Back in the manor's breeding lab, Shiba did not even bother to change out of his coat, which was still stained with a bit of dust.
His breathing was slightly hurried, his heart pounding powerfully in his chest, each beat seeming to urge him onward.
He strode through a spotless metal corridor and stopped before a heavy alloy door. After passing both iris and fingerprint verification, he stepped into the Kudo family's most central breeding chamber.
The lights inside were bright. The air was filled with the mixed scent of high-grade nutrient solutions and metal maintenance agents.
Shiba ignored the precision instruments around him, each one worth a fortune, and walked straight toward the floating incubation console in the center of the room.
His movements were as gentle as possible. His fingertips barely even brushed the cold metal surface, just hovering above it, as he steadily set the dazzling "Heart of the Stars" down in front of the Shiny Beldum.
"Bii bii!"
The sound was short and sharp, carrying the unique, tender quality of a newly born life.
The Shiny Beldum, this little guy that had only been born a few days ago, shuddered the instant it sensed the energy waves emitted by the "Heart of the Stars."
In its crimson single eye, a nearly crazed greed and desire instantly burned to life!
It could clearly feel what that ever-spinning metallic sphere—whose interior seemed to hold an entire starry sky—meant to it.
That was not food, but origin itself!
An unsurpassable treasure capable of elevating the very level of its life!
It hesitated no longer, its body drifting forward of its own accord.
At the exact center of its body, space rippled ever so faintly as an invisible gravitational pull formed from nothing, locking precisely onto the "Heart of the Stars."
The next second, that secret treasure that would drive any Elite-level Trainer insane simply vanished into thin air, swallowed down into its body in one gulp!
"Boom—!"
A tidal wave of energy, impossible to describe with mere words, erupted violently inside the Beldum's small body!
The sheer magnitude of that energy torrent even far surpassed the total power unleashed when Kaito's Haxorus broke through to Champion level earlier!
This was true power of the stars—pure, vast, domineering!
Liquid starlight energy turned into a surging ocean, frantically washing through, infiltrating, and transforming every single metallic cell of Beldum's body. It was brutally elevating the foundations of its life itself, forcing them to a higher dimension!
Shiba's pupils contracted sharply as he immediately activated the [Eye of True Knowledge]!
On his retinas, a stream of data visible only to him began to refresh like a breached floodgate!
[ Ding! Your Beldum's level has risen to LV5! ]
[ Ding! Your Beldum's level has risen to LV10! ]
[ Ding! Your Beldum's level has risen to LV15! ]
...
The level scale was skyrocketing at a speed that completely defied common sense!
"Wonnng—!"
At the instant the level value on the data panel jumped to [LV20], a new mutation erupted!
A blinding silver evolution light burst forth from Beldum with a space-rending momentum, exploding outward and forming a ring of destructive radiance that swept across the surroundings!
The light was so intense it instantly drained all color from the breeding chamber, leaving behind only a pure, searing silver-white that was impossible to look at directly!
Standing to the side, Kazuma and Kaito—these two powerhouses who stood at the very apex of the League—were forced to narrow their eyes and raise their arms in front of them just to barely withstand the piercing glare!
At the heart of that light, Beldum's body structure was undergoing a cataclysmic reconstruction.
Its body was broken down into the most basic energy particles, then reassembled in a more intricate and more powerful configuration!
Two separate bodies forcefully fused into one amid an ear-piercing shriek of grinding steel!
Its body was expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Its structure became far more complex than before, filled with a cold mechanical beauty and an overwhelming sense of power!
The light finally faded.
No, it was more accurate to say that all of it was completely absorbed back into that new body!
A new Pokémon, formed by the fusion of two Beldum, possessing two cold, unblinking eyes, four thick and powerful limbs, and a body that shone with a moonlight-like silver glow—a Shiny Metang—hovered quietly in midair with a kingly, domineering presence!
However, this was still not the end!
The energy storm inside its body was still raging!
The system notifications in front of Shiba's eyes were still madly jumping!
[ Ding! Your Metang's level has risen to LV25! ]
[ Ding! Your Metang's level has risen to LV30! ]
...
In the end, when the very last trace of star power contained in the "Heart of the Stars" was fully absorbed and wrung dry, the tidal waves of energy within Metang finally began to calm.
And its level solidified at a value that countless Trainers could only look up to!
[LV35]!
Gym tier!
With just a single secret treasure, a freshly hatched Pokémon that had been LV1 had, in the span of only a few minutes, leapt straight up to become a powerful existence capable of guarding an entire Gym!
Shiba's gaze was locked tightly onto the refreshed data panel, his heart pounding wildly.
[ Pokémon: Metang (Shiny) ]
[ Level: LV35 ]
[ Type: Steel, Psychic ]
[ Potential: Elite Four tier ]
[ Moves: Meteor Mash, Zen Headbutt, Metal Claw, Psychic, ... ]
Every single word seemed to carry the weight of a thousand pounds as it slammed into his heart!
The joints of Shiba's fingers turned white from how hard he was clenching his hand. An uncontrollable surge of ecstasy shot up along his spine into the top of his head, making the blood in his entire body boil!
"Good… This is too good!"
He almost squeezed the words out through clenched teeth, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.
Beside him, his grandpa Kazuma and his father Kaito no longer had even a trace of the earlier shock on their faces. It had long been replaced by a joy so intense it almost felt tangible.
"A monster… This little guy is an outright monster!" Kaito could not help but curse in amazement, his eyes full of admiration.
Kazuma stroked his beard, his gaze deep as he looked first at the hovering Shiny Metang, then at his spirited grandson. He nodded in satisfaction, his voice tinged with a hint of emotion.
"The bearing of a future Champion has already revealed itself."
They understood very clearly that a future Champion-tier ace had, on this day, been officially born before their very eyes!
Because of this, the future of the Kudo family would only shine even brighter!
(End of Chapter)
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[[email protected]/Zukooo]
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