Chapter 13: The Iron Fortress
Recap: Fang Yuan cleared the cave trial, capturing a Rank 3 Stone Dragon Gu. Now, with his fusion ability still two days from recovery, he heads to the Tie Clan fortress to challenge the third Gym Leader.
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The Tie Clan fortress rose from the mountain like a clenched fist.
Fang Yuan stood at the base of the path leading up to its gates, his grey robes dusty from the climb, his face turned toward the iron walls that gleamed in the morning light. The fortress was not beautiful like Shang Clan City. It was functional, brutal, designed to resist siege, to crush invaders, to endure.
Appropriate. The man inside is the same.
He had heard the stories in the village. Tie Shan had been the clan leader for forty years. He had fought in three wars, survived a hundred duels, and never lost a match in the arena. His Gu were Rock and Steel, his strategies simple and devastating. He did not outthink his opponents. He outlasted them.
I can't outlast him. My Subjects are still recovering from the cave. The Stone Dragon Gu is strong, but I don't know how to use it yet. I need to end the fight quickly.
He started up the path.
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The gates were open.
No guards. No sentries. Just an iron portcullis raised high enough for a single person to pass. Fang Yuan walked through, his footsteps echoing in the empty courtyard beyond.
The courtyard was vast, paved with stone, surrounded by walls of black iron. At its center, a man sat on a throne carved from the mountain itself. He was massive—broad shoulders, thick arms, a face scarred by a hundred battles. His hair was grey, his eyes black, his hands resting on the arms of his throne like they were holding the world in place.
Beside him, two Gu hovered. The first was a Golem Gu, larger than any Fang Yuan had seen—Rank 3, its body gleaming steel, its eyes red fire. The second was a creature of stone and sand—a Sandstorm Gu, Rank 2, its body a swirling vortex of grit.
No third Gu. Just these two. But they're enough.
Tie Shan's eyes fixed on Fang Yuan. "You cleared the cave."
It wasn't a question.
"Yes."
"The Stone Dragon Gu. You captured it."
Fang Yuan's hand went to the sphere in his pocket. "Yes."
Tie Shan smiled. It was not a kind smile. It was the smile of a man who had seen a hundred challengers come and go, who had buried them all.
"That creature killed three of my best disciples. I was going to destroy it myself, after the trial." He leaned forward. "You saved me the trouble. For that, I'll give you one chance. Walk away. Leave my territory. And I'll pretend this never happened."
Fang Yuan met his gaze. "I need the badge."
Tie Shan's smile faded. "Then you'll have to earn it."
He stood. The Golem Gu moved with him, its iron feet clanking against the stone. The Sandstorm Gu swirled faster, its vortex growing.
Fang Yuan reached into his robe and pulled out a Pokeball. "I intend to."
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The match began without warning.
The Sandstorm Gu erupted, a wall of grit and dust that swept across the courtyard. Fang Yuan's eyes watered, his lungs filled with sand. He couldn't see. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.
He's blinding me. Disorienting me. Making me fight blind.
He released his Wind Bird Gu. "Gust!"
The Wind Bird Gu's wings beat, creating a vortex of air that pushed back the sandstorm. For a moment, the courtyard cleared, and Fang Yuan saw Tie Shan's Golem Gu charging toward him, its fist raised.
He dove to the side. The fist struck the stone where he had been standing, shattering it into a crater.
He recalled the Wind Bird Gu and released his Water Flea Gu. "Bubble!"
A stream of bubbles shot toward the Golem Gu. They struck its iron body and burst, harmless. Steel was resistant to water. He had known that. But he needed to distract it, to buy time.
Tie Shan laughed. "Water against steel? That's your plan?"
He raised his hand, and the Sandstorm Gu surged again, filling the courtyard with grit. Fang Yuan's Water Flea Gu was caught in the vortex, its body torn apart by the sand.
He recalled it too late. The sphere was dark.
Another Subject gone. I can't keep losing them.
He released his Lotus Gu. Its petals were still torn from the cave, its light dim, but it was his only counter to the sandstorm.
"Petal Dance."
The golden light scattered, pushing back the sand, but the Lotus Gu was too weak. Its petals were shredding, its light flickering.
The Golem Gu charged again. Fang Yuan dove, rolled, and came up with another Pokeball in his hand.
He released his Magnemite Gu. "Thunder Shock!"
The bolt of lightning struck the Golem Gu's chest, and the creature convulsed. Its iron body conducted the electricity, and for a moment, it froze, its systems overloaded.
Fang Yuan released his White Boar Gu. "Horn Attack! Now!"
The White Boar Gu charged, its tusks lowered, and struck the Golem Gu's chest. The creature toppled, its red eyes flickering, and crashed to the ground.
Tie Shan's smile was gone. "You think that's enough?"
The Sandstorm Gu surged, its vortex doubling in size. The White Boar Gu was caught in it, its body torn, its legs giving out. Fang Yuan recalled it before it could be destroyed.
The Lotus Gu was gone. Its petals had shredded completely, its light extinguished. He recalled its dark sphere and tucked it away.
He had three Subjects left. The Stone Dragon Gu. The Moonlight Gu. And one he had been saving for this moment.
Tie Shan stepped forward, his Golem Gu rising behind him, its red eyes blazing. "You've fought well, boy. Better than most. But you're out of tricks."
Fang Yuan reached into his pocket and pulled out the last Pokeball. It was not the Stone Dragon Gu's. It was something he had captured on the way to the fortress, something he had been saving for this exact moment.
He released it.
The creature that materialized was small, unremarkable—a Diglett Gu, Rank 1, Ground type. Its body was brown, its nose twitching, its eyes barely visible.
Tie Shan laughed. "A Diglett? That's your final stand?"
Fang Yuan smiled. "Diglett. Dig."
The Diglett Gu burrowed into the ground, disappearing beneath the stone. Tie Shan's laughter died. He looked down, his eyes scanning the courtyard.
The ground beneath the Golem Gu erupted.
The Diglett Gu burst from the earth, its body slamming into the Golem Gu's legs. The creature stumbled, its iron feet sinking into the hole the Diglett had created. It tried to rise, but the ground was unstable, crumbling.
"Now," Fang Yuan said. "Stone Dragon Gu."
He released his newest Subject. The Stone Dragon Gu materialized in a whirlwind of grey scales and golden eyes, its body coiling, its wings spreading. The courtyard seemed to shrink around it.
Tie Shan's face went pale. "That's—"
"Dragon Breath."
The Stone Dragon Gu opened its mouth, and a stream of golden fire erupted. It struck the Golem Gu's chest, and the creature's iron body melted, ran like water, collapsed.
The Golem Gu fell. Its red eyes went dark.
Tie Shan stood alone, his Sandstorm Gu swirling uselessly around him. He looked at the remains of his Golem Gu, then at Fang Yuan.
"You've won," he said. His voice was flat.
Fang Yuan recalled his Subjects. "The badge."
Tie Shan reached into his robes and pulled out a token of black iron, shaped like a mountain peak. He tossed it to Fang Yuan.
"Take it. And get out of my territory."
Fang Yuan caught the badge. The system flared.
[Gym Badge Acquired: Tie Badge]
[3/8 Badges Obtained]
[Unlocked: Ability Capsule now available in Shop]
[Unlocked: Increased capture limit to 24 total Subjects]
[Third Badge Bonus: 150 Primeval Stones]
His status updated: Primeval Stones: 211.
He pocketed the badge and turned to leave.
"Boy."
He stopped. Looked back.
Tie Shan was standing over the remains of his Golem Gu, his face unreadable. "The creature you carry. The black-and-gold sphere. I've seen it before. A long time ago. In a place I've tried to forget."
Fang Yuan's hand went to his pocket, where the sphere rested. "Where?"
Tie Shan's eyes were distant. "In the north. Beyond the mountains. There's a valley where the earth bleeds black and the sky never clears. The clans call it the Dead Lands. The Gu there are wrong—twisted, corrupted, nothing like the ones we raise. And at the center of it all, there's a door. A door made of the same metal as your sphere."
He looked at Fang Yuan. "Whatever you're looking for, boy, you'll find it there. And you'll wish you hadn't."
Fang Yuan said nothing. He turned and walked out of the fortress, the black iron badge heavy in his pocket.
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He walked until the fortress was a smudge on the mountain, until the village was a cluster of lights in the valley below. Then he stopped and sat on a rock, his Subjects' spheres spread out before him.
Three badges. Three victories. But the cost was mounting.
The Rock Skin Gu was gone. The Water Flea Gu was gone. The Lotus Gu was recovering, but its petals were torn, its light dim. The White Boar Gu was wounded. The Magnemite Gu was cracked. The Stone Dragon Gu was strong, but he didn't know how to control it, didn't know what it was capable of.
I need time. Time to train. Time to recover. Time to understand what I'm becoming.
He pulled out the black-and-gold sphere. It was cold in his hand, cold as death, and when he held it, he could feel the presence inside—the creature that had saved him in the cave, the fragment of something ancient and terrible.
You found the other fragment, it had said. The other fragment.
He tucked the sphere away and looked north. Beyond the mountains, the Dead Lands waited. A door made of the same metal as his sphere. A valley where the earth bled black.
Four badges left. Then the system unlocks. Then I find out what's on the other side of the door.
He stood and started walking.
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End of Chapter 13