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It was the year 1491. The young man’s name was Antonio.

Antonio had lived in the country of Spain in the city of Toledo with his poorish family of four, with his working father, stay-at-home mother, and his little sister Josefina. Antonio was only sixteen years old when he had first seen a royal convoy of mighty strong Spanish soldiers on horseback, shiny armor glinting in the sun, receiving much praise from the people of Toledo as they go onwards to push out the Moors to Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar. Seeing such an awesome display of bravery, courage, honor, respect, and having a task as to protect your own country inspired Antonio to become a soldier as well. He wanted to do something that was the greatest he could do, as a young man, fighting for his country and protecting it. For days he would endlessly tell his mother and father about becoming a soldier and feeling the need to answer the call to serve his country. Not only that, but he would be remembered by his classmates at school, the people in his surrounding neighborhood of apartments. Antonio wanted to be a hero, a model of inspiration, and a savior of Spain and protector of Christianity. He would even use the wooden handle of a broom as if it were a spear or sword and lunge it and jab it into the bushes or the sacks of potatoes or apples that played as target dummies for young and determined Antonio. Meanwhile Antonio’s parents had strongly attempted to persuade Antonio not to join the Spanish military in fear of him either not seeing any action and just cleaning the stables all day, or having to be part of the infantry that are deployed on the front lines just to die instantly. They both could not deter Antonio’s destiny, and he didn’t change much after that.

On one scorching Saturday, the sun’s heat was really beating on the citizens and workers of Toledo. The partly cloudy skies offered a brief break from the sun whenever a cloud would blot out its rays. Antonio was doing errands for his mother while she took care of Josefina at home. He was walking around the vibrantly colored buildings and through the narrow walkways that modern cars couldn’t pass through. He had a list of things to grab: “manzanas (apples), uvas (grapes), especias (spices) leche (milk) y pescado (and fish).” While walking around a corner he saw a man sitting down against the wall in the shade of the open corner where street performers might play. He had a hood draped over his head and Antonio stopped walking to look at the man. Antonio could see the man had white facial hair and a short beard that stopped around halfway down his neck, as well as long white hair. The man had his head down but he slowly looked up at Antonio. Antonio stepped back a step and the man slowly had his head back down to face the street, having his hands over his knees. He was wearing sandals and short brown pants with a cherry red shirt on with a black apron on also. He had brown hooded robes that concealed most of his clothing, except his exposed legs and feet.

Antonio was a little scared by how the man appeared to be silent, almost too silent. He had the courage to talk to him, or try to. “Hello?” he spoke. The man slowly looked up at Antonio and replies, “Guten tag.” Antonio raised an eyebrow and didn’t understand what the man had said, despite having the heavy accent of being from a foreign nation. “Who are you?” Antonio asked again, “What are you doing here all by yourself?” “You know English as vell eh?” The man said, sitting up a little. Antonio nods, “Yes, I do know English. I can read it, speak it, and write it…” The man lets out a relieved sigh, “Danke Gott. A person who can speak English too… My name ist Ludwig, boy.” Ludwig got to his feet and Antonio was surprised once more by Ludwig. As he was getting to stand up, his frame looked larger, bigger, muscular too, standing about 6 feet and three and a half inches tall. Ludwig had sported himself a rather impressively strong body for his old-looking age. He puts the hood down behind his head and had blue eyes and white hair with a slightly wrinkled face. He offers a handshake with Antonio, putting his big aged hand out. Antonio practically froze from looking at Ludwig, and didn’t respond for several seconds. Ludwig noticed how timid Antonio was, and he wanted to reassure him by saying, “Ist alright, boy. I vill not hurt you… I may look hooge but I’m not a bad man…” Antonio shook his head and snapped out of it and proceeded to shake Ludwig’s hand, trusting him on his word. “A-alright Ludwig. My name is Antonio. It’s nice to meet you.” “It is nice to meet you too, Antonio.” Both of them shook hands for a couple more seconds before breaking the handshake by letting go. “And,” Ludwig continued, “to answer your question, Antonio: I’m a lonely old man who does not know vhere to go in such a vast and beeootiful vorld like zis. You see, I forge veapons; I’m a blacksmith.” Antonio listened with interest to Ludwig’s backstory, occasionally asking silly questions like a child. Of course, he still is one. “You are? Where are you from?” Ludwig answered, crossing his arms. “I am from ze Holy Roman Empire,” he said proudly, “Ist actually Germany but don’t vorry about it. Ah, ja… my home. I have seen plenty of it now, but I felt a calling to roam around the vorld. As of now, I am a nomad, searching for a new world outside my own to help…”

“A new world to help huh?” Antonio asked, knowing of a world that can be helped: his, the world of Spain that he lives in. “Well,” he went on, “The army’s trying to kick out the Moors back to Africa. And… well, I want to help but I’m only sixteen. I don’t think anyone believes that I can do it, wanting to help serve my country.” His tone slowly descended down into shame and doubt. He hung his head and looked down. Ludwig blinked and had a memory pop up in his head. It was a memory of one of his special forged armor sets. He had some “magical” help from his Norse friends up in Sweden to put it together. He looked at Antonio with a smirk slowly forming and transitioning into a grin on his face. “I might have something…” Ludwig said softly, “Come with me. I have something special that might help you out with your problem.” Although he was hesitant, he nodded and followed Ludwig through the streets and narrow walkways in between buildings. About an hour later, both of them arrive at Ludwig’s shanty apartment that was full of many types of armor and forging materials. Among them was a big wooden chest embroidered with gold on it, sitting next to the kitchen. There were chains that wrapped around the four corners of the chest, and a lock in the middle where it all leads back to. Antonio was slowly walking towards the large chest, looking at its elegance and its appearance of a great craftsman's work. It was almost like the chest spoke to Antonio with silence and the little breeze of wind from outside. Ludwig had noticed Antonio crouching and gazing at the chest and slowly smiled. The special set of armor was in that locked chest.

“Ah, I’ve seen you found ‘it,’” Ludwig stated, “It is an amazing sight indeed. But vhat you seek is in zat chest, young Antonio.” Antonio stood and turned around to see Ludwig hold a golden key in his hand, with an intricate design and carving of something with spikes on it. A creature unknown or unseen, all the more mystery and intriguing to the special, mysterious chest. Antonio looked at the shiny key and then at Ludwig waving it, asking him, “What’s inside the chest?” Still smiling and having his chin up a little, looking down at Antonio, Ludwig answered him, “Your very own set of armor rests inside zat chest.” Antonio dropped his jaw and gasped surprised. Ludwig went on, “With zis armor equipped on you, you vill be an unstoppable force of nature. Ze enhancements are incredibly reliable, and you vill be better, stronger, harder to kill. Granted you von’t be immortal, but you can be sure zat it vill not be likely zat you’ll die easily, at all. Zis armor vill take you places, boy… and it vill help your fellow Spainard brozers push back ze Moors.”

Antonio looked like he could barely contain himself with what Ludwig is saying. According to Ludwig, not only will Antonio be a strong and hardy soldier, but he’ll actually live to fight another day. He clenched his fists and smiled, gritting his teeth and saying “Yesss!” to himself. Ludwig chuckled to himself and then unlocked the lock and chest that contained this enchanted and amazing armor set. As the chest slowly opened up, Antonio’s eyes widened and bulged in excitement with each slow passing second. When the chest was fully opened, Antonio raised his eyebrows in confusion from what he saw, weirdly colored green and light-yellow gauntlets with brown gloves, the same colored leggings with brown shoes, a light-yellow helmet with a secondary brown color where the helmet would be above his nose on his head. Finally, for the chestplate, it had a large, heavily plated back plate on the back with two short spikes pointed outwards. Antonio was dumbstruck with awe and misunderstanding. He looked at Ludwig, “Uh, Ludwig? What kind of armor is this? It looks like some kind of silly costume…”

“Costume? Costume?” Ludwig laughed, slapping his knee, then recollecting himself by clearing his throat after laughing, “First of all, zat’s a first. Second, no it is not a costume. Go on, put it on. I vill be in another room to give you some privacy.” With that being said, Ludwig left and went upstairs to his room. “But-but Ludwig I-” Antonio tried to follow Ludwig and tell him he didn’t want to put it on, “-don’t want to put it on.” It was too late; Ludwig was upstairs in his room with his door closed. He sighed and sat on a chair in the kitchen, having the helmet in his hands. He observed the piece of the armor set with a little frown of disappointment, “This is ridiculous. I bet he’s just trying to mess with me…” Antonio sighed once more and dropped his head down, shaking it and stomping on the floor once in slight anger and frustration. For a few seconds he had his eyes closed, but he opened them when he swore he heard something, or felt like he did. He looked to the windows with the wind blowing the tiny curtains a little, and he looked at the helmet. The same silence from the chest, like a calling, spoke a thousand words to Antonio again. He couldn’t make out or directly hear any words, but he sensed that the armor wanted him to put it on. For two times he said to himself in his head that it’s crazy talk and it’s just the heat of Spain getting to his head, but for the third time, he heard Ludwig call out from upstairs.

“You done Antonio?”

“Uh...just a second!”

“Aw come on! It von’t bite!”

Antonio sighed and decided to put the helm on, and it covered all of his hair. It was a perfect fit for the Spanish sixteen year-old, and he nodded his head. After that he put the brown boots and green armored leggings on him over his pants and his worn leather boots. Another perfect fit, just like the helm. He slipped on the shoulder pads and gauntlets, including the brown gloves. He reached down to put on the chest plate but fell on the floor while doing so. The armor was a little heavy for Antonio but he managed to muster as much of the little strength he had to get up on his feet again, slipping the chest plate on. But there was a problem, it wouldn’t fit while he had the helm on. Therefore, Antonio’s first lesson was to always put the helmet on last. It’s how it goes in stories and movies. Finally, after popping his head out through the hole of the top of the chest plate, he put the helm on a second time and then looked in the mirror. Staring at himself, his first few thoughts of it were him being laughed at by the other soldiers. But he shook his head and drifted his eyes away from the mirror, ignoring the embarrassing thoughts.
He kept saying to himself that he will be strong, so long as he remains strong, Spain remains strong. Something out of his league to make him seem like he may be the only one left. He was trying to look deep within himself, but he remained lost and confused. Armor alone wouldn’t protect him. No, he needed something more. A chance, a sign, an answer. A change of course, redirection. A transformation…

The armor had glowed a bright green and the light had shone through the windows and pierced the sky through the hole in the ceiling. It was a beacon, soaring ever higher into the blue sky. The green rays even shone through Antonio’s bulging eyes and open mouth. His head was lifted up and he stood there, frozen still, and Ludwig finally came down to see him in the armor.

“Antonio?” What’s going...on?” He reached the bottom of the stairs and sees Antonio and the bright green lights emanating out of him. He stared in awe and realized that the Norse enchantments were real, and that they are about to go to work.

The transformation of Antonio began with his boots, as the actual footwear began to shrink down to having brown toes for his small feet. Then the toenails disappear and is replaced by skin. The five toes move closer together. His pinky toes and the second tinier toes are closer together to each other, as are the middle toes and the second biggest toes. Finally the big toes are on their own, and the skin merges and conjoins. Antonio now has three toes per foot, and the skin gets rougher, tougher, harder, and thicker. Towards the end of each toe, they sharpen as if they’re short but sharp talons. Antonio’s feet were still small with his newly changed toes, and so his feet started to grow and slowly elongate. They became longer, larger, and the white skin slowly yellows a tad, also becoming rough and harder, as if some kind of armor under the actual armor.

Antonio’s twig-like legs immediately get thicker and his muscle mass and density increases, the skin changing like the tops and soles of his feet did. Bones restructured, if needed, and gained more resilience and sturdiness for his developing muscles. With each passing minute, Antonio’s legs looked more impressive and jacked. His legs looked more like the armor now, or perhaps the armor was his newly changed legs? Antonio’s groin was cupped and covered and his rear itself was getting more muscular, although not that noticeable. His lower back widens a little and his little stomach flab was fading away into ab after ab after ab. A hardened six pack was popping itself and swelling itself into place. Antonio now has phenomenal abdominal muscles, and it wasn’t even over yet.

Meanwhile Ludwig was shocked and intrigued to watch such impossible things happen before his eyes. He tried to call to Antonio, “Antonio! Can you hear me?” Unfortunately, all he heard was the bones cracking and the wooden floor creaking more and more due to Antonio’s gaining weight with the bulk. In the midst of things, Antonio had a little bulge above his rear, and it was slowly growing outwards, the skin light green on top and a ridged pale-ish yellow was on the bottom. He was growing a tail, a new appendage to his changing body. It continued to slowly swish left and right, then remaining still as the alteration continues. Now for the real show: Antonio’s upper body. His chest started to crack and barrel outwards while his torso widens a little bit, broadening and making more room for his large, dense, and strong muscles to grow. Then white hairs sprout over towards the center of his chest, in between his growing and powerful pecs, ending up with a tuft of white fur over his large, impressive, and eye-grabbing chest muscles.

Antonio’s shoulders broaden a little and from there to the backs of his hands, the thickening hard skin turns the same light green on his tail. Two spikes *shink* their way out, a smaller one on the back of each hand and a bigger one on each forearm, closer to the wrist. The palms of his hands turn white and his fingers fuse the same was as his toes did, revealing sharp, brown claws. While that was happening his biceps, triceps, and other muscles in his arms get denser and larger, the skin turning a bright tint of green where his biceps would be. His “guns” keep on increasing in density and mass, as with the rest of his form. They were guns fit for a king, maybe. But he was no king… He was a boy turning into a creature unlike any man would be. The larger thing on his back looked more and more of some kind of shell with two spikes protruding outwards towards the top of it. It was pale yellow, followed by a thin strip of cherry red, than light green. Inside the “shell” on his back was all dark and brown.

Ludwig watched closely as it was almost over. He was still speechless at many things: how this was happening right here and now, how no one has said anything, how he himself isn’t stopping him or saying anything, and what will become of Antonio’s mind and soul after the change. Let’s get to the head start. Antonio was growing facial hair rapidly, and it was as white as the clouds, like the tuft on his chest. His entire skin was turning white on his face, save for a small bit of brown where the helm ends and it’s the space above his eyes, in between them, and above his nose. Speaking of which, it was moving outwards, pulling his face and skull with it. His head was changing into some kind of slight muzzle, and his nose was red like the tiny stripe on his back. His teeth sharpened and his eyes closed finally. Two small spikes formed with his head and neck in between them. It looked like the armor on his back was connected in a way, and everything stopped.

Antonio had grown into what would be the Pokemon known as Chesnaught, only he was much more muscular than one and approximately 6’ 3” tall, probably weighing a few hundred pounds of muscle, strength, armor, and all the guts Antonio has. When he opened his eyes once again, they were black instead of his previous color when he was human. He took deep breaths, sounding much older and bigger. He took a look at himself and slowly looked over to Ludwig. He nodded and smiled, “Don’t worry. It’s still me, Antonio. This armor, it…. It called to me, said that I need to look inside myself, inside my chest, not my head…”

“Chesnaught,” Ludwig replied.

“I’m sorry?” Antonio was confused.

“That’s what the Northmen, what you might call Vikings, said it was. A creature that was unlike any other. Its Spiny Armor is practically unable to be pierced, like their dragons’ hides… or so they say about dragons. Now, you are ready…. Right?”

“Yes, Ludwig. I am ready, although I need training.” Antonio took a step forward to Ludwig, looking at him.

“Of course. Your amigos in the army will take care of that. You’d best be on your way now… before someone sees you.”

“Alright, but…. How can I ever repay you?” Antonio looked a little concerned about finding a way to thank Ludwig.

In response, Ludwig shook his head and chuckled, his hand placed on Antonio’s left shoulder. “Don’t die. Take Spain back. Fight for your country. And fulfil your destiny, Antonio. Don’t worry about me…”

And with that Antonio gave Ludwig a goodbye hug and went off to join the army, after getting directions as to how to get to somewhere to sign up.

Epilogue.

Antonio was exceeding the expectations of his superiors, blowing everyone away. He was treated discipline and order, and had been given the nicknames “Destructor de muros,” Destroyer of Walls, and “Máquina de asedio,” Siege Machine. Within a year, he and the Spanish had kicked the Moors out of Spain, and what would be Portugal, back to North Africa. His strength and endurance was unmatched, and he was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. It was all Antonio could ask for, and he got more than just what he wanted. He also got what he needed as well.