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Time slipped by like sand through fingers.
Before anyone realized, three whole months had passed.
Inside Ignis City's Fighting-Type Gym, at the base of Blazing Peak—
A mountain stripped of all greenery.
Nothing but dark gray stone, jagged and bare, forming a peak shaped like a blade drawn from its sheath sharp, proud, unyielding.
A strange magnetic field and the mountain's unusual mineral composition created a natural gravity zone around the entire area.
And the deeper one ventured into the mountain's interior, the stronger that gravity became culminating at the very summit.
Even many adult Pokémon with naturally superior physiques could only manage to reach the mid-slopes before collapsing.
To reach the top required two things:
Power far beyond one's level…
And an iron will that refused to break.
Because of how brutal the environment was, most of the Gym's Pokémon avoided Blazing Peak entirely.
…But naturally, there were always a few strange creatures in this world ones who seemed born to challenge danger just for the thrill of it.
People even had a name for them:
Headstrong Maniacs.
And right now, one such "maniac" was standing at the base of the peak.
Feld, an officer in the League's Ignis City Sixth Recon Unit, had graduated from the League Academy nearly five years ago.
With passion in his heart and the help of his loyal partner Heracross, he carved out a solid position within the city's League division.
He had just returned from a grueling six-month wilderness reconnaissance mission and was ready to finally take a break.
But his Heracross?
Not a chance.
Despite Heracross being Bug/Fighting only by secondary typing, it shared the trademark quirk of most Fighting-types—
It was a training fanatic.
A relentless grinder.
If Heracross wasn't eating or sleeping, it was training.
Twenty-four hours a day wasn't nearly enough.
Which was why its strength had skyrocketed year after year.
And why Feld had been able to join a Recon Unit at such a young age.
He respected Heracross deeply enough that when it insisted on training instead of resting, he tried to find a compromise.
His solution?
Leave Heracross at the Gym for temporary training while he goes on vacation.
Heracross got intense workouts, he got peace.
Everybody won.
But Heracross refused the Bug-Type Gym where it had been born.
Instead, it asked to be dropped off at the Fighting-Type Gym across the city.
Feld wasn't surprised.
He could already guess its reason.
Heracross stood before Blazing Peak, its dark insect eyes burning with anticipation.
Seventy percent of its decision to come here was staring it directly in the face.
Back in the Recon Unit, a Machamp on Feld's team had bragged endlessly about the Fighting Gym's special training grounds.
Heracross hadn't cared at first after all, all gyms in Ignis City were well-equipped.
But the moment Machamp described the gravity field of Blazing Peak, Heracross felt something spark inside it.
Machamp's tone of awe and fear only made Heracross more excited.
As a true "Headstrong Maniac," it needed to test the rumors for itself.
With a firm step—
"Clack."
Heracross's armored foot struck the dark rock, echoing sharply.
Immediately, a faint, invisible force settled over it, gentle but unmistakably heavier than normal.
"…Interesting."
A sharp gleam flashed in Heracross's eyes.
It sped up, heading straight toward the infamous summit.
Heavy footsteps thudded as it ascended.
Halfway up, the gravity intensified sharply, forcing its armored shell to grind loudly its plates straining, scraping, cracking.
To a heavy, armor-clad Pokémon like Heracross, the pressure was brutal.
But it didn't care.
It was here to confirm the rumors…
And to challenge itself.
Its strength had hit a bottleneck recently.
Its growth had stalled.
But Blazing Peak, this brutal, hostile mountain, hinted at a chance to break through.
"If I can reach the summit… maybe I really can evolve past this limit."
The idea electrified it.
Strength was temptation.
Strength was life.
Heracross roared, and though its steps faltered on the jagged path, it pushed on.
Years of constant training had built it into a powerhouse of endurance.
Even under crushing gravity, with its shell cracking and green blood seeping out, it climbed.
Its breath turned ragged.
It felt its vision blur.
Its once-smooth navy shell was split with thin fractures, leaking sticky green fluid across its body.
But it was close.
Only a few steps.
Just a handful of stone stairs remained.
Yet somehow… those tiny steps felt like a cliff too steep to overcome.
"Damn it…!"
"I'm so close why can't I push just a little further!?"
Heracross felt its bottleneck tremble loosen beg to break.
Its eyes reddened.
Desperation and madness flickered inside.
Bent over like a beast, Heracross dug its claws deep into the stone, dragging itself forward inch by inch.
Bug blood dripped like thick, green rain.
Every movement left a new pool on the ground.
Its consciousness wavered.
But one thought blazed through the haze—
"Up… keep going…"
"Up…!"
"UP!"
And finally—
At the edge of collapse, it took the last step.
Heracross smiled weakly.
It did it.
It—
Wait.
What… is that?
Its eyes widened, pupils shrinking to pinpricks.
At the far edge of the summit, right beside the cliff, sat a pitch-black silhouette, legs crossed in quiet meditation.
The crushing gravity that could pulverize a human instantly…
Didn't seem to affect him at all.
Still. Calm. Silent.
Yet from his presence radiated a serene pressure like the lingering chime of a distant temple bell.
"…Impossible…"
Heracross forgot the pain entirely, frozen in shock.
A heartbeat later, agony surged through its body and its vision turned white.
Just before it finally blacked out it heard a casual, almost amused voice drift across the summit:
"Yo."
"You the new guy?"
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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