"Damn it..."
Aotum looked toward the other side of the battlefield, where Charizard was still keeping Blastoise and Machamp busy.
"He's wasted enough of my time. Slaking, go help them. Finish off that fire lizard already."
"Raaah..."
Slaking let out a low growl and started to move.
Then a voice came from the rubble on the hillside.
"I'm not dead yet."
"Where do you think you're going?"
Aotum froze.
That voice again.
"No..."
"That's impossible."
BOOOOM!
The pile of broken stone exploded outward, and a figure walked out through the rolling smoke.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
Each heavy step struck the ground like a hammer, and with every one, Aotum's face grew uglier. Fear slowly crept into his eyes.
Aaron emerged from the smoke.
His Corviknight Battle Core Form was now wrapped in golden aura. Lightning flickered through that light, snapping and crackling around him in violent arcs.
Super Saiyan Level 2.
Activated.
At that moment, Aaron's power had risen to an almost absurd level.
Super Saiyan Level 2 increased Attack, Special Attack, and Speed by six stages, while also boosting the power of all moves by 75%.
His strength and speed had multiplied several times over.
Layered on top of Battle Core Form, it pushed him into a realm even he had not expected. Right now, Aaron could feel it clearly.
He might have already surpassed most of his own Pokémon.
BANG!
He clenched his fist lightly, and the air itself burst under the pressure.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Incredible..."
"This power is insane."
"Even I'm a little scared of it."
Aotum's voice trembled.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Are you a cyborg?"
He stared at Aaron as if his entire understanding of the world had started falling apart.
Even if this guy really was some kind of cyborg, he had taken Slaking's Thunder Punch head-on and walked away like nothing happened.
How was that fair?
Was this bastard cheating?
Aaron smiled.
"I'm just an ordinary Pokémon Trainer passing through."
In his heart, he silently added:
Ordinary, if you ignored the records, the medals, the rankings, and a few other things Aotum really did not need to know about.
Nothing special.
Aotum's face darkened.
"An ordinary Trainer?"
"If that were true, Hualis would've taken over the world by now."
He forced himself to calm down.
"We don't have to be enemies," Aotum said. "If you want Rookidee, I can send you a hundred of them once I return to Ransei."
His eyes shifted, calculating.
"How about you let me go?"
Aotum had lost his confidence.
There was something very wrong with Aaron. If he could talk his way out of this, he would.
Aaron's gaze hardened.
"Maybe to you, Pokémon are merchandise."
"But to me, they're irreplaceable."
His voice dropped.
"You were never worthy of being a Trainer."
The moment Aotum heard that, he knew there was no negotiating.
His face twisted.
"Kill him!"
Slaking, Blastoise, and Machamp roared at the same time.
Powerful energy flared across their bodies as they charged.
Machamp moved first, its fist wrapped in red energy and giving off terrifying pressure.
Dynamic Punch.
A Fighting-type move with 100 power.
It reached Aaron before the others, mechanical eyes flashing red as its fist smashed toward his head.
Aaron's expression did not change.
He raised one purple-black armored fist and punched back.
BOOOOM!
His casual punch collided head-on with Machamp's Dynamic Punch.
The impact exploded outward.
"MA-CHAMP!"
Machamp let out a panicked cry.
Aaron's fist shattered its steel-covered hand in one blow. The force tore through its arm like a sledgehammer, ripping flesh, bone, and machinery apart in a spray of fragments.
Before Machamp could even process the pain, Aaron's other fist moved.
It looked like a simple punch.
But the power behind it had been compressed to the absolute limit.
BANG!
The punch slammed into Machamp's mechanical head.
Its head burst apart instantly.
The headless body stood frozen for half a second before collapsing onto the cold ground.
At that moment, Blastoise's attack arrived.
Its tail, wrapped in surging water energy, whipped toward Aaron with brutal force.
Aqua Tail.
Silver light flashed across Aaron's wings.
Steel Wing.
SLASH!
His sharpened wings cut straight through the Aqua Tail, then swept across Blastoise's shell.
The modified Pokémon's eyes flashed with terror as its iron-hard shell split open from side to side.
Blood sprayed out in a heavy arc.
...