"You're going!?"
Miyazato Aisa stared at Isobe Himeko, stunned.
She really hadn't expected Himeko to volunteer.
It was only the first day they'd arrived, and she already had this much enthusiasm for taking on a dangerous mission?
But after thinking it through…
If this matter were handed to Himeko, it did seem feasible.
That Dragon-type Pokémon in her hands had terrifying talent and potential.
The Dragon Aura it carried wasn't any weaker than Aisa's own Elite Four-level Dragonite.
If that was the case…
Having Himeko go intimidate the quasi–Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon that had appeared in Dragon Valley…
…seemed doable.
"You're serious?" Aisa straightened her expression and pressed.
Himeko nodded.
"Good! Then I'll leave the mission to you!"
"If anything feels off, report immediately. I'll personally come to support you at the first moment!"
"Understood!"
Himeko nodded, gave Aisa a solemn salute, and left the office after pushing the door open.
Once outside—
"Why do you suddenly want to go there?" Himeko asked in a low voice.
If Shiko hadn't just told her to take the mission and volunteer, she really wouldn't have planned on it.
"I want to go to Dragon Valley," Shiko said calmly.
His gaze looked out into the distance through the Poké Ball.
For the next stage of evolution…
he had to go and see it for himself.
And now was the perfect opportunity.
Himeko fell silent and didn't keep asking. She found a jeep at the camp, started it up, and drove toward Dragon Valley.
Dragon Valley, at the entrance.
The First Squad was here, locked in a bitter battle with the Pokémon inside the valley.
"Hitmonlee! Brick Break!"
"Blastoise! Water Pulse!"
"Arbok! Stomping Tantrum!"
"…"
The scene was chaotic.
The First Squad's Pokémon were struggling to hold back the surging wave from within the valley.
Behind the First Squad, two men wore gloomy expressions and kept venting their dissatisfaction.
"What are you people even good for? You can't handle even this?"
"Damn it! Bunch of useless drunks! What kind of people are in the Military—can't even protect civilians like us?"
"Hurry up and deal with them! What are you dragging your feet for?!"
"…"
In the middle of giving commands, Futaki Teruo turned his head back.
His icy gaze carved into them like a blade.
In an instant, they shut their noisy mouths.
"If it weren't for you two idiots—knowing the valley's under martial law these past two days, that no one's allowed in, and you still forced your way in—would this have happened?" Tada Kantaro couldn't hold back and snapped.
This was a complete disaster out of nowhere!
The riot inside the valley was extremely dangerous.
It had already been clearly ordered: before receiving authorization from the Military, no individual or group was allowed to enter.
Yet there were always fools like this who didn't fear death.
Entering would have been bad enough—
but they didn't even hide their tracks or act carefully!
In the end, they got surrounded by Dragon-type Pokémon inside the valley—
and the Military had to come rescue them and clean up the mess.
What was even worse…
No one knew what outrageous thing these two had done—
they had actually provoked a quasi–Elite Four-level Pokémon!
When they looked up…
and saw that Drampa in the clouds…
a heavy pressure rose in every member of the First Squad.
A wild quasi–Elite Four-level Pokémon!
In this valley, that was already a local overlord.
To provoke one like that…
what kind of insane thing did these two idiots do?
But now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
More and more Pokémon were pouring in from the valley.
Tyrunt, Trapinch, Swablu, Noibat, Flapple…
A massive flood of Pokémon surged forward.
Most of them were only Entry-level or Professional-level.
But there were simply too many.
The First Squad members were all Gym-level Trainers—
but each person could only carry six Pokémon.
Twenty-four in total.
Under this wave-like siege…
they were gradually starting to show fatigue.
"Hitmonlee! Mega Kick!"
Teruo spotted a weak point in the encirclement, and his eyes lit up.
"Hitmonlee!!"
Hitmonlee fired off a terrifying heavy kick.
The enormous force instantly sent the first Pokémon it struck flying—
along with a whole cluster behind it.
A gap was torn open in the weak section of the ring.
"Now! Break out!!" Teruo shouted at once.
"Blastoise! Use Surf to block them!" Tsuki commanded.
Behind them, Blastoise raised a thick wall of water—
crashing down on the pursuing Pokémon like a miniature tsunami.
As for the two civilians being rescued…
before the First Squad could even speak,
the moment the gap opened, they sprinted like they were running a hundred-meter dash—right at the front.
"Damn it…" Kantaro cursed under his breath, face full of contempt.
The narrow valley passage's exit was already in sight.
The two men running in front showed relieved, satisfied smiles.
Worth it.
Risking their lives to come in here this time had been worth it!
"ROAR!!"
At that moment—
a loud, terrifying roar echoed out.
The Drampa in the sky, which had shown no reaction until now…
finally moved.
A terrifying Dragon Aura spread.
The overwhelming pressure made everyone's movements slow by a beat.
Next—
dense Dragon-type energy gathered in its mouth.
A blue beam of power—
shot down from the sky.
A lethal aura tore through the air, closing in fast!
"Hitmonlee! Mega Punch!" Teruo's forehead broke into cold sweat.
Dragon Pulse—from a quasi–Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon!
If they didn't intercept it—
it would explode right on top of them!
"Hitmonlee!"
White light flared over Hitmonlee's fist.
It kicked off the ground and leapt high—
and slammed a single punch into the oncoming Dragon Pulse!
BOOM!!
Fist and beam held for an instant—
then the explosion erupted.
Dragon-type energy rippled outward.
Hitmonlee, which had taken it head-on, fell from the air and instantly lost the ability to battle.
"Hitmonlee!!" Teruo rushed forward anxiously.
He checked its condition.
Fortunately, it wasn't life-threatening—
it had only fainted.
He let out a small breath, recalled Hitmonlee—
but in the brief delay…
the encirclement formed again.
Hundreds—thousands—of Pokémon crowded in, surrounding them with open hostility.
Above them, after releasing that one attack…
the Drampa didn't seem inclined to strike again.
It tugged a cloud over, lay on it, and watched quietly from above with only its head exposed.
No one understood why it wasn't continuing—
but for the First Squad trapped in danger,
it counted as a small mercy in the middle of misfortune.
"Hold on! We just need to last until support arrives!" Teruo took a deep breath.
He grabbed another Poké Ball and released his second Pokémon—Hitmonchan.
The two civilians being protected looked terrified.
They curled up tightly in a corner, trembling nonstop.
The Pokémon attacked again.
The battlefield descended into chaos once more.
Tsuki's Blastoise gradually couldn't hold on either.
After its stamina ran out, she recalled it—
and switched to Poliwhirl.
Kantaro's Arbok had also reached its limit, already carrying many injuries.
Kantaro's heart tightened.
He quickly released another Pokémon—Toxicroak.
The intense struggle continued.
Under this siege battle, the First Squad's Pokémon fell one after another.
By the end—
they only had two still usable.
While they waited in anxious agitation for rescue…
they suddenly heard an unusual sound from the sky.
Their hearts leapt—
they thought support was coming in a helicopter.
They snapped their heads up—
but only saw a vast mass of white clouds drifting over from the distance.
The next second—
something that made everyone's blood run cold happened.
From within that white cloud—
a dragon's head slowly extended out.
After a moment of stunned disbelief…
the four members of the First Squad felt their hearts plunge into an icy abyss.
Another Drampa.
And stronger than the one from before.
A wild Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon!!
The two Drampa rubbed their heads together affectionately.
They looked extremely close.
"…Are they a couple?" Hina stared up at the scene and murmured blankly.
"Damn it! What the hell did you do?!" Teruo suddenly spun around and roared at the two civilians.
The rescue report they received said civilians in Dragon Valley had been inexplicably chased by ill-tempered Dragon-type Pokémon.
But this situation—
was absolutely not matching the report!
Among Dragon-type Pokémon, Drampa was known as one of the more gentle-tempered kinds!
To make a Pokémon like this so furious and violent—
these two men had definitely done something that enraged this Drampa pair beyond measure!
"Say something!!" Kantaro grabbed both men by the collars near their throats.
His face was darker than death.
False reporting to the Military—
was the same as pushing the rescuers straight into a fire pit!
No matter how furiously Kantaro shouted and demanded answers,
the two men—minds drowned by fear—
couldn't say a single word.
They only shook and trembled.
Teruo's brows knotted. He took one look—
then refocused on Aisa.
"What!? Another Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon showed up!?"
Aisa shot up from her chair.
Her expression was filled with shock and disbelief.
Elite Four-level!?
That was an absolute tyrant ruling the entire valley!
"No. We can't let the risk keep escalating."
Aisa thought for a moment, grabbed the jacket hanging at her neck, and hurried out the door.
"Dragonite! Move out! We're going to Dragon Valley!"
To be safe, she would handle it personally.
The mountain road was rugged.
Himeko drove the bouncing off-road vehicle along.
In the rearview mirror, she faintly saw something yellow flying quickly through the sky.
She looked up—
and saw the yellow Pokémon streak past overhead.
That color?
That speed?
Dragonite!?
Himeko froze.
Then she looked again at its direction—
the same as hers.
Toward Dragon Valley.
"Is that a Dragonite from inside the valley returning to its nest…"
"Or did Aisa-nee bring Dragonite to support them?"
Himeko couldn't tell.
But either way—
no matter whose it was—
it probably meant the situation in Dragon Valley was already turning severe.
With that thought, she slammed the accelerator to the floor.
Dragonite was known as the Mach Pokémon.
Even if it looked a bit round and its wings seemed short—
its flight speed was absolutely fast.
Extremely fast.
Aisa arrived even earlier than Himeko.
Before the First Squad's Pokémon were completely defeated,
she finally reached Dragon Valley.
"Headquarters sent the squad commander!"
The four First Squad members all let out a breath at once.
If Himeko had been even a little later…
they would've been finished here.
"It's fine now, right?" Aisa nodded.
Her gaze swept past them—
paused for an instant on the two civilians trembling in the corner—
then moved away.
She raised her attention to the "mountain" in the sky.
Dragonite beat its wings and hovered in midair.
Facing it—
was the Drampa couple.
The two Drampa revealed their full bodies and stared at them with hostility, meeting Dragonite's eyes.
"ROAR!"
Dragonite roared, releasing its Dragon Aura.
A powerful presence spread out, trying to suppress the pair with a show of force.
But then—
something terrifying happened.
From the tall peaks deep inside Dragon Valley—
every single peak echoed with an upraised dragon cry.
The roars rose and fell, one after another.
A dreadful Dragon Aura spread from those mountains, flooding down into the valley.
Sensing that presence, Aisa's expression turned ugly.
Not one of them was weaker than her Dragonite.
Which meant—
those voices were coming from all the wild Dragon-type Pokémon in Dragon Valley that had reached Elite Four-level!
The Dragon-types were declaring war outward.
Dragonite—an outsider—
roaring so arrogantly inside the valley…
had been taken as a provocation!?
"…Damn it."
Looking at the indistinct silhouettes on the peaks, Aisa grew tense.
(End of Chapter)
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