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A suffocating pressure hung over the road thick and heavy, like the air before a storm.It wasn't just humidity. It was something far worse. It was the scent of death.
Behind the armored jeep, Aiden crouched low, pale lips trembling as he tried to breathe quietly.He was only seventeen.Barely two years into his career as a Pokémon Trainer.
He'd been through countless simulations and mock battles at the Ignis League Academy,but this was his first time facing a Nightmare Pokémon in the wild.
Beside him, his partner Pokémon, a trembling Buneary, pressed against his side. Aiden gently stroked its fur, whispering, "Don't be scared… I've got you."
He might've been a rookie, but he remembered what his instructors had drilled into him:
In battle, a Trainer's mindset shapes their Pokémon's courage. Lose control of your emotions, and even the strongest team can fall apart.
Stay calm, he reminded himself. For Buneary's sake.
But when he glanced past the jeep, his body went rigid.
Cold sweat streamed down his face.
That thing—That monstrous Pokémon loomed ahead like a mountain of silver steel. Its sheer presence was crushing, the same kind of primal dominance he'd once felt standing before his mentor's [Excadrill].
A true apex predator.And all he had… was a Buneary.
Panic clawed at his chest.He could almost hear a voice screaming inside his skull—Run.You'll die if you stay.
"Maybe… maybe I really should run?" he whispered, voice shaking. Buneary's legs are strong. If she carries me, we might make it…
But as his eyes darted toward the others, the convoy's armed guards still standing firm, guns raised, faces grim but resolute, the thought died in his throat.
They weren't running, They believed in the Trainers protecting them, Believed in him.
They had no Pokémon of their own.All they could do was hold the line and buy time for their allies to strike back, and even knowing how hopeless this seemed, none of them hesitated.
That unspoken trust hit Aiden like a blade through the heart.
He clenched his teeth.Memories surged his home torn apart by Nightmare Pokémon, his brother and sister's lifeless bodies lying in the ruins, and his senior at the academy… the one he'd admired most… returned from a mission in a sealed body bag.
"Damn it!"
He slammed the back of his head against the steel door behind him, pain bursting across his skull. The sharp jolt cleared his fogged mind.
"Why am I even thinking about running?" he growled under his breath. I became a Trainer to stop this. To fight back. To avenge them all.
The trembling stopped. In its place burned a fierce, wild determination.
Fueled by the guards' faith and his own anger, Aiden straightened his back, his fists tightening until his knuckles turned white. He locked his gaze on the monster on the Golisopod standing in the road ahead.
Even so, his training kicked in. Emotion alone wasn't enough. His mind spun rapidly, analyzing every possible move, every second of delay they could afford.
There was no way he could defeat it alone. Not with his current strength. They needed backup.
The convoy's rear escort would've stopped by now. If she realized what was happening up front, she'd come. He knew she would. She'd never abandon him.
"Three cargo trucks… that's about thirty meters." "At her speed… twenty seconds."
Twenty seconds. That's all he needed to buy.
His eyes hardened.
"Buneary—use [Focus Energy]!"
The command snapped through the rain like a whip.
Startled for only a second, Buneary quickly closed its eyes. The trembling faded as it focused, drawing in the surrounding energy. Faint white motes began to shimmer around its body, floating like fireflies before being absorbed into its fur.
And then—
The Golisopod moved.
Crk-crk-crk…Its shell groaned as it shifted, claws scraping across the wet asphalt.
Its black eyes gleamed with hunger and violence.It took one heavy step forward.The road cracked beneath its talons.
Aiden's pupils shrank."Open fire!" he shouted.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gunfire erupted like a thunderstorm.Muzzle flashes flared against the rain, sparks painting the night sky in fleeting bursts of orange and gold.Hot brass casings scattered across the road as smoke coiled upward.
Silver bullets spun through the air, slicing through the drizzle with a faint spiral glow, but when they struck the Golisopod's carapace, they made only a hollow clang-clang-clang.
Each impact rang out like raindrops on a bell. The bullets bounced harmlessly away.
Human technology, no matter how advanced, couldn't even scratch it. Against armor as hard as diamond, it was nothing more than a drizzle of molten rain.
The creature didn't slow down.It just kept walking, one step at a time, like a cat toying with prey.
The air itself seemed to shrink around them, the pressure so thick it felt like the world was closing in.
Iron rain fell upon steel skin.And still, the monster came.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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