"I'll leave it to you... Frog Boss!!"
Aaron spoke calmly to the Greninja standing beside him.
Against these poison-type spirits, Greninja possessed the Apotheosis Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu. Even if it got poisoned, it wouldn't panic at all. It was practically the natural enemy of poison-types.
"Grenin..."
Greninja nodded and let out a low cry, then stepped forward in front of Aaron. Its dead-fish eyes, like still water, stared indifferently at Vespiquen across from it.
"A Shiny Greninja!?"
"Not bad... kid."
Grub glanced at the pitch-black Greninja and sneered coldly at Aaron.
"Greninja... Tailed Beast Cloak, activate!!"
"Sage Mode, activate!!"
A gentle breeze lifted Aaron's hair as his clear voice rang out.
"Grenin..."
Greninja's eyes sharpened. A fierce wind surged outward, and a golden energy cloak burst from its body. Its pupils turned into cross shapes, and mysterious eye-shadow markings appeared at the corners of its eyes.
After a long time, Frog Boss's Sage Tailed Beast Cloak had finally reappeared.
"Grenin..."
Greninja radiated a terrifying aura, sending waves of pressure through the air. Broken stones on the ground began to float against gravity. Terrifying beyond belief.
"Th-this... what kind of frog is this!?"
"Did Greninja evolve!?"
Seeing Greninja's completely transformed appearance, Grub's pupils shrank sharply, his face filled with shock as he cried out repeatedly.
"Greninja... Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Aaron ignored Grub's shock and spoke calmly.
"Grenin... Nin... Grenin..."
Greninja brought its hands together and muttered softly. White smoke swirled around, and in an instant, more than twenty Greninja clones appeared on the battlefield.
"Tch..."
Grub suppressed his doubts and immediately shouted:
"Vespiquen... use Toxic!!"
"Bzzzz..."
Vespiquen responded with a buzzing cry, opened its mouth, and spat out a blob of purple liquid, shooting it straight at Greninja.
"Greninja clones... use Quick Attack. Close in on Vespiquen."
Seeing that Grub still insisted on using poison, Aaron curled his lips into a mocking smile and gave the command.
"Grenin! Grenin! Nin!"
The Greninja clones turned into streaks of black lightning, instantly surrounding Vespiquen from all sides.
At the same time, Vespiquen's Toxic successfully struck Greninja. A faint purple poison mist rose from its body. Clearly, it had been poisoned.
Seeing Greninja fall into a poisoned state, Grub's face lit up with delight. He burst into laughter.
"Hahaha... Top Scorer of the Exam, are you stupid!?"
"You didn't even dodge!?"
Grub was in an excellent mood. Once poisoned, he could just drag it out until it died.
Facing Grub's ridicule, Aaron instead revealed a strange smile and said:
"Greninja... transfer the poisoned state to a clone, then use Flying Thunder God Technique."
"Grenin..."
A white light flashed across Greninja's body, and the purple poison mist vanished. At the same time, one of the clones quietly began emitting purple poison gas.
Immediately after, Greninja's figure disappeared. In an instant, it reappeared behind Vespiquen, at the position of one of its clones.
"What!?"
Grub saw the poison status vanish from Greninja and couldn't understand what had happened.
When he suddenly noticed, Greninja had already appeared behind Vespiquen.
Grub's heart sank, and he quickly shouted:
"Vespiquen... use Defend Order!"
"Greninja... Ice Punch!!"
Aaron's voice rang out again.
"BZZZZ!!"
"Grenin!!"
Both Pokémon acted at the same time. Green light surged from Vespiquen's body as bees swarmed over it, forming a tight defense.
"Bzzzz..."
An icy-white glow condensed on Greninja's right fist, which slammed fiercely into Vespiquen.
"BOOOOM!!"
A massive explosion rang out. Vespiquen was blasted several meters away.
"Bzzzz—!"
It let out a pained cry.
"Greninja... use the Tailed Beast tentacles. Grab it."
Before Vespiquen could recover, Aaron's voice sounded again.
"Grenin..."
Several long golden energy tentacles shot out from Greninja's cloak, firmly binding Vespiquen.
"Vespiquen!!"
Seeing his Vespiquen knocked away and captured by those strange tentacles, Grub panicked and shouted:
"Use Air Slash on those tentacles..."
"Bzzzz!!"
White light gathered around Vespiquen, forming a sharp Air Slash that struck the tentacles.
"Snap!"
The energy tentacles were cut apart instantly. But before Vespiquen could feel relieved, the severed tentacles reconnected in an instant, binding it once again.
What it didn't notice was that a black frog mark had already been imprinted on its body.
Or rather, a mark of death.
"Greninja... finish it!"
"Flying Thunder God Technique... Sage Art: Rasenshuriken!"
Aaron's clear voice rang out once more, like a death sentence being issued.
"Grenin..."
Greninja's figure flickered like a ghost, appearing behind Vespiquen. In its hand formed a massive spiraling windmill-like sphere of energy, radiating terrifying pressure. The surrounding air seemed to be shredded apart.
It slammed the attack fiercely into Vespiquen.
"BOOOOOM!!!"
A violent energy explosion erupted, and the deafening blast echoed throughout the entire forest.