Too late.
BOOM!
Greninja drove its Apotheosis-level Ice Punch straight into Duraludon's back.
The impact cracked across the battlefield like thunder.
"DURAA!"
A spray of silvery alloy fragments burst from Duraludon's body as the blow launched it through the air.
Frost spread across its frame almost instantly, sealing the Steel/Dragon type inside a thick shell of ice.
It crashed into the ground and blasted out a deep crater.
Freezing mist rolled across the battlefield.
Inside the ice, Duraludon's eyes had already turned into spirals.
It was unable to battle.
Galen's third Pokémon was down.
Greninja had taken out all three Pokémon he had sent out so far.
...
The arena went silent.
Not a single voice came from the stands.
The Imperial Elite students sat frozen, faces burning with humiliation.
Three in a row.
One Greninja had taken down three of Galen's Pokémon.
And the Trainer doing it was the same commoner they had spent the entire match looking down on.
To them, it felt like Aaron had slapped Imperial Elite across the face three times in front of the whole arena.
Then the shouting started.
"Galen, what the hell are you doing?! You got swept three-zero by some nobody with no family backing?!"
"Did someone pay you off?!"
"This has to be fixed!"
"I can't believe Greninja really took down three in a row!"
"Aaron might be good, but Galen still comes from the Steel Family. The gap shouldn't be this huge!"
"The Steel Family's already in decline. If Steelbone weren't still around holding it together, they'd have been swallowed up years ago!"
...
Most Imperial Elite students came from wealthy families or families with deep ties to the League.
Galen's background was impressive, but it was not enough to scare them into silence.
They knew exactly who his grandfather was.
They cursed him anyway.
In Imperial Elite's preparation area, Leighton watched Aaron in silence.
"Father, something's off about Greninja."
Kellan frowned, a faint arc of electricity flickering across his eyes.
"Its Attack is way higher than it should be."
"If I'm reading it right, Greninja's already at +6 Attack."
Leighton's answer stunned everyone around him.
He had read Greninja's condition almost instantly.
For someone who had once held the Pokémon Champion title, his eye for battle was as sharp as ever.
"That's impossible! It only used Power-Up Punch twice. That should be +2 at most!"
"Exactly! We haven't seen it use any other move that raises Attack!"
"President... are you sure?"
"Enough."
Leighton cut them off with a flat look.
"Your perspective is too narrow."
"Why is your first reaction to something outside your expectations to call it impossible?"
"If you refuse to accept what's in front of you, someone else will pass you by."
His gaze swept across the group.
"And no family name will save you from that."
The room went quiet.
Several of the students lowered their eyes.
"Father, don't worry."
Kellan looked back toward Aaron.
"If I face him, I won't lose."
Leighton gave a small nod and returned his attention to the battlefield.
...
Galen looked pale as he recalled Duraludon.
For a moment, he simply stood there with another Poké Ball in his hand.
Then he looked across the field.
"Aaron... I'll admit it. Greninja is strong."
Aaron smiled.
"Thanks."
"Frog Boss is good at pretty much everything. His only problem is that he works way too hard."
He sighed dramatically.
"There's nothing I can do. Being his Trainer is stressful too."
Greninja gave him a long, unimpressed look.
What a bastard.
Galen took a breath.
"But I'm not done yet."
He threw his next Poké Ball.
"Come out, Copperajah!"
Light burst across the battlefield.
A gigantic elephant-like Pokémon materialized on Galen's side, its bronze-colored body covered in orange markings.
Copperajah.
The rare Steel type was already enormous by nature.
This one was even bigger.
It stood more than four meters tall, a full meter above the species' usual height.
One look was enough to tell that this Copperajah was anything but ordinary.