A crisp sound echoed through the arena.
But it wasn’t Harisson’s fist connecting with John’s face, it was the sound of his punch being caught firmly in John’s hand.
"Senior, there’s no need to apologize," John said calmly, holding Harrison’s fist as if it were nothing more than a small stone. "Even in a real battle, you’re not quite my rival yet."
Harisson tried to yank his hand free but quickly discovered his fist might as well have been trapped in concrete. He couldn’t budge it an inch.
Slowly, Harisson looked up at John, as though seeing him for the first time, as if staring at some kind of monster.
"John, you’re not a Machamp in human skin, are you?" Harrison couldn’t help asking, only half-joking.
His bewilderment was understandable. John was still maintaining the Mega Evolution of five Pokemon while having just unleashed four consecutive Z-moves. Under such tremendous physical exertion, he had casually caught a full-force punch without breaking a sweat.
Compared to the possibility that John was human, the theory that he might be a Machamp in disguise seemed more plausible.
The entire auditorium had fallen silent. The spectators had already been rendered speechless when John had unleashed his barrage of Z-moves with casual confidence. Looking at John now was like staring at a human-shaped Tyrantrum, something that shouldn’t exist but somehow did.
Beyond shock, there was only more shock.
John smiled broadly. "Harrisson, have you forgotten? I’m a Psychic!"
"What kind of Psychic has such terrifying physical strength?" Harrison complained, genuinely puzzled. "I think you must be some kind of freak of nature!" As far as Harisson knew, no one possessed physical capabilities like John’s, it defied all logic.
With a defeated sigh, Harrison waved to the referee. "I surrender."
He had gone as far as to attempt a desperate "sneak attack" as his final gambit, and even that had failed spectacularly. John hadn’t even countered with a retaliatory punch, he was already showing tremendous respect to his senior by not embarrassing him further.
Better to concede with dignity while he still could!
After confirming Harisson’s surrender, the referee immediately announced the final result.
"IceFall Gym Leader, Harisson, has conceded. Therefore, the winner is Grassmere Gym Leader, John!"
"Come on, let’s grab a drink. I’m starving after that battle," Harisson said, withdrawing his hand and clapping John on the shoulder.
Even in defeat, he wouldn’t be petty, that’s not what seniors do. Besides, he had a powerful premonition that John might well become an Elite Four in next year’s Gym Leader Ranking Tournament.
Wait, not might, would. Absolutely would!
Just think about how quickly John had risen to become the top trainer in his university.
And then there was his performance in today’s battle: a team of Pokemon all capable of Mega Evolution, a collection of Z-Crystals that would make collectors weep, and a human Tyranitar physique capable of maintaining five simultaneous Mega Evolutions while firing off four Z-moves back-to-back.
In a word: John is championship material!
And he’s still so young!
Harisson’s last vestige of sadness about losing the match vanished instantly.
What was there to be sad about?
His junior would be an Elite Four in the future! He would be a champion! Perhaps even a Pokemon Master someday!
If making way for him meant becoming an Elite Four one year later, so what?
It just so happened that Harisson wasn’t fully confident in defeating the current Elite Four members anyway. This would give him another year to polish his skills before making the attempt.
When the time came, one school producing three Elites, now wouldn’t that be something to brag about?
"Let’s go," John agreed, taking out his Pokeballs to recall his team.
Together, he and Harrison exited through the same player passage they had entered.
Before leaving the Trainer Association building, John was suddenly intercepted by a group of high-ranking Association officials.
"Excuse me, Trainer John. We have a question for you, if you have a moment?" The speaker was an elderly man with salt-and-pepper hair and old-fashioned black-rimmed glasses. When he smiled, his face radiated genuine kindness.
"This is the honorary president of the Dragoncrest Trainer Association, Sebas, a famous Pokemon researcher and battle strategist," Harisson quickly explained to John.
"Hello, President ," John greeted respectfully. "What question did you want to ask?"
Sebas smiled, looking slightly embarrassed, but proceeded anyway. "It’s about the Mega Evolution of Greninja. We observed that you achieved transformation without using a Mega Stone. I was wondering if there might be a higher evolution level for Greninja, or perhaps a branch evolution possibility..."
"Of course," he added hastily, "this ability seems unique to your Pokemon. Feel free to decline if you’d prefer not to answer."
Greninja’s special transformation, the Battle Bond, hadn’t yet been discovered in this world. The reason was simple: there were precious few Greninjas with the ability to achieve the Bond Phenomenon.
John remembered introducing some junior trainers to Greninja and Venusaur species at the official ranch, examining the Froakie population there. Among nearly ten thousand Froakies at the farm, not a single one possessed the Battle Bond ability.
This underscored just how rare Froakies with this ability truly were.
Thinking about this, John suddenly felt incredibly lucky to have encountered his Greninja.
"This is my new discovery regarding Greninja," John said after a thoughtful pause. "I have a general understanding, but I still need to conduct more research. When I have definitive results, I’ll publish my findings as soon as possible."
Regarding Greninja’s Battle Bond, there wasn’t much more to announce at this stage.
As it happened, John’s professor had recently asked him to submit a research paper on Pokemon evolutionary phenomena. This would make a perfect topic.
However, even if he were to write a thesis on Greninja’s Bond Phenomenon, he would need to investigate Draconia’s ranches, perhaps even worldwide facilities, to acquire more specimens from the Greninja family with this ability.
A Greninja with Battle Bond wasn’t simply an ordinary Greninja, it was effectively a Pokemon with its own built-in Mega Evolution! Moreover, as John continued to showcase Greninja in major competitions, its value would only increase further!
As soon as John mentioned his research interests, several high-ranking Association members practically jumped forward in excitement.
"John is researching Greninja? Then you must visit our ranch, we have many Froakies in our breeding program!"
"Absolutely, let’s set a date for a visit," John readily agreed. Talk about perfect timing, someone offering a pillow just as he was getting sleepy.