Chapter 648: Bugs Crawling to the Surface
During the apocalyptic battle between the two Primal Legendary gods, the Rocky Mountain range situated to the northwest also suffered significant impact.
The earth trembled constantly.
A single tremor could last for an entire day and night. The vibrations were so intense that the Pokémon clans inhabiting the Rocky Mountains felt as though their brains were going to liquify and leak out of their ears.
Even the Tyrantrum Overlord frowned deeply, gazing toward the east, seemingly hesitating on whether to go over and investigate.
However, compared to the blatant and obvious disturbances originating from the east, a far deadlier threat... was actually brewing beneath the very foundation of the Rocky Mountains.
The frequent, violent tectonic shifts had jolted awake a titan that had slumbered beneath the Rocky Mountain range for tens of millions of years.
He merely opened his eyes. And unleashed a fraction of his aura.
That alone was enough to terrify the Bug-type clans surviving underground, forcing them to scramble frantically toward the surface in a panicked stampede.
That's right.
The vast majority of the Bug-type species that survived from the previous era now lived in the warmer, subterranean depths. They hadn't gone completely extinct; a small fraction still persevered.
When that titan awakened, even just shifting a single finger was enough to make the underground bugs feel they couldn't stay a second longer, desperately tunneling toward the surface to escape.
In an instant.
The Rocky Mountain range was suddenly flooded with a massive influx of Bug-type Pokémon.
Too terrified to return underground, they were forced to fight for survival space on the surface.
The originally stable ecological environment of the Rocky Mountains was shattered. One powerful Pokémon clan after another began clashing with the Bug-type invaders.
Given the exceptionally high average combat power of the Rocky Mountain residents, these bugs couldn't stir up too much trouble for the time being.
Consequently, whether it was the Tyrantrum clan or the Dragon Clan, neither showed much reaction to their sudden appearance.
At the edge of the grassland.
The battle between the two Hoenn Idiots raged for a full day and night.
Kazuya also stood guard by the coast for a full day and night, shattering countless tornadoes and tsunamis until his entire body felt drained and withered.
If he hadn't called his younger brother over to help, he genuinely would have struggled to hold out for so long on his own.
He lost count of how many times he looked up at the sky.
Rayquaza still hadn't intervened.
It was only then that Kazuya began to suspect whether Rayquaza simply had absolutely no intention of stepping in to mediate.
Just as his head was starting to spin from exhaustion, the world gradually quieted down.
"Is it finally over?" Kazuya looked out over the ocean ahead with tired eyes.
The sky had returned to a normal, cloudy state, and the churning waves in the distance were slowly calming down.
Rayquaza had not intervened from beginning to end.
Therefore, Kazuya guessed that the Hoenn Idiots had consumed too much natural energy, fought until they were exhausted, and each returned to their respective nests to sleep and replenish their energy.
This allowed him to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
It was quite ironic.
Groudon and Kyogre were clearly fighting to secure natural energy, but every time they fought, not only did they fail to secure much, they ended up burning through a massive amount, eventually losing their Primal Reversion forms as a result.
Regardless, their disappearance was undeniably a good thing.
Those two guys probably wouldn't wake up again for hundreds or thousands of years.
"Let's go back," Kazuya said weakly.
He still had plenty of matters to attend to on his end.
"Roar." His brother nodded.
In reality, in that endless ocean beyond Kazuya's sight, the Sea and Land Gods active in the Ancient Era were still engaged in an endless battle.
Their battle hadn't stopped. It had merely shifted battlegrounds.
Perhaps they would pause for a while when they grew tired, but they would soon resume clashing until both sides had completely exhausted their natural energy, or one side fell, conclusively determining the victor.
If Groudon won, he would use the power of the earth to convert more of the ocean into land, creating more matter to store Ground-type natural energy.
Vice versa, Kyogre would continuously raise the sea level until the entire world was submerged, filling the world with Water-type natural energy.
This was their method of contesting for natural energy. For this ultimate goal, paying a portion of energy upfront wasn't unacceptable.
To reap rewards, one must first make an investment.
Three days flashed by.
The Dragonite clan had perfectly integrated into the Dragon Clan.
Or rather, it was their warm and friendly nature that made them immensely popular within the Dragon Clan, practically acting like succubi, especially beloved by the young dragons.
As the Dragon Clan's fifth flying unit, and a pseudo-legendary one at that, Kazuya held high hopes for the Dragonite clan.
However, the current Dragonite clan genuinely lacked combat prowess.
The clan had a population of seventy, but only a dozen or so were fully evolved Dragonites. The strongest among them barely scraped the lower tier of Gym Leader strength.
This level of combat power was even inferior to the Haxorus and Scrafty clans.
They were more than capable of patrolling and guarding the home, but severely lacking when it came to offensive operations outside.
Kazuya didn't feel comfortable letting this group of lovable goofs go out to train on their own. After all, they hadn't fought a battle in decades.
He could only arrange for the idle dragon flocks within the clan to provide combat instruction and rehabilitation training for the Dragonite clan to improve their combat abilities.
Later on, he might send the Dragonite clan to the volcanic mountain range. They could follow the Haxorus and Scrafty, teach the troublemakers over there a lesson, and improve their practical combat skills.
Currently, Kazuya was sitting in the grassland heartland, looking in bewilderment at the giant boulder he had carried back.
There was nothing inherently strange about the boulder itself.
What was strange was that the boulder bore two massive footprints.
"The one on the right should belong to a member of the Dragonite clan."
Kazuya inspected the footprint on the right. He had, after all, lived as a Dragonite for a period in the past, so he knew exactly what shape his feet made when stepping on the ground.
But as for the other one... that was truly difficult to judge.
It was unfamiliar. At the very least, it didn't belong to any Pokémon Kazuya had personally reincarnated as, nor was it the footprint of any species his past companions belonged to.
It seemed to have been left by some large-bodied Pokémon. Like a Kangaskhan, Tyranitar, or Nidoking.
"Maybe I really did stumble onto it by pure luck." Kazuya reached out and rubbed the footprint on the stone.
Originally, there had been some mud and seaweed stuck in the crevices, but the Dragonites, treating it as a precious treasure, had already cleaned it all off.
The initially sharp, clear edges of the footprints seemed to have been worn smooth by water currents and sediment. Some of the finer ridges were practically erased by time.
The lake on that isolated island connected directly to the ocean. The water was constantly flowing.
Fifty or sixty years... was roughly enough time to wear down the footprints to this degree.
Therefore, Kazuya guessed that the random stone he had carried back just might genuinely be the vital artifact the Dragonite clan had sworn to protect with their lives.
Even though he couldn't fathom what special significance this stone held for the Dragonites.
But there was no need to overthink it. It was something left behind decades ago. Trying to investigate it now was entirely meaningless.
Just like the footprints on this stone. The one belonging to a Dragonite was undoubtedly left by a Dragonite ancestor, who had likely been dead for decades.
They probably hadn't even told the Dragonites what this vital artifact actually was before they died, let alone the significance of the footprints on the stone.
So why should Kazuya waste effort researching it?
After figuring this out, he set off toward the Rocky Mountains without hesitation.
He had been eyeing those dragon clans in the central area for a long time. After delaying for so long, it was finally time to make a move.
The first target. Naturally, it had to be the Hydreigon clan.
Among the several dragon flocks in the central area, the Hydreigon clan had the weakest overall strength.
Kazuya flew towards the Rocky Mountains.
The level of the Hydreigon clan leader was merely Lv. 82. Kazuya could have beaten him even at a lower level, let alone now that he was a higher level. Therefore, Kazuya had a 100% chance of winning.
When he arrived at the Rocky Mountain range and began rallying the Aerodactyl and Altaria, he noticed that there seemed to be a lot more Bug-type Pokémon around.
Furthermore... they weren't the kind you usually saw on the surface.
Besides the Kabutops he had seen before, there were also Armaldo, Yanmega, Accelgor, Centiskorch...
However, Kazuya wasn't particularly concerned about this.
In his view, even though these Bug-type Pokémon might cause a bit of chaos in the Rocky Mountains right now, they would ultimately fail to escape their fate as food.
Perhaps, for the Pokémon of the Rocky Mountains, having more prey that could both fight and be eaten was actually a good thing.
The operation proceeded according to plan.
The Dragon Clan's first battle after entering the central area was against the Hydreigon clan, who also hadn't lived there for very long.
A massive battle broke out. Half a mountain peak was shattered.
Inevitably, some companions unfortunately lost their lives during the clash. Similarly, some companions saw red or lost control of their attacks, eradicating their opponents.
These were all normal occurrences in a war. The Pokémon wouldn't hold grudges over this during a fight.
The important thing was, blue flames filled the sky over the heart of the Rocky Mountains. All the Pokémon living there knew that the black dragon that had been rampaging through the outer and middle rings had finally arrived.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
His brother, leading the Charizard clan, began attempting his third round of diplomatic contact with the Turtonator clan.
His eloquence wasn't particularly good, and his demeanor wasn't exactly friendly.
So, up until now, the Turtonator clan hadn't chosen to join the Dragon Clan.
However, judging by their attitude, they were clearly wavering, so his brother wasn't entirely without progress.
It was just that... three strikes and you're out.
His brother had decided that if he couldn't convince the Turtonator clan to join today, he would resort to force. He would display a wave of absolute strength first, and then continue his "persuasion."
The Haxorus and Scrafty clans.
Although they followed his brother's orders, they operated separately from the Charizard clan. They were responsible for cleaning up those troublemaking clans in the volcanic mountain range.
Anyone who was dissatisfied with Kazuya as the new Dragon King, or dissatisfied with the Dragon Clan in general... would be beaten.
If they couldn't beat them, they would call his brother to step in.
Just like that, two years passed.
Everything operated normally. No major events occurred.
Florges guarded the grassland, securing the Dragon Clan headquarters. Following Kazuya's plan, she gathered some members of the Dragon Clan to establish a second pasture in the southern part of the grassland.
The two brothers also operated as usual.
His brother had successfully conquered the Turtonator clan, suppressed the entire volcanic mountain range, and had already begun extending his reach toward the tropical rainforest.
Kazuya had successively conquered the Hydreigon and Salamence clans, securing a quarter of the territory in the central area.
Despite the raging flames of war and the loss of some companions, everything went relatively smoothly, and the progress was quite rapid.
Until this day.
Just as Kazuya was preparing to make a move against the third dragon clan in the center of the Rocky Mountains—the Duraludon clan...
Kazuya suddenly discovered...
The Duraludon clan... had actually been entirely wiped out.
~~~
Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 1 extra chapters
Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter