Winning the Rookie Tournament of the Battle Tower stirred little emotion within Kudo Shiba.
Both the trophy and the honor felt more like a milestone by the roadside—something that acknowledged the path he had already walked, yet incapable of defining the journey he was about to embark upon.
His sight had long since surpassed this city. His mind was already fixed upon the true battlefield that measured the worth of geniuses: the Citywide Rookie Championship.
In the days that followed, Shiba immersed himself completely in a monotonous yet ruthlessly efficient cycle of special training. Every drop of sweat, every moment of pushing himself to the limit, forged the foundation for the throne that awaited him in the future.
Early one morning, when the sky was only beginning to lighten—
The manor was quiet and serene, with only faint sounds from Pokémon doing morning exercises in the distance.
BEEP—BEEP—BEEP—!
A sharp, high-frequency energy alarm ripped through the peaceful silence without warning. It came from the top-level incubation chamber—the area with the highest security clearance in the entire manor.
On the training grounds, where Shiba was conducting mental synchronization training with his Dragonair, his body suddenly froze.
His eyes snapped open, a spark flashing across his pupils.
That sound!
Without the slightest hesitation, his figure blurred into an afterimage as he bolted toward the incubation chamber.
His heart pounded violently in his chest—not from anxiety, but from uncontrollable anticipation surging from deep within his soul.
He pushed open the heavy alloy doors. A wave of scorching energy blasted outward to greet him.
Inside the top-class incubation chamber, every precision instrument flashed with an urgent red warning light. The air was filled with a sweet metallic scent—a byproduct of pure energy becoming oversaturated.
Kudo Shiba's eyes locked directly onto the transparent incubator at the room's center.
That egg.
The one he had forcefully intercepted from Kaoru—the pure silver, flawless Shiny Beldum egg.
Now, it was no longer a silent metallic object.
Brilliant light erupted from within the shell, illuminating the entire room in silver-white. Countless tiny cracks spread across the shell like a spiderweb, each one overflowing with barely-contained power.
It was hatching!
Shiba felt his breath stop. Every shred of his focus condensed upon the life seconds away from breaking free.
Crack… tch—
A crisp sound rang out, like metal fracturing.
Not simply breaking—more like a sealed destiny being released.
Crack—crack—crack—!
The sounds grew denser, sharper.
Finally, with a deafening blast, the shell could no longer contain the terrifying life within—
It shattered!
Countless silver fragments dissolved in the air, evaporating without leaving the slightest residue.
At the center of the light, a strange little creature floated gently.
Its body was composed of three silver-white metallic sections, each glimmering with icy sheen. They were connected by a mysterious magnetic field that held them in a delicate balance.
On the foremost segment, there was a single enormous red eye—burning with a fiery luster.
There was no newborn confusion in that eye. Instead, it watched its new world with an almost higher-dimensional awareness—cold, analytical, curious.
When its gaze finally landed on Shiba—the person it had sensed through the egg before hatching, the very first human it saw—that icy gaze rippled ever so slightly.
"Bip… bip…"
A young yet distinctly electronic synthetic voice sounded.
It drifted forward on its own, pressing its cool, metallic body lightly against Shiba's arm—an affectionate, curious motion carrying the instinctive trust of a newborn.
It was the one-in-ten-thousand, the near-mythical rarity—the Shiny Beldum, a Shiny pseudo-legendary.
A flood of indescribable elation smashed through the calm he had forced himself to maintain.
His fingers trembled as he gently touched the newborn's cold metallic body, feeling its budding trust.
Perfect.
Intercepting Kaoru, waiting all this time—every step of his planning and patience had led to this flawless moment.
"Eye of True Sight—activate."
He whispered internally.
A lightly glowing gold data panel—visible only to him—unfolded above the Shiny Beldum.
[Pokémon: Beldum (Shiny)]
[Level: LV 1]
[Type: Steel / Psychic]
[Ability: Clear Body (Prevents its stats from being lowered by the opponent's moves or abilities)]
[Potential: Elite Four-tier]
[Nature: Adamant (ATK↑, Sp. ATK↓)]
[Egg Move: Zen Headbutt]
When Shiba saw the final line, his pupils shrank, and his heart seemed to skip a beat.
Luxurious!
No—luxurious wasn't enough to describe it.
This was a textbook example of the perfect, dreamlike starting stat panel.
Elite Four-tier potential meant it had the qualifications to reach the Champion domain.
Clear Body—immune to Intimidate and all stat-lowering effects—guaranteed peak output in any scenario.
Adamant nature—boosting physical attack at the cost of useless special attack—was the ideal nature for a physical attacker.
And the finishing touch—the inherited move Zen Headbutt.
A powerful STAB physical Psychic attack, perfectly patching the early-game physical shortcomings of the Metagross evolutionary line.
Every stat, every trait, every note pointed toward one inevitable conclusion—
The absolute king of physical offense.
"Excellent… my Psychic–Steel monarch."
Shiba clenched his fist. His chest rose and fell sharply, and a low growl escaped his throat—the release of overwhelming exhilaration.
He hadn't obtained a rough gem—he had obtained a divine relic fallen from the realm of gods, destined to forge a future legend.
Without delay, he retrieved a special insulated case.
Inside was a carefully prepared blend: ultra-fine powder ground from several top-grade metal ores mixed with M-Energy Cubes, compressed into specialized nutritional feed.
He picked up a small piece and offered it to the newborn.
The Shiny Beldum's eye flickered. Sensing the pure energy that matched its own nature, it opened its unseen "mouth" and swallowed the food in one bite.
Soon, news that a flawless Shiny pseudo-legendary had been born in the Kudo family spread through the manor like a cyclone.
Kaito and Hanae arrived first. The moment they pushed open the door and saw the silver-white Shiny Beldum floating affectionately beside their son—radiating potent energy—their faces lit up with uncontrollable joy and excitement.
"Good! What a magnificent Shiny Beldum!" Kaito exclaimed in full admiration.
Far away in the Imperial Capital, Champion Kazuma received a call immediately.
When Shiba reported every detail of the Beldum's data, the line fell silent for several long seconds.
Then—
A booming, exuberant laugh erupted through the phone, so powerful it nearly burst Shiba's eardrums.
"Good! Excellent! A Shiny Beldum with an Adamant nature! The heavens bless our Kudo family! Bless us indeed!"
When the laughter ceased, Kazuma's voice—firm with the authority of a Champion—sounded clearly:
"Shiba, you did wonderfully. From this moment forward, use the finest resources in our family's storage. Build its foundation with no hesitation. Do not fear waste."
"When my mission ends, I will immediately use all of my connections to contact that artisan—'Heavenly Smith.' No matter the cost, I will secure the finest Steel-type treasured artifact as a birth gift for my precious grandson's partner!"
(End of Chapter)
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