Chapter 6: The First Badge
Recap: Fang Yuan defeated Chi Cheng in the clan exam final, earning the right to challenge Gu Yue Bo. The clan leader accepted, setting the match for dawn. That night, a mysterious stone in Fang Yuan's possession cracked open, revealing something waiting to be born.
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Dawn broke over Gu Yue Village like a wound opening.
The sky bled orange and red, the clouds streaked with gold. Fang Yuan stood at the edge of the training grounds, his grey robes still, his face empty. In his pockets, six Pokeballs rested against his hip. In his palm, the cracked stone pulsed with a warmth that had not faded through the night.
He had not slept. He had not needed to. Five hundred years had taught him that sleep was a luxury, and before battle, there was no such thing as luxury.
The training grounds were already full. Word had spread. Every disciple who could walk had come to watch. The elders sat on the raised platform, their faces grave. And at the center of it all, Gu Yue Bo waited.
The clan leader stood with his hands behind his back, his robes immaculate, his white hair pulled back from his face. He looked like a mountain—old, unmoving, eternal.
Beside him, two Gu hovered. The first was a Moonlight Gu, but unlike any Fang Yuan had seen. Its glow was not silver but white, bright as a star, its body larger than a fist. Rank 3. Perhaps higher. The second Gu was a creature of stone and earth—a Rock Guardian Gu, its body a sphere of granite, its single eye glowing amber.
Two Subjects. Rank 3 and Rank 2. The Moonlight Gu is his primary weapon. The Rock Guardian is his shield. I've seen this combination before—in my first life. A disciple used it to crush the clan exam thirty years from now.
Fang Yuan stepped onto the arena.
The crowd fell silent. Gu Yue Bo's eyes met his, and for a moment, neither spoke.
"You came," the clan leader said.
"I said I would."
"You also said you wanted a badge. Not a Gu, not a reward. A badge." Gu Yue Bo tilted his head. "What is a badge?"
Fang Yuan's hand brushed the Pokeballs in his pocket. "A key. To unlock what the system took from me."
The clan leader's eyebrows rose. "The system. The Pokeballs. The creatures you carry. I've heard the rumors, Fang Yuan. I've seen what you can do. Three Gu in the exam final. Six, they say, in your possession. A White Boar Gu that should be beyond your rank. Tell me—where did you get this power?"
Fang Yuan smiled. It was not a kind smile. "I died for it."
The crowd stirred. Gu Yue Bo's expression didn't change.
"Very well," he said. "Then let us see what death has taught you."
He raised his hand.
The match began.
---
Fang Yuan moved first.
His hand dipped into his robe and emerged with a Pokeball. He threw it without hesitation, and the Rock Skin Gu materialized directly in front of him, its rocky plates already hardening.
"Defense," Fang Yuan said. "Harden. Hold the line."
The Rock Skin Gu's plates thickened, its body sinking into the earth. It would not move. It would not fall. It was a wall, and Fang Yuan was the man behind it.
Gu Yue Bo's Moonlight Gu pulsed. The white light gathered, condensed, and then— Flash.
The burst was blinding. Fang Yuan had closed his eyes in time, but the Rock Skin Gu reeled, its rocky hide cracking under the intensity. Light type. Strong against Rock? No—neutral. But the rank difference was too great.
The Moonlight Gu is Rank 3. My Rock Skin is Rank 1. One Flash nearly broke it. Another will shatter it.
He returned the Rock Skin Gu to its sphere before the second pulse could land. The crowd gasped—he had withdrawn his Subject mid-battle. Was that allowed?
The rules said nothing against it.
Fang Yuan's second Pokeball was already in the air. The Vine Gu materialized, its tendrils already lashing out.
"Bind. Hold the Moonlight Gu."
The Vine Gu's tendrils shot forward, wrapping around the glowing insect. The Moonlight Gu struggled, its light flaring, but the tendrils held—for now.
Gu Yue Bo's Rock Guardian stirred. Its amber eye fixed on the Vine Gu, and its body began to glow.
Earth-type move. Rock Throw. If that lands, the Vine Gu is finished.
"Return."
Fang Yuan recalled the Vine Gu before the Rock Guardian could strike. The tendrils released, and the Moonlight Gu hovered free, its light flickering but steady.
The crowd was murmuring now. Two Subjects withdrawn. Two attacks absorbed. No damage dealt.
He's testing me, Gu Yue Bo thought, watching the boy's calm face. He's not trying to win. He's trying to learn.
He was right.
Fang Yuan had fought the clan leader before—in his first life, as a Rank 2 Gu Master, with a single Moonlight Gu and a dream. He had lost. Badly. But he had learned. Every move Gu Yue Bo made, every pattern, every weakness—he had catalogued them all.
Now, five hundred years later, he was putting that knowledge to use.
The Moonlight Gu is fast, but its attacks are linear. It can only strike in straight lines. The Rock Guardian is slow, but its defense is absolute. Together, they cover each other's weaknesses. But they have one flaw.
He reached into his robe and pulled out two Pokeballs.
They are two. I am six.
He threw both at once.
The White Boar Gu materialized on his left, its hooves carving furrows in the earth. The Wind Bird Gu materialized on his right, its wings beating furiously.
"Wind Bird. Gust. White Boar. Wait."
The Wind Bird Gu's wings beat faster, faster, until a vortex of air swirled around the arena. Dust rose, obscuring vision. The crowd shielded their eyes. The Moonlight Gu's glow was dimmed, its light scattered by the swirling dust.
The Rock Guardian's amber eye swept back and forth, searching.
"Now. White Boar. Horn Attack."
The White Boar Gu charged.
It was a missile, two hundred pounds of muscle and fury, its tusks aimed directly at the Rock Guardian. The creature's eye widened, its body already shifting to defend—
The Moonlight Gu moved. Its light condensed into a beam, lancing through the dust toward the charging boar.
"Wind Bird. Block."
The Wind Bird Gu dove, its body intercepting the beam. The light struck its wings, and it fell, its feathers smoking. The White Boar Gu's charge didn't slow.
The Rock Guardian's defense was solid—too solid. The White Boar Gu's tusks struck its granite body and skidded off, sparks flying. The creature didn't move.
But the Moonlight Gu was exposed.
Fang Yuan's fourth Pokeball was already in the air.
"Fire Cricket. Ember."
The tiny insect materialized, its body glowing like a coal, and spat a stream of fire directly at the Moonlight Gu. The light insect twisted, trying to evade, but the dust from the Wind Bird's gust had blinded it. The embers caught its wings.
The Moonlight Gu screamed—a high, piercing sound that cut through the crowd's murmurs. Its light flickered, dimmed, and went out.
The Rock Guardian turned, its amber eye blazing. It had been protecting the Moonlight Gu. Without it, the creature was lost.
Gu Yue Bo raised his hand. "Enough."
The Rock Guardian froze. The crowd was silent.
Fang Yuan stood at the center of the arena, four empty Pokeballs in his hands, his chest rising and falling with steady breaths. The Wind Bird Gu lay at his feet, unconscious. The Fire Cricket Gu hovered beside him, its embers dim.
He had used four Subjects. Two were down. Two remained.
But the Moonlight Gu was down. The Rock Guardian was alone.
"You've lost," Fang Yuan said.
Gu Yue Bo looked at him for a long moment. Then, slowly, he smiled.
"I have."
He returned the Rock Guardian to its sphere—an actual sphere, Fang Yuan noticed, not a Pokeball, but a crude imitation carved from wood and stone. The clan leader had been experimenting. Trying to replicate the system's power.
He can't. No one can. The system is mine.
Gu Yue Bo stepped forward, his hand extended. In his palm lay a small, silver badge, shaped like a crescent moon.
"This is the Gu Yue Clan's badge of honor. It marks you as a true disciple, one who has proven himself in combat." He held it out. "Take it."
Fang Yuan took the badge. The moment his fingers touched the silver metal, the system flared.
[Gym Badge Acquired: Gu Yue Badge]
[1/8 Badges Obtained]
[Unlocked: Great Balls now available in Shop]
[Unlocked: Increased capture limit to 12 total Subjects]
[Unlocked: HM01 – Cut – Now available in Shop]
[First Badge Bonus: 50 Primeval Stones]
Fang Yuan's status updated: Primeval Stones: 62.
He slipped the badge into his pocket, his face betraying nothing. The crowd was cheering—cheering for him, he realized. The boy who had been nothing, who had become something, who had beaten the clan leader himself.
They don't know what I am. They don't know what I've done. They don't know what I will do.
He turned and walked off the arena.
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Gu Yue Bo watched him go.
The boy was strange. Too calm, too controlled, too old. No ten-year-old should fight like that. No ten-year-old should command six Gu with the precision of a veteran. No ten-year-old should have eyes that had seen five hundred years of blood.
What are you, Fang Yuan?
The boy paused at the edge of the training grounds and looked back. For a moment, their eyes met.
Fang Yuan smiled. It was not a child's smile. It was the smile of a demon who had just taken the first step on a very long road.
Then he was gone.
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In his quarters, Fang Yuan closed the door and leaned against it.
His hands were shaking. Not from fear. From exhaustion. The battle had taken everything he had—every trick, every strategy, every ounce of his five hundred years of experience. If the clan leader had pressed harder, if the Rock Guardian had attacked instead of defending, if the Moonlight Gu had been just a little faster—
But it didn't. And I won.
He pulled out the silver badge and studied it. The system's notification was still glowing in the corner of his vision.
[First Badge Bonus: 50 Primeval Stones]
[Total Primeval Stones: 62]
Sixty-two stones. Enough for a Great Ball. Enough for two Ultra Balls if I save. Enough for food for weeks.
He opened the Shop and scrolled through the newly unlocked items.
Great Ball – 15 PS – Enhanced capture sphere. Success rate: high.
HM01 – Cut – 15 PS – Teaches a weak cutting move. Clears minor obstacles.
New Items Unlocked with 1 Badge:
· Exp. Share – 80 PS – Equipped Subject gains experience even if not used in battle.
· Dusk Ball – 12 PS – Effective in darkness or caves.
· Quick Ball – 12 PS – Most effective when used at the start of battle.
Exp. Share. Eighty stones. Too expensive. But the Dusk Ball and Quick Ball are affordable. And Cut—a cutting move. Useful for more than combat. Useful for exploring.
He made a note to purchase them later. For now, he had more pressing concerns.
He pulled out the cracked stone.
It had gone dark after the battle. The warmth was gone, the golden light extinguished. But the crack remained—a thin line running down its center, as if something had tried to escape and failed.
What are you?
He held it up to the light. Nothing. Just a stone, cracked and cold.
He placed it on his bedside table and turned to his Pokeballs.
Six spheres. Six Subjects. Two were injured—the Wind Bird Gu had taken a direct hit from the Moonlight Gu's beam, and the Rock Skin Gu was still recovering from the Flash. The others were tired but functional.
He opened the Shop and purchased two Potions (8 PS each) and one Super Potion (20 PS). His stones dropped to 26.
He applied the Potions to the Wind Bird Gu and the Rock Skin Gu, watching their vitals rise on the system interface. The Super Potion he saved for later.
They need rest. They need food. They need training.
He set the auto-feeding system to distribute food evenly and lay back on his bed.
The ceiling was the same as always—cracked wooden beams, a faint smell of mildew. But something had changed. The room felt smaller, somehow. Or perhaps he had grown.
One badge. Seven to go. The next Gym Leader is in Shang Clan City. A Rank 4 Gu Master. A water specialist. I'll need new Subjects to counter him. Water types. Grass types. Electric, if I can find it.
He closed his eyes.
But first, I need to heal. I need to train. I need to prepare.
A knock at his door.
He didn't move. "Who is it?"
"It's me." Ming's voice, high and nervous. "Can I—can I come in?"
Fang Yuan considered refusing. Then he sat up and opened the door.
Ming stood in the corridor, his face pale, his hands clutching something to his chest. Behind him, the corridor was empty.
"What do you want?"
Ming held out his hands. In them was a small, wooden box, carved with symbols Fang Yuan didn't recognize.
"My father found this," Ming said, his voice barely a whisper. "In the forest. Where you caught the White Boar Gu. He said—he said it was glowing. The night before your match. He said I should give it to you."
Fang Yuan took the box. It was warm. Not with heat, but with something else—something that pulsed, like a heartbeat.
He opened it.
Inside, nestled on a bed of dried leaves, was a Pokeball.
But not like any Pokeball he had seen before. This one was black and gold, its surface etched with symbols that shifted as he watched. It hummed with power, a low, steady thrum that vibrated through his fingers.
[Unknown Item Detected]
[Classification: ??]
[Origin: ??]
[Warning: This item does not match any known system parameters. Proceed with caution.]
Fang Yuan stared at the black-and-gold sphere in his hands. The system didn't know what it was. The system, which had catalogued everything, which had created the Shop, which had sealed his Spring Autumn Cicada—the system didn't know.
What have I found?
He looked up at Ming. The boy's face was terrified.
"Did you see anything else? Anything at all?"
Ming shook his head. "Just the box. Just the ball. My father said—he said it was calling to him. From the forest. That's how he found it. He said it was calling."
Fang Yuan closed the box. The sphere's hum faded, but he could still feel it—a presence, waiting.
"Thank you," he said. "Tell your father to speak of this to no one."
Ming nodded and fled.
Fang Yuan closed the door and sat on his bed, the box in his hands.
The system doesn't know what it is. Which means the system didn't create it. Which means something else did.
He opened the box again. The black-and-gold sphere pulsed once, twice, three times.
Something that can create Pokeballs. Something that can bypass the system. Something that called to a man in the forest, that wanted to be found.
He reached out and touched the sphere.
It was cold. Colder than it should be. And in that cold, Fang Yuan felt something—a presence, vast and ancient, watching him from the other side of the sphere's surface.
He pulled his hand back.
Not yet. Not until I know what it is.
He closed the box and placed it under his bed, next to the cracked stone.
One badge. One mysterious Pokeball. One cracked stone with something inside it.
He lay back and stared at the ceiling.
The world is changing. And I need to change faster.
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End of Chapter 6