Watching Electrode charge straight at him, Aaron's lips curled into a faint smile as he calmly said to Greninja,
"Greninja… dodge."
"Water Pulse…"
With the special effect of god-tier Quick Attack in play, Greninja's Speed was now boosted to +2.
Frog Boss was already fast to begin with—now its speed was downright absurd.
In a single flash, it slipped past Electrode's Spark-like charge.
Greninja's figure instantly appeared to Electrode's right.
In the next moment, it brought both hands together. A water-blue energy sphere rapidly condensed between its palms before being hurled forward.
The entire sequence took less than a second.
Water Pulse slammed directly into Electrode.
Boom—
A violent explosion rang out.
"Zzt—!!"
Electrode let out a pained cry.
The effeminate trainer's expression hardened, resolve flashing across his face as he shouted,
"Electrode… use Self-Destruct!!"
A dangerous gleam lit up Electrode's eyes as dazzling light erupted from its entire body.
BOOM—!!
A deafening explosion tore through the Pokémon battle arena.
Thick smoke billowed upward, black fumes rolling across the field, as if hundreds of kilograms of explosives had detonated at once.
...
"Yes!!"
"Well done—!"
In the stands, Baldwin sprang to his feet, shouting excitedly. He turned toward Sterling with a broad grin.
"Hahaha… Principal Sterling, this Greninja is your trump card, right!?"
"It really is strong, but unfortunately… at this distance, there's no way it survives Electrode's Self-Destruct."
"Hahahahaha!"
"This match is ours!!"
Baldwin's laughter was filled with delight. The tension that had gripped his heart earlier finally eased.
Sterling's expression shifted slightly.
Did this kid overplay his hand!?
Stay calm… stay calm. He still has another Pokémon—Snorlax is strong too.
There's still a chance…
Sterling comforted himself inwardly.
...
On the battlefield, the thick smoke slowly began to clear.
Two figures gradually emerged before everyone's eyes.
One was a charred Electrode, its body blackened, clearly having lost all fighting capability.
The other was a completely unharmed Greninja, standing calmly in front of Aaron,its cold, lifeless eyes wide open.
In that instant, the entire Pokémon battle arena fell into an eerie silence.
Utter silence.
You could hear a pin drop.
Every face was filled with shock, disbelief, or outright refusal to accept what they were seeing.
"T-This… how is this possible!?"
"How is your Greninja completely unharmed!?"
The effeminate trainer was utterly flustered now, eyes wide as he roared at Aaron in disbelief.
Aaron smiled faintly and replied calmly,
"Maybe your egg… just isn't very good."
"The power was too small."
In truth, Aaron had underestimated the power of Self-Destruct. His past gaming experience had almost caused him to fall into a deadly trap.
He hadn't expected the explosion in the real world to be this terrifying.
Fortunately, he had left himself a backup plan.
Earlier, out of an abundance of caution, Aaron had asked Frog Boss to leave a frog-shaped mark on his palm.
It was precisely for emergencies like this—
So Greninja could rush to him instantly.
He never expected it would actually come into play here.
At the exact moment Electrode exploded, Aaron ordered Greninja to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to flash back to his side.
Immediately after, Greninja activated Mat Block, ripping up the ground to shield them from the shockwave.
That was how they barely escaped the massive explosion.
Mat Block could block a single incoming move, similar to Protect.
But this was reality.
If Greninja had been at the center of the explosion, could Mat Block really have blocked Electrode's Self-Destruct?
No need to think about it—it would have been completely done for.
This made Aaron realize once again that game data was just game data. Some things simply didn't apply to the real world.
...
"What… what just happened!?"
"At such close range to the explosion, how could that Greninja be completely unharmed!?"
"That makes no sense!!"
"Principal Baldwin—this is your school's student. Care to explain what just happened!?"
"Major Grant… what do you think!?"
In the stands, several principals could no longer sit still, staring wide-eyed as they erupted into heated discussion.
Sterling wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. A trace of shock flickered through his eyes before he put on a calm, unreadable expression and said lightly,
"Hmph… sit down."
"Just a basic maneuver. Nothing special."
The other principals: "..."
They stared at him in disbelief, desperately wanting to beat Sterling senseless.
Nearby, Major Grant frowned deeply.
He couldn't figure out how this Greninja had done it either. A moment later, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Fixing his gaze on Aaron below, he said calmly,
"Interesting."
"Aaron, is it?"