!!"
Grace's voice trembled with excitement, as if she could already see victory within reach.
"Gardevoir…"
Behind Greninja, Gardevoir let out a cry as yellow lightning surged from her body, crashing straight down toward Greninja.
"Greninja… Flying Thunder God Technique!!"
"Rasengan!!"
Aaron showed not the slightest trace of panic. Instead, a faint smile appeared on his face as he spoke calmly.
The instant his words fell—just as Gardevoir's Thunderbolt was about to strike—
Greninja vanished.
At the same time, Greninja reappeared behind Gardevoir.
In its right hand, a rapidly spinning blue energy sphere slammed mercilessly into her body.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Grace and Gardevoir didn't have time to react at all.
Instant teleportation required activation time.
But Flying Thunder God Technique was instantaneous.
That was how absurd it was!!
Even if there were only 0.01 seconds, as long as Greninja's reaction was fast enough, it could still activate Flying Thunder God Technique.
"Boom—!"
Gardevoir's slender body was blasted away by Greninja's Rasengan, crashing heavily onto the ground.
Her eyes spun as she fainted.
On Gardevoir's back, a faint, tiny black frog-shaped marking flickered into view—
It was the Flying Thunder God Technique mark Greninja had secretly left behind earlier, when it struck Gardevoir from behind with Shadow Sneak.
That was how Greninja had been able to appear behind her in an instant just now.
"How did your Greninja suddenly appear behind Gardevoir?!"
"Don't tell me… your Greninja can use Instant Teleport too?!"
Grace stared at Aaron in shock, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"Haha… Grace, there's still a lot you don't know."
Aaron smiled faintly.
"You've lost."
He then turned his head toward Ethan, who was standing there dumbfounded, his jaw nearly hitting the ground.
"Hey, hey… Referee, can you announce the result already?!"
Ethan snapped back to his senses when he heard Aaron call out.
"Huh?!"
"Gardevoir has fainted. Since all three of Miss Grace's Pokémon have been defeated, the winner is Aaron!!"
Ethan took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down as he announced the result.
At that moment, the system's voice echoed once more in Aaron's mind, causing a bright smile to spread across his face.
"Ding~ Congratulations on completing the mission: Rough Up Grace..."
"You have received the following rewards: Substitution Technique (Skill Card) ×1, Advanced Pokémon Candy ×1…"
...
"Aaron, your Greninja is just too cool and too strong—and it's already become an Advanced Pokémon!!"
"That's incredible!!"
"Our training camp's Pokémon tournament is basically guaranteed now!!"
Ethan rushed over excitedly, speaking animatedly to Aaron.
"I lost this time—but next time, I'll definitely win!" Grace recalled Gardevoir into her Poké Ball and walked over, looking straight at Aaron as she spoke.
Though she wasn't entirely satisfied with the result, she wasn't discouraged either.
Instead, she quietly made up her mind—
Aaron would be the one she aimed to surpass.
"Alright, alright… I'll welcome your challenge anytime."
Aaron smiled slightly as he replied.