Meanwhile, the mysterious Muscle Mosquito lay motionless inside the massive crater, as if it were unable to battle.
"This… this is unbelievable!"
"Contestant Aaron's Infernape has defeated the Mystery Contestant's Muscle Mosquito!?"
"Has this year's Fighting Tournament finally reached its end?"
"Will Contestant Aaron be crowned this year's champion?"
"Can the Muscle Mosquito still stand!?"
At the commentary desk, Kenny leaned over the railing in utter shock, staring without blinking at the ruined arena. His hand trembled around the microphone as he shouted.
The audience had fallen into total silence.
Everyone stared at the scene in disbelief.
The muscular mosquito had lost?
Was it really over just like that?
It took several seconds before the crowd finally snapped back to themselves. Their eyes were still filled with shock as they began murmuring among themselves.
"I never thought Aaron would actually be the one to win in the end…"
"Aaron's Infernape is way too strong, right? It defeated a Pokémon at the peak of the Gym stage while being three tiers lower, and that Pokémon isn't even ordinary."
"Come on, Muscle Mosquito, get up! Don't go down like this! I still believe in you!"
"Oh yeah, oh yeah! Aaron is the best! We're the champions!"
"Hahaha… I told you Infernape was the best. I even brought a female monkey for him!"
"Holy crap… You're shameless! Count me in too!"
"Come on, Muscle Mosquito! Get up! You can still do this!"
…
The crowd in the stands still found it hard to accept that the Muscle Mosquito they had placed so much faith in had fallen just like that.
Although the battle had already been fierce, and the arena had nearly been destroyed, they still felt the final match should not have ended so quickly.
They wanted the Muscle Mosquito to stand up again.
They wanted one more thrilling, all-out clash.
…
On the battlefield, the referee, his face covered in dust, glanced at Buzzwole in the deep crater.
Seeing that Buzzwole was lying completely still, he waved the flag in his hand and shouted,
"The Muscle Mosquito is unable to—"
Before he could finish speaking—
Crack.
The sound of falling rubble suddenly rang out.
The referee froze for a moment, then turned to look.
His pupils shrank sharply.
Deep inside the crater, Buzzwole was releasing black energy from all over its body.
Then it slowly stood up.
Its blood-red eyes gleamed with a savage light.
Wrapped in that ominous black energy, it looked less like a Pokémon and more like a nightmare given form.
"Oh my god… It's… it's standing up!"
"The Muscle Mosquito is standing up!"
Kenny was the first to notice Buzzwole rising again. At the commentary desk, he instantly jumped up in excitement and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Judging by his voice, Kenny sounded like he was trying to launch his soul straight out of the arena.
Buzzwole's sudden rise made the entire audience erupt into waves of cheers.
"Come on, Muscle Mosquito! I'm an Infernape fan, but I still want you two to make this fight even more exciting!"
"Same here! That wasn't enough, not even close! Keep fighting! We still want to watch!"
"Go, Infernape! Go, Muscle Mosquito!"
"Now that's more like it! This is what a final should be!"
"Fight, fight, fight! Come on, come on!"
"Muscle Mosquito is unstoppable! Take down that monkey!"
"Infernape, come on! Take down that mosquito!"
…
The audience throughout the venue looked thrilled.
They had originally thought the match would end there, and many of them had felt a little disappointed.
After all, it had been too short.
They wanted to see an even more spectacular battle.
Now that Buzzwole had stood up again, the crowd's excitement exploded all over again. They shouted at the top of their lungs, their cheers shaking the entire arena.
…
On the battered battlefield, the hooded man's cold yellow eyes had now turned pitch-black, releasing strange black mist.
His body gave off an ominous presence.
Those black eyes carried no emotion at all as he stared coldly at Aaron from across the field.
After a moment of silence, he spoke.
"I never expected someone from the younger generation of the Pokémon World to force me to use my full strength…"
"I suppose that deserves some praise."
"You've earned the right to know my name."
The hooded man reached up and removed his hat, revealing his true face.
He had blood-red hair.
His features were young, sharp, and surprisingly handsome. At that moment, however, his eyes were pitch-black, like a pair of demonic pupils.
He looked to be around Aaron's age.
In terms of looks, he was only slightly below that bastard Aaron.
Aaron looked at him with a hint of surprise.
He had not expected this person to be so young.
He was not bad-looking either.
Aaron had to admit, he only won by a narrow margin.
The hooded man said coldly,
"Remember this."
"My name is…"
"Cedric."
"And that name will soon become your lifelong nightmare."
Cedric spoke with complete arrogance, his tone overflowing with confidence.
Aaron's eye twitched slightly.
He had seen narcissists before, but never anyone this full of himself.
For a second, Aaron almost could not resist the urge to walk over and smack him upside the head.
He held back in the end.
Still, this guy badly needed to be taken down a peg.
Aaron scoffed and said,
"Yeah, yeah, yeah… are you done showing off?"
"I'm supposed to just let you steal the spotlight from me? Do I look that generous?"
Aaron shot the words straight back at Cedric.
Cedric's expression darkened completely.
His voice turned cold.
"You cocky little brat…"
"You're asking for it."
"Buzzwole… unleash your true power!"
Cedric's face turned grim. A crimson light flashed through the black mist covering his eyes as he gave Buzzwole the command in a low voice.
"Buzzzwole…"
…