A terrifying dragon aura belonging to Shiko surged outward.
Like a storm, it spread through the valley.
This overwhelming presence instantly drew the attention of every wild Dragon-type Pokémon present.
Their gazes snapped in unison toward Shiko.
They locked onto that familiar figure.
These Elite Four-level Pokémon felt an immense pressure rooted in soul and instinct.
This wasn't the oppression brought by a simple level gap.
It came from a difference in race.
To put it plainly:
The innate racial gap between an ordinary Dragon-type Pokémon and a Dragon-type pseudo-legendary.
And now—
The Garchomp and Salamence on site, both Dragon-type pseudo-legendaries, also felt the exact same pressure from Shiko—pressure born from racial disparity.
The two Pokémon stared at Shiko.
In their draconic eyes, intense fear and shock rapidly gathered.
What was going on?
It had only been one day since they last saw him.
How could he have changed this much?
When they saw him before, even if he was only near–Elite Four level, the strength of his aura and the natural pressure Dragon-types carried already surpassed theirs.
But it was only a bit stronger than them.
It hadn't reached anything like this.
So why now—
Why had his aura become far more ferocious than before?
How did he train?
No—
It wasn't "far more" by a small margin.
It was multiplied.
The feeling he gave off was like when the horrific pressure outside this mountain peak hadn't yet dissipated.
Just that presence alone could force most Dragon-type Pokémon to lower their heads, unable to raise them.
This was strange.
After he went into that massive peak and came back out, it was as if he had been reborn.
That oppression—this natural aura that towered over ordinary Pokémon—
It felt like facing a legendary Pokémon spoken of in myths.
Could it be…?
A thought stirred in the minds of the Dragon-types present.
Their eyes shifted.
They looked toward that towering mountain.
There was no doubt!
Inside that peak, there had to be some special, incredibly rare treasure—
Or an unimaginable opportunity—
Something that allowed him to reach his current state!
At that thought, a subtle glint surfaced in their expressions.
In the distance—
Shiko stomped forward step by step.
The ground boomed with each heavy stride.
Under the eyes of every Pokémon and every person present, he slowly walked into the center of the battle zone.
His enormous body—
And the suffocating oppression from that dreadful aura—
Made the wild Pokémon stop moving one after another.
The atmosphere tightened.
Both sides, from different camps, faced off.
Skarmory flew down from the sky to Kenjiro-buchō's side.
Its eyes on Shiko carried caution and wariness.
Aisa and Himeko stood behind Shiko.
They couldn't precisely gauge Shiko's current strength.
But from that terrifying aura that rolled like a tidal wave—
He was absolutely far stronger than when he first entered this place three months ago.
He had likely crossed the Gym-level threshold—
And reached near–Elite Four level.
At that thought, shock surfaced in both of their eyes.
What astonished them wasn't Shiko's outrageous growth over three months.
It was that Shiko, with only near–Elite Four level strength, had been able to shatter three Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon in a single blow.
And now—
He was facing off against so many remaining overlord Pokémon of this valley.
There was no doubt.
His combat power had already surpassed his "surface level."
He undeniably possessed true Elite Four-level strength!
The 65% Dragon-type laws within his body gave Shiko a natural advantage when facing Dragon-types.
And just now—
He also noticed a special change inside himself.
After absorbing the law-energy within Regidrago's crystal,
the pale blue Dragon-type energy inside him, for some unknown reason, began transforming into a denser, deeper crimson Dragon-type energy.
Moreover,
from Regidrago, he had inexplicably learned a powerful move: Dragon Energy.
That crimson pillar of light from earlier was his first real combat test of the move's power.
As expected of a powerful technique from a third-tier Legendary—
The moment he used it, the terrifying impact and destructive power made Shiko's eyes light up.
Not only did it withstand the combined strike of eight Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon—
It even crushed three of them!
Absurdly strong!
Shiko couldn't help but feel a burst of relief.
Luckily, this move could only unleash its strongest might when used at full stamina!
If, yesterday, when he faced Regidrago—
if that "dragon god pillar" had even more stamina—
then Shiko probably would have lost, and the consequences would have been endless!
Aside from that,
Shiko made another unexpected discovery.
After he mastered a full 65% of the Dragon-type laws,
he could faintly sense how the Dragon-type energy circulated inside the Dragon-type Pokémon before him.
At first,
he thought it was just his imagination.
But after confirming again and again, he realized it was real!
He really could capture the flow-paths of energy inside these Pokémon!
Was this the unexpected gain that came from wielding more than half of a law's power?
Shiko thought to himself.
At 65%,
he could already do this.
So what about 100%?
Would he be able to sense the opponent's internal energy even more clearly?
If so—
wouldn't that mean, before the opponent gathered energy to use a move, he could detect it sharply?
And if he pushed the idea even further—
could he even judge which Dragon-type move the opponent was about to use, based on the flow-route and how tightly the energy condensed?
Predict their attack in advance?
Shiko's heart stirred with excitement for no clear reason.
He felt like he had discovered the door to an entirely new world.
And he also felt he could understand, a little, why legendary Pokémon were innately powerful in certain ways.
Of course,
this massive Dragon-type law energy only supported him in capturing the trajectories of Dragon-type energy inside the target Pokémon.
He still couldn't sense energy of other attributes.
But even so—
this was already terrifyingly strong!
At this moment,
even if he was only near–Elite Four level—
facing the seven remaining Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon before him—
he felt no fear at all.
Instead, he was brimming with eager excitement.
…
The heavy, stifling standoff lasted a full half minute.
Those seven Elite Four-level Pokémon just stood there,
faces solemn,
as if they had no intention of initiating an attack.
Shiko immediately felt displeased.
What was this?
Were they fighting or not?
He rushed over here for one reason—
To wipe them all out while they were gathered together.
Then he would snatch all the Dragon-type energy crystals he needed from them.
So what was this "stare each other down" nonsense?
Kenjiro-buchō keenly sensed the subtle mood on the scene.
He could tell—
these wild Elite Four-level Dragon-types and GeoGreymon were mutually wary.
No one dared strike first.
If that was the case—
"Quick! Take this chance! We withdraw immediately!"
Kenjiro-buchō gave the order decisively.
A rare breathing window had opened.
And GeoGreymon was safe and sound.
Now was the time to retreat and leave.
Aisa and Himeko nodded after hearing him.
They absolutely did not want to keep facing so many Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon.
The pressure was immense!
"Let's go, we'll head back—"
Himeko looked at Shiko's back and was about to speak to him.
But halfway through her sentence,
she was interrupted by Shiko's earth-shaking, terrifying roar.
Run?
Run my ass!
Such a perfect chance to wipe out these Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon in one net—
He wasn't going to just let it slip away!
If they wouldn't move—
Then he would strike first!
Crimson, terrifying Dragon-type energy crazily condensed and gathered inside Shiko's body.
Right out of the gate, he prepared another Dragon Energy!
Shiko intended to go all-out and cripple them all!
"Damn it—this is too reckless!"
Seeing this, Kenjiro-buchō's forehead veins practically bulged.
What was he doing?
They finally had a chance to break away from such a terrifying encirclement—
And now he was deliberately escalating the conflict?
Wasn't this asking for trouble?
Seven Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon!
And among them were two high-tier Elite Four pseudo-legendaries!
Once this started—
The pressure would be enormous!
If they got enraged and counterattacked, the situation would tighten up again!
"Prepare for batt—"
Kenjiro-buchō began through gritted teeth.
GeoGreymon had already declared war with his actions.
As the side standing with him,
how could they disengage and flee?
They could only fight together!
But what happened next—
made everyone present drop their jaws.
No one expected it.
Facing Shiko, who had actively launched an offensive and provoked them—
those proud Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon—
not a single one chose to counterattack.
They hesitated for a second,
then spread their wings—
as if avoiding some demon god—
and fled at top speed.
Their speed was instantly maxed out, and in the blink of an eye, they vanished without a trace!
This…
They actually ran?
Kenjiro-buchō, Himeko, and Aisa
all wore expressions of extreme shock and disbelief.
Seriously?
So many Pokémon—
and not one of them ran on foot?
Shiko stared toward the side, at the Tyrantrum charging in great strides.
That earth-brown, massive body—
In Shiko's eyes, it looked like a stampeding lump of Dragon-type energy crystal.
Damn it!
Why are you chasing me?!
Tyrantrum felt like crying inside.
Everyone was running together!
Why were you only locking onto me?!
But Tyrantrum quickly reacted—
It seemed like it was the only one fleeing on foot.
All the others were flapping their wings and flying.
The guy behind it clearly couldn't fly either.
If he wasn't chasing Tyrantrum, who else would he chase?
Tyrantrum was unbelievably depressed.
As Shiko closed the distance more and more,
panic surged in Tyrantrum's heart, and it ran with everything it had.
That gigantic body smashed trees along the way into a mess.
On a certain stretch of the mountain ridge,
Ukyo and his Charizard
had only just, with great effort, dealt with the ambush in the stream—Kingdra and Dragalge.
After catching his breath and resting briefly,
Ukyo immediately prepared to bring Charizard to support the others.
But at that moment,
he vaguely heard an enormous commotion from behind.
He turned his head—
and saw a Tyrantrum sprinting toward them at an absurd speed!
What the hell?
Another Elite Four-level one?!
Ukyo's nerves snapped tight in an instant.
(End of Chapter)
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