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Fighting-type Pokémon have always held a special place in the Pokémon world. Among the nine generations of Pokémon, six generations have featured starter Pokémon whose final evolution includes this type.
In the Pokémon world, discussions on whether humans are Pokémon and what type humans would be often associate humans with the Fighting type.
While psychic abilities are the most common special skills humans possess, very few people reach high levels in this area, with only a few regions having powerful Psychic-type masters.
In contrast, the power of aura and fighting techniques, both related to the Fighting type, are seen as more traditional human abilities.
The former has left enduring legends, while the latter remains widely practiced today.
In the remote outskirts of the Goa Kingdom in the East Blue, Mt. Colubo is now the domain of Fighting-type Pokémon.
"Sniff, sniff, Combusken, Ace hit me again!"
A little boy with a straw hat ran crying to a Pokémon training under a tree.
"Combusken" Combusken stopped her training and sighed.
She thought everyone spoiled Luffy too much. At nine years old, he was still such a crybaby, even more so than she had been as a Torchic.
Combusken had evolved from Torchic two days ago and was now over four months old, ranking third in strength on the mountain. If Machoke returned, she would be fourth.
As a Torchic, she had been a crybaby, always running to Makino to cry. But since evolving, Combusken felt she had matured and didn't cry so easily anymore.
"Hey! Luffy! We agreed no tattling if you lost! You sore loser!"
Ace's voice came from the trees.
Ace, now 12, was a rough-around-the-edges young man who hadn't yet learned to be gentle. With Sabo still around, Ace hadn't taken on the extra responsibilities of an older brother, remaining rough with Luffy.
"I'm not a sore loser!"
Luffy pouted and glared at Ace.
"Yes, you are! Tepig saw everything and can testify!"
Ace pointed to a second Pokémon, a more intensely red one than Blaziken.
"Tepig!" Tepig, arms crossed, nodded, confirming Ace's words, small sparks flying from his snout.
Tepig was born the same day as Torchic, maybe a couple of hours earlier, but was much stronger, around Lv. 25.
Torchic had been a crybaby who couldn't handle any hardship, so her growth was slower than Tepig's, who trained diligently when needed.
"Hmph!"
Luffy snorted angrily and mumbled, "If Sabo and Cyndaquil were here, they'd take my side!"
He turned his head away.
"Hmph, if Monferno knew you were being a sore loser again, he'd beat you up!"
Ace laughed at Luffy's defiant expression.
"No, he wouldn't! He's too busy training to care! And I wasn't being a sore loser!"
Luffy fumed at Ace's smug look but knew he couldn't beat him.
On Mt. Colubo, Luffy was the weakest, regardless of whether Machoke, Sabo, or Cyndaquil were around.
The differences in strength among the younger ones were minor, with wins and losses going back and forth.
Only the top two or three Pokémon had significant power gaps, like the absent Machoke and Monferno.
Machoke, despite being in the second stage of evolution, had a unique evolution method requiring a "trade evolution" unavailable in this world to become Machamp, while Monferno just needed to reach a certain energy threshold.
Machoke, constantly training with Garp against pirates, grew rapidly, even mastering both types of Haki.
Monferno trained alone on Mt. Colubo, growing slower without guidance.
It wasn't favoritism on Garp's part but a desire for Infernape to grow with his siblings, feeling the warmth of family.
Monferno envied Machoke's adventures, and Machoke envied Infernape's constant companionship with their siblings.
Ace soon dragged Luffy back home by his ear.
Combusken and Tepig exchanged a look and shook their heads, used to the routine.
About half an hour later.
"Hey, Luffy, Ace, Combusken, Tepig, long time no see!"
"Cyndaquil~"
Before they got close, they saw Sabo and Cyndaquil waving from the mountain bandit's roof.
"Sabo?!" x2 Ace and Luffy shouted in surprise.
"You two are still the same."
Sabo jumped down, running to his brothers.
As the cleverest of the three, Sabo immediately saw Ace and Luffy had been fighting.
"You're the same too, no changes."
Ace patted Sabo's shoulder, happy his brother was back. "How long are you staying?"
"Two months!"
Sabo held up two fingers, smiling, "This time it's summer vacation, so it's longer."
"Haha, great!"
Ace was thrilled to have his brothers together again, but then noticed Luffy whispering with Cyndaquil and frowned. "Luffy, what are you doing?"
"Cyndaquil said Sabo has a girlfriend at school... mmph mmph!"
Luffy started to answer but was quickly muffled by Cyndaquil.
Cyndaquil shook his head frantically, denying he told any secrets.
"What?!" "Combusken?!" "Tepig?!"
Everyone reacted, even the bandits eavesdropping from the hideout.
"What's going on?" "Details, please!" "Oh, you're in trouble now, Sabo! Garp's gonna be mad." "Sabo, I didn't expect this from you!"
Everyone crowded around, peppering Sabo with questions about his girlfriend.
"It's not a girlfriend, it's just Koala, my good friend."
Sabo scratched his curly hair, exasperated.
To him, Koala was just a close friend, not a girlfriend. But his classmates and even Thatch would tease him, making Koala blush and hit him.
He wasn't the one teasing.
They didn't dwell on it long, quickly setting up a feast for the night.
"Where's Chimchar?"
Sabo asked, curious, "Still training in the back mountains?"
"Chimchar evolved into Monferno. If Machoke doesn't return, Monferno is the boss of Mt. Colubo. No one in the wild messes with him."
Luffy jumped in, excited. "I saw it happen!"
That moment had a profound impact on young Luffy, witnessing Chimchar evolve into Monferno under the waterfall, overcoming water's pressure.
According to Luffy, Chimchar had been training under the waterfall, resisting the water, and just when he couldn't take it anymore, he evolved. The resulting blaze was so intense it evaporated splashing water.
Sabo nodded, recognizing that Infernape's ability, Blaze, had activated, unleashing powerful fire energy.
"Monferno is so cool. His Fire Punch took down the mountain king."
Ace admired Monferno, especially after witnessing him defeat the once untouchable mountain king with a single Fire Punch. It sparked a desire for fire in Ace.
All three brothers, influenced by Infernape, Tepig, Combusken, and Cyndaquil, developed a close bond with fire, potentially leading them to develop fire-related techniques in the future.
However, their essence remained Fighting-type, with skills rooted in combat.
"By the way, I met Garp and Machoke before coming back. Garp said he won't be back for a few months."
Sabo remembered suddenly.
"Why not?"
Ace and Luffy exchanged puzzled looks.
"He's the Fighting-type gym leader at Marineford Gym now. He's busy."
"Gym leader?" x2 Ace and Luffy tilted their heads in confusion.
Living deep in the mountains, they couldn't read the newspapers and knew little of the outside world. They only heard news from Makino during their occasional visits to Windmill Village.
(End of Chapter)