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THE CLUB

A few days later...

"Aaaand there!" Blaziken says as he presses the Return key on his computer, while Draco, Dragonite and Kommo-o are looking. "So what do you think of the rules I've written for the Abs-olute Strength club?"

Dragonite and Kommo-o nod in agreement.

"Well, so first of all, since this is a club for buff males, there's a minimum age to join. They must be at the final stage of their evolutionary line, or they must be at least 18 years old. Apart from that, anyone can join. Even the thin and scrawny, as long as they are interested in muscle-building and gut-punching."

"Sounds good." Draco nods as he says. "As long as the spirit of the activity is respected, and everyone is allowed to participate equally, I don't see any issues with it."

Blaziken smiles. "Exactly! So the next step is to find a location. I've found a building a few blocks away from our home that would work perfectly for us. The owner of the property is a friend of my parents, and he's agreed to sell us the building, rent-free if we help renovate it into a gym. He'll also pay the electricity and water bills. All we need to do is raise the funds for the renovations, and we're in business."

"If it's that easy, then I'm in." Kommo-o crosses his muscular arms in approval. That being said, Dragonite is a lot more expressive.

"That's AWESOME!" Dragonite wraps his (also) muscular arms around Blaziken's chest and hugs his roommate. "I knew you'd come up with something, bro. Thanks a ton."

"No worries." Blaziken smiles at the happy dragon. "You know how much I like working out and gut-punching, and how much fun those two activities make. To be able to share our love for them with others is the best. Now, once I get the deal done for the building we can start thinking about the administration and the equipment."

Getting the deal done is not a big issue for Blaziken. Thanks to his wealthy and supportive parents, alongside their friendship with the building's owner, he has no trouble raising the money to buy the place. It is similarly easy for him to purchase all the equipment and required installations to run the gym.

The only problem is... well, actually assembling it. While the walls, flooring, electricity, plumbing, heating, ventilation and security systems are all in place, the actual fixtures and fittings needed to transform the space into a boxing gym, while purchased, are yet to be installed.

The group could ask for professionals to get all the lockers, vending machines, benches, gym equipment and boxing rings properly placed, but they feel that, as great fans of the activity and owners of the place, they should take care of the installation themselves.

They also feel that, since they are all young and strong males who enjoy exercising and boxing, they could do a better job than some professional installers. That's what they think, at least, as while they may be strong for lifting and carrying, the dexterity needed for installing things isn't part of the package.

So, while they have the place ready, all it needs now is the final piece of the puzzle: the four boxing rings. And that's where they get stuck.

"I've only seen completed rings." Kommo-o admits. "Actually assembling one seems pretty complicated to me."

"Do you remember how to assemble a ring?" Dragonite asks Blaziken. "After all, when I came home and we were just the two of us, the ring in the living room was already there..."

"Well, I..." Blaziken scratches his head and sweats a little. "The truth is, the ring at home was assembled by professionals." He chuckles awkwardly. "And I'm not a very good handyman."

"Then why were you the first one to suggest we got DIY rings?" Draco asks in exasperation.

"Because I thought that, being four guys, we'd come up with a way to build the rings without using tools or too many people. But, well..." Blaziken looks down and frowns a bit. "It didn't work out the way I expected." He sighs.

"Gah..." Draco groans. "This whole assembling thing feels like a knee to the gut."

Perhaps Draco shouldn't have said that, especially not with that oddly specific wording, because it prompts Blaziken to literally knee him in the stomach.

"UGH!" The serpent Pokémon gasps, Blaziken's knee impacting the middle of his untensed abs. Draco grimaces as he doubles over, the pain radiating through his body. Then, he smiles a bit. "Actually, it's not like a knee to the gut, because a knee to the gut feels good, unlike this whole 'assembling' thing." He chuckles as he perks up again.

"Well, if this feels good..." Blaziken leans towards Draco's head. "We can do more later." He whispers, making the Serperior shiver with excitement. Blaziken then adds, "But right now, let's get started on the rings. We still have an hour until it might be too late for today. Let's decide on whether we are going to assemble the rings by ourselves, or ask someone else to help. What do you say?"

"I'd say we should ask a professional." Kommo-o says as he raises a hand. "I can offer myself to test the training equipment in the meanwhile to check its safety and functionality."

Draco, Blaziken and Dragonite glare at Kommo-o with suspicion. They know the grey dinosaurian Pokémon does not want to test the equipment to check if it works, but as an excuse to spend time alone working out with them. They decide to play along, though.

"I'd rather have a good ring we had no hand in making, than a boxing ring made with our hands that is simply unsafe to use," Dragonite says.

"What the big orange guy says." Draco states with simplicity. "Just imagine if we assembled the rings, then something happened and they collapsed in the middle of a match. That would suck, wouldn't it?"

"Fair enough." Blaziken rubs his chin. "Okay, then. I will go look for some professionals. You two..." He waves his other hand at Draco and Dragonite. "You can join Kommo-o or do something else. You've done great, I think you've earned yourselves a rest."

Blaziken walks away while Draco begins to think. His train of thought is, however, interrupted when he feels Dragonite's arms wrapping around his midsection.

"Hey, Draco," Dragonite says with a very interested tone. "Do your abs need some tenderizing treatment from my fists?"

Knowing the strength of Dragonite's punches, Draco can't do anything else but gulp. "Why... are you asking that?" He asks, thinking his abs are not yet ready for the force behind Dragonite's blows. At the same time, though, he won't know if he's ready until he tries. He sighs and breaks away from Dragonite's embrace. He 'zips down' his green layer of protective skin to reveal his white scaly abs a bit more. "Bring it." He tells Dragonite. The Dragon-type Pokémon grins, grips his fists tight, and starts punching and hammering into Draco's abs. But that's a matter for another moment - the conclusion Draco gets once this is over is that no, he was not ready. Not by a long shot. He's never felt so sore in his life. And his abdominal muscles ache. Dragonite is a strong, powerful mon, and he hits like a truck.

By the end of the week, the building is complete, the bureaucratic processes are done, and the schedule for the Abs-olute Strength club is complete: open from Mondays to Fridays from 9 AM to 7 PM. For a (fairly cheap) membership cost, members can use the entire facility with no restrictions. The main room holds four boxing rings with benches for everyone to watch - members can use the rings anytime as long as they are free. The training room holds gym equipment of all sizes and forms so that no Pokémon is left out or needs to bring their own equipment. Comfy showers and lockers are also present for those that just entered or are about to end their daily session.

The next Monday, minutes before the grand opening, Draco, Blaziken, Dragonite and Kommo-o are all inside the brand new building.

"This is it, guys," Blaziken says, brimming with anticipation. "The moment we share the world our love for fighting and exercise."

"How many are we expecting?" Dragonite asks.

"Well... you know... the thing is... only 7 Pokémon have registered," Blaziken says with a tone that clearly shows his disappointment.

Draco, Dragonite, and Kommo-o look at one another, wondering what's going on.

"Seven? For this immense building?" Draco is puzzled.

Blaziken shrugs. "I don't know. I want to think it's because we are just starting. With the passing of days and weeks, and hopefully with the satisfaction of these 7 Pokémon that have decided to join, the member base will grow and become a community of beings who appreciate good, hard work and the feeling of accomplishment."

Draco takes a deep breath. Dragonite pats him on the back. "Let's be optimistic," he tells the Serperior. "Our hobby is kind of niche, so you shouldn't be surprised if the numbers aren't great. But even then, we'll try our best to help them get through their first few sessions. Maybe some of the Pokémon will find us useful. Then they might tell their friends and acquaintances. And in a year, maybe, there will be a lot more than seven!"

Kommo-o nods. "That's true! That's how the Internet works, right? We should let them come in and see for themselves. I'm not worried about the number. I just hope there's at least one very strong Pokémon daring to challenge my body." He smirks.

Blaziken looks at a clock on the wall. It's 8:59 AM. "Okay, I'm going to open the door. They won't be many, but let's be glad as if they were. If any of them decide to stay, we can train together. For these first days, we should focus on ensuring they are satisfied enough to keep coming back. Once we've got that, we can move on to training and sparring."

Draco, Dragonite and Kommo-o all nod in unison.

Blaziken takes a deep breath to feel ready... and opens the door.

"Welcome to the Abs-olute Strength club!" Blaziken tries to sound as welcoming, warm, and cheerful as he can.

If the prospect of welcoming only seven Pokémon for a building that could support over 30 was disappointing for the first day, the fact one of the seven registered Pokémon is not present only makes it worse.

But, for the sake of the six Pokémon that did come in, the four buff males are happy to welcome them.

It surprises them that none of the six Pokémon seems to have trained bodies - they look like completely average individuals that, never in their whole lives, have even tried to lift weights. That disappoints Kommo-o, as he expected someone strong to mettle with, but for the overall group, that means the club is seen as a place to start training.

And, while the Pokémon may lack in strength and physique, they are very much interested in boxing and gut-punching. And that's all that is needed to feel at home in this place.

Blaziken approaches his three roommates. "Given the low numbers, we can safely split. I will make sure the facilities run correctly and check what happened to that seventh Pokémon. Draco, Dragonite, Kommo-o, pick two Pokémon of the six that are here and give them a good, warm, friendly instruction to get them started. They all look like they never did this kind of training, so make sure to not scare them away."

Blaziken walks away while the selection process for the other three begins. Draco begins to ponder choices... while Dragonite and Kommo-o quickly pick pairs. Dragonite gathers the attention of a Flygon and a Quagsire. Kommo-o went to the Pokémon he thinks have the potential to be the stronger ones of the bunch: a Toxtricity and a Rhydon. This leaves Draco with the only two Pokémon left. Pokémon, that like himself, would go under the radar for a strong being looking for other strong Pokémon - a Hawlucha and a Charmeleon.

The Hawlucha and the Charmeleon were likely overlooked by Dragonite and Kommo-o because they are not enticing to fight against for the two muscular Dragon-type Pokémon's standards. Hawlucha sports a fairly muscled torso as part of his natural body build but is incredibly small. Charmeleon is taller, but is slimmer, with not a trace of muscle on his body. Neither has the body of a boxer, nor a gym-ready bodybuilder. But neither did Draco himself when he started, so having to guide these two Pokémon might be a blessing in disguise.

Draco slithers like the serpent he is towards the two small males. He waves them as friendly as he can think of. "Hello, guys! Welcome to the club!"

"Hello." The Hawlucha bows respectfully as he greets back.

The Charmeleon seems more excited about meeting Draco, as the flame on the tip of his tail brightens a bit. "Hi! I've seen you on Blaziken's videos! You are really tough!"

Draco chuckles a bit. "Why, thank you. Well, as you might have noticed, at least for these first few days. I'll give you guidance on how to turn you two's unassuming-looking bodies with no fighting experience into athletic boxing beasts." He smirks. "And I speak of experience since I once was too weak-looking, if not weaker-looking than either of you."

"Much like you did, I want to prove my species can box!" Charmeleon yells at Draco while he's pumping one of his arms... and completely failing to make a display of strength.

Draco grins at Charmeleon's enthusiasm. "If you have dedication and ambition to reach that goal, buddy, then you'll eventually become a Charizard with such muscles that even heavyweights will look up and say 'wow, what is this guy?'" He makes a fist with his right hand. Charmeleon's eyes shine in response.

Satisfied with Charmeleon's motivation, Draco then looks at Hawlucha. "So what brings you to the world of gruelling muscle-building and abs punching?"

Hawlucha shrugs. "I am a Fighting-type Pokémon. Working out and fighting is natural for me. I simply chose muscle-building and gut-punching as my speciality. I might be very small in height, but I want to be able to tenderize any kind of abs I come across and have my abs be strong enough to withstand a punch from a heavyweight boxer."

"Hah." Hawlucha's words make Draco smile. "So you want to go for 'small, but mighty', eh?"

Hawlucha nods.

Draco coils his serpentine body down to the ground to look at Charmeleon and Hawlucha face-to-face. "So you two seem motivated enough, but... do you have the willpower to--ACK!"

Draco's speech is interrupted when he feels one of Hawlucha's fists buried in his upper ab muscles, which were completely relaxed as he did not expect a hit.

Hawlucha smiles after his sucker punch. "I had to test your abs."

Draco grunts as Hawlucha pulls his fist back. "You could have asked," Draco replies while he feels his gut.

Hawlucha laughs a little. "Isn't it important to test your strength and resilience against someone stronger? It's just a display of power, and nothing more. Besides, I wanted to see how you would react to a hard punch in the abs."

Charmeleon steps sideways to get a little further from Hawlucha. Being clearly the physically weakest of the three, he doesn't feel comfortable being punched in the gut without warning. Not yet, at least.

"Well, if that's the case," Draco tells Hawlucha, "then we should try that again. This time, though, I'll be expecting the blow. Don't hold back, okay?"

"You want another hit?"

"Yeah," Draco nods. "You can try after him, Charmeleon. Don't be shy."

Charmeleon is thinking about what to do as Hawlucha prepares for another hit. Much like before, Hawlucha's second punch strikes Draco in the upper abs. However, as they were now tensed, when the hit lands, it does little more than making Draco barely grunt.

Hawlucha's eyes widen in awe. "A Serperior with such a tough set of abs! Your body is like a rock! How much of a workout are you doing, anyway?"

Draco's response is immediate. "This took years." Draco pats his belly in a boastful way, then he looks at Charmeleon. "Do you wish to try a hit?"

"But... I am much weaker than--"

"I don't care." Draco cuts off Charmeleon's insecurity. "You want to prove how much you can improve, right? So why not show me how strong your punches are before you begin to improve?"

Charmeleon gasps at the fact Draco does not care if he's weak. It makes sense considering that Draco was weak too at the start. Charmeleon gulps, and steps in front of the Serperior.

"To make things even," Draco says, "You will first punch when my abs are tensed, and again when they are relaxed. You tell me when you're ready."

Charmeleon nods and the two of them stand face to face. "I'm ready!"

"Bring it, then. One punch to the gut, as hard as you can." Draco says, then tenses his abdominals.

Charmeleon clenches his fists, and with all the strength he can muster, punches Draco square in the middle of his gut.

As expected from an untrained individual of a physically unimpressive species, the punch is rather feeble.

"I've felt weaker hits." Draco tries to comfort Charmeleon.

"You are just saying that to cheer me up." Charmeleon says sadly.

Draco shrugs, relaxes his abs, and then closes his eyes. "Now, hit again, as strong as you can, to my belly at its most vulnerable."

Charmeleon takes a deep breath, but is then interrupted by Hawlucha. Without uttering a word, Hawlucha shows Charmeleon the motion of a good gut punch.

Charmeleon is impressed and decides to mimic it. The move in question is an uppercut. Charmeleon's fist slams into Draco's stomach with a force that doesn't do much, admittedly, but it does knock a bit of air out of Draco.

"Ah!" Draco gasps a bit, then feels his belly. "That hit... was a lot better than the first one, haha!" He smiles. "Well, I think it's been enough of your introductions. I'd say we should--"

"Wait." Hawlucha requests. "We punched your gut. What about you doing the same thing to us?"

"What!?" Charmeleon is shocked.

Draco is surprised, but not to the same extent. "Really? You want that?" He asks Hawlucha.

"Yes, please. I want to know if your punches are strong as your abs are resilient."

Charmeleon clutches his belly. He wasn't hit yet, but he seems to be imagining what it would feel like.

Draco looks at Hawlucha and smirks. "Sure, why not. One hit to tensed belly. Is that okay to you two?"

Hawlucha nods. Charmeleon... is still clutching his midsection, unsure of whether he can actually take a hit from Draco. "Uh... okay..." Charmeleon says. "I... guess I have to take a hit to the gut at some point."

"That's the spirit!" Draco grins widely. "Now, you two, get in position, and get those bellies tensed."

Hawlucha and Charmeleon nod, and stand in front of Draco.

"Okay," Draco says, "I'll start with Hawlucha's gut, and then Charmeleon's, after that."

Draco takes his time to aim the first punch, and then lands a moderate hook to Hawlucha's abs. That being said, 'moderate' from a worked-out, somewhat seasoned gut puncher, for an untrained Pokémon, the hit is quite strong.

"Gah!" Hawlucha groans. "Ngh..." he feels his belly.

Draco then looks at Charmeleon, who gets uneasy given the stronger Hawlucha's reaction.

"It's always tough at first," Draco tries to reassure Charmeleon. "Only with experience and hard work, withstanding hits, will the body become more resistant."

Charmeleon nods, trying to get some confidence. Draco also takes some time to aim the hit.

As he intended to make things even, Draco lands a similarly moderate hook to Charmeleon's belly. The Fire-type Pokémon understandably bends over in pain due to his lesser physique compared to Hawlucha.

"Oof! Gahh!" Charmeleon cries, feeling his gut.

"Now, now..." Draco uses his two hands to lift the two Pokémon's heads by their chins. Their faces show pained expressions. "As I said, it's tough at first, but I promise you that, as the months pass, you won't have any problems with the gut-punching, and you'll be able to handle much harder strikes. It's a good workout too."

"Thanks..." Charmeleon winces.

"Now, talking about workouts..." Draco says as he coils up into his usual height. "Please, follow me to the training room. It's time for me to introduce you two to some training regimes."

Hawlucha and Charmeleon nod, and Draco leads them towards the training room.

While Draco has tried to be tender and understanding towards Hawlucha and Charmeleon, particularly due to his own prior experience as a 'weakling', Kommo-o has taken a completely different approach towards his 'understudies'. That is, given Kommo-o's near-obsession with testing out his strength, he has challenged both Rhydon and Toxtricity to fight him in a boxing match at the same time.

And two untrained, inexperienced Pokémon (even with their respectable natural body builds) fighting against a single, very well-developed and experienced Pokémon is a one-sided battle... in favour of Kommo-o.

The only reason Rhydon and Toxtricity haven't been knocked down yet is that Kommo-o has been holding back with his punches, for he's more interested in what they can do over a long time than just landing a few solid blows. He wants to see how their bodies react and recover from his attacks, and how well they can withstand his power.

"Aaargh!" Rhydon groans after a solid hit he took on the belly from Kommo-o.

Toxtricity tries to make use of this moment and throws a punch at Kommo-o's cheek, but the grey dinosaurian Pokémon's reflexes are faster and he dodges the attack. Toxtricity then tries again with a hit to the chest, but the grey Dragon-type Pokémon easily blocks it with his arm.

"That was a good try," Kommo-o tells the two Pokémon. Kommo-o is only mildly bruised, while Rhydon and Toxtricity have some deep bruises. "But you need to keep trying. We're not stopping until either I or you two gets knocked out!" He roars.

Rhydon and Toxtricity grunt, but don't stop. They know that if they want to get stronger and more skilled, then testing against someone like Kommo-o is the best way to learn.

"Come now, show me if you can fight me! Keep it up, and if you stop, I'll knock you right off your feet!"

The two understudies look at each other and nod. They proceed to go after Kommo-o who easily dodges or blocks their attacks. That is, until Toxtricity lands a hook to Kommo-o's belly. It does not do much, but it's enough to leave Kommo-o slightly open for Rhydon to land an uppercut to the chin. It's stronger than Toxtricity's hook, although it doesn't knock him completely out.

Kommo-o grunts as he feels a cross punch from Rhydon to the cheek. He's forced to step backwards as Toxtricity lands another hit to the gut, this time a straight punch. "Agh..."

Cornered, and almost by instinct, Kommo-o reacts with a wicked hook to Toxtricity's gut. Kommo-o didn't measure his strength, so when the Poison/Electric-type Pokémon feels the powerful hit on his abdomen, he spits saliva and falls to his knees. That almost immediately alerts Rhydon, who is shocked at the strength of the hit, and Kommo-o, who realizes he went all-out when he didn't intend to. Kommo-o signals Rhydon to wait.

"Are you okay?" Kommo-o helps Toxtricity stand up, though he's grimacing and drooling a bit. "I shouldn't have hit you that hard. You are just a rookie, and..." He stops himself.

"It's..." Toxtricity's trying to catch his breath. "It's okay. Please... continue with Rhydon, I'm going to sit on a bench..." He steps out of the ring, partially bending over, and clutching his belly. Clearly, he felt Kommo-o's punch to his gut as if he had been hit by a car.

Rhydon stands in front of Kommo-o. "Should we continue, then?"

Kommo-o nods. "Go ahead, I'll try to not hit too hard."

The fight, this time between only Rhydon and Kommo-o, resumes, with a pained Toxtricity watching from a bench.

With the fight going one-on-one, though, it's even more one-sided in Kommo-o's favour. Rhydon seemingly cannot land a hit, and Kommo-o easily counters with moderate jabs that leave the Rock/Ground-type Pokémon stumbling. Rhydon is starting to get frustrated, but he knows he can't let Kommo-o down. He will lose, he knows it, but he can't give up without putting in everything he has.

At one point he manages to land a strong uppercut to Kommo-o's gut. Strong for Rhydon's standards, that is, which for a seasoned fighter is not that strong. It's strong enough to make Kommo-o let out a grunt, which is actually quite impressive for someone who had never fought before such as Rhydon, but Kommo-o nevertheless takes it without flinching, and even lands an uppercut of his own to Rhydon's chin, that makes him stumble towards the ropes.

Rhydon decides it's now or never, so he decides to go all-out. But he can't, because Kommo-o does a follow up somewhat hard jab to the stomach that knocks Rhydon to his knees. Rhydon tries to get back up, but it's no use, and he falls to his side, panting heavily.

Kommo-o lends a hand for Rhydon to stand up. He accepts it, and with the help of the Dragon-type Pokémon with a chiselled muscle build, Rhydon gets back to his feet, albeit still trying to recover his energies. Toxtricity, albeit still struggling a bit, also comes back to the ring.

"You two get to the showers and try to rest as much as possible. At 2 PM, we're starting the workout routine, understood?" Kommo-o tells the two.

Toxtricity nods, and Rhydon just grunts. Both of them head to the shower room.

From afar, Blaziken watches, with his arms crossed and with a smirk of satisfaction. Sure, the seventh Pokémon, Heliolisk, had some urgent matters and couldn't come today, but everything seems to go well.

The Abs-olute Strength club is off to a good start...