Kingambit's gaze darted between the seven Greninja, genuine shock written across its face.
How could all of them be real?!
These weren't Double Team copies?
Shadow clones could actually hit?!
Kingambit might have carried itself like a seasoned general, but no matter how hard it thought, it could not make sense of what had just happened.
Seven identical Greninja.
Seven physical bodies.
Were they septuplets or something?!
The Pokémon was completely baffled.
"Kingambit... you okay?!"
Galen looked just as startled. He had not expected Power-Up Punch to hit anywhere near that hard.
Then his eyes sharpened.
"There's only one explanation..."
"Perfect-level Power-Up Punch combined with Greninja's Protean."
He pieced it together almost immediately.
And, to be fair, his reasoning was solid.
"Kinga..."
Kingambit nodded, signaling that it could continue.
"All right. Let's keep going!"
"We still have the advantage."
"Kingambit, Rock Tomb!"
A confident smile returned to Galen's face.
Grand General had already raised Kingambit's Attack by one stage.
Swords Dance had added another two.
That put its Attack at +3.
As far as Galen was concerned, the advantage was overwhelming. If Kingambit could land a clean hit, this battle was practically over.
There was only one problem.
Greninja was absurdly fast.
He needed to slow it down first.
What Galen did not realize was that Greninja's own Attack had already reached the +6 cap.
Every Power-Up Punch from the original and its shadow clones had landed.
One after another, the boosts had stacked until Greninja could go no higher.
Its Attack was now four times its normal value.
A faint crimson glow clung to its body, making it look almost absurdly like a Super Saiyan powering up.
"Kinga..."
Kingambit let out a low cry as an earthy-yellow glow surged around its body.
Broken chunks of stone scattered across the battlefield began rising into the air.
Dozens of them hovered overhead.
Then they shot toward the seven Greninja at once.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
"Frog Boss, Water Shuriken."
Aaron's lips curled into a faint smile.
"Knock them all down."
"Gren!"
Greninja and its clones moved together.
Several Water Shuriken formed in their hands and ripped through the air toward the incoming rocks.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosion after explosion rang across the battlefield.
The Water Shuriken smashed through the stones, reducing them to gravel and filling the air with sand and dust.
"Damn it..."
Once again, Galen had watched one of his attacks get shut down almost effortlessly.
His irritation finally started to show.
"Kingambit, Kowtow Cleave!"
"Kinga..."
Kingambit gave a low, reluctant growl.
Then, under the stunned eyes of everyone in the arena, it dropped to its knees in front of Greninja.
Greninja stared at it.
"Gren...?"
For a moment, even it seemed confused.
Couldn't win, so now it was begging for mercy?
In the middle of a tournament match?
Seriously?
Then Kingambit's eyes sharpened.
The enormous blade rising from its head flashed.
And struck.
The entire act of submission had been a feint.
The blade shot toward Greninja's abdomen with terrifying speed.
"Greninja, Flying Raijin!"
Aaron had already seen Kingambit's System panel.
Of course he knew Kowtow Cleave was coming.
It was Kingambit's signature move: the user lowered itself as though bowing in submission, then exploited the opponent's lowered guard to strike without warning.
In the games, Kowtow Cleave never missed.
The real world was different.
An attack could still fail if the target simply disappeared before it landed.
And Greninja had Flying Raijin.
"Gren!"
Greninja's eyes sharpened.
Then it vanished.
SWISH!
"Kinga...?"
Kingambit froze.
Its blade had been a hair away from piercing the black frog.
A hair.
So how had it vanished again?!
The massive blade cut through nothing but empty air.
Greninja had already appeared behind it.
Earlier, every Water Shuriken it had thrown across the battlefield had carried a Flying Raijin mark.
By now, black frog symbols were scattered all over the arena.
Every one of them was a teleportation point.
Aaron smiled.
"Frog Boss."
Kingambit was still trying to understand what had happened.
"Power-Up Punch again."
"Gren!"
A blinding white light erupted around Greninja's right fist.
Kingambit heard the cry behind it.
Too late.
Greninja drove its fist straight into the armored Pokémon's waist.
KRAKOOOM!
The impact shook the battlefield.
"KINGA—!"
Kingambit's eyes went wide.
The punch folded into its side with monstrous force and launched its entire body across the arena.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
It flew more than ten meters before crashing into the battlefield.
Its heavy armor struck the ground hard enough to shatter sections of the plating around its waist.
For Kingambit, that single blow was devastating.
Perfect-level Power-Up Punch.
Protean.
Attack at +6.
And a four-times weakness to Fighting.
It never stood a chance.
Kingambit lay at the bottom of a deep crater, spirals filling its eyes.
It was unable to battle.
Even the armor around its waist had cracked apart.
"Th-That's impossible!"
Galen stared at the crater in disbelief.
His eyes were wide.
"Even if Power-Up Punch raised its Attack, there's no way it should hit that hard!"
His mind raced.
He simply could not understand how Greninja's Attack had climbed so high in such a short time.
"Kingambit is unable to battle!"
The referee raised his flag.
"Galen, send out your next Pokémon!"
His second Pokémon had fallen as well.
And the entire match had only been going for a few minutes.
Greninja had already defeated two opponents in a row.
More importantly...
It was still in excellent condition.
Not a single attack had touched it.