"Go! I'm counting on you!"
The last Poké Ball was thrown.
A blue, round-bodied Pokémon with long ears appeared in front of everyone.
White spots dotted its body.
"Azuma—rii~~"
Azumarill?
Seriously—what a lineup.
It was obvious this young guy had made serious preparations specifically to capture the Dragon-type Pokémon in this valley.
Azumarill wasn't exactly considered a powerhouse species-wise.
But it had the nickname "Dragon-slaying warrior."
As a Fairy-type, it could negate more than half of most Dragon-type energy outright.
And with the Ability Huge Power, its physical move damage could effectively double.
On top of that, its Water typing meant it could learn plenty of Water-type moves.
That combination of typing and Ability was basically a naturally born dragon killer.
And more than that—
This Azumarill had clearly been raised extremely well.
From what Shiko read, the Pokémon in front of him was also at peak Gym-level.
In terms of potential—
Compared to the previous two Pokémon that had reached Elite Four-level, this one was even stronger.
It actually had Champion-level talent.
Among Azumarill lines, that was undeniably rare.
A "clan king," huh?
Shiko thought to himself.
Even its base stats—
This Azumarill's base physical Attack was much higher than a normal Azumarill's.
And paired with Huge Power—
If the one standing here right now wasn't Shiko,
but some other Dragon-type Pokémon that wasn't Elite Four-level,
Shiko estimated there was an eighty to ninety percent chance it would be defeated on the spot.
"Azumarill! Quick Attack into Ice Punch!"
"Azuma—rii~~"
Azumarill's round body instantly turned into a streak of blue light and charged straight at Shiko.
Its fist lit up with icy-blue energy.
Right from the start, it attacked without holding anything back.
Arrogant.
Shiko gave a low snort, his gaze turning heavy.
This time, he'd make this brat of a Trainer understand what a gap really was.
Watching Azumarill rush in, Shiko had no intention of dodging at all.
He was going to crush it head-on.
He lowered his head.
From the pointed horn of the black single-piece helmet on his head, a dazzling light erupted.
Exclusive skill—
Giant Horn Charge!
What the hell?!
Roki's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
Th-this guy was choosing a frontal collision?
Was he out of his mind?
Wasn't he afraid of taking Azumarill's Ice-type move head-on?
With the double damage from type advantage,
plus Huge Power,
even with a level gap—
Roki was still certain that if that punch landed,
it would deal serious damage to this huge brute.
But—
The real key was:
In a clash that violent,
could his Pokémon even withstand the other side's force?
That glowing horn…
It was giving off a terrifying, dangerous aura.
Roki watched for quite a while and still couldn't tell what skill Shiko was using.
Megahorn?
Horn Drill?
Horn Attack?
…None of them seemed to match.
From the way the energy manifested and how the force was being applied, it didn't look like any of those.
The more Roki watched, the more alarmed he became.
That bad feeling in his chest kept swelling.
And then, the next moment—
He saw Shiko's speed suddenly spike for no apparent reason.
He was actually faster than Azumarill!
Like a high-speed armored war vehicle—
All Roki could make out was a blurred shadow of yellow mixed with blue.
In the next second—
The large and small bodies slammed together.
Boom!
There wasn't even a split second of stalemate.
Azumarill was blasted away on the spot.
It traced a high arc through the air and fell from the mountain peak down to the mountainside.
Life and death unknown.
Shiko came to a stop.
On the surface of his eye membrane, there was a conspicuous patch of frost—
the spot where Azumarill's Ice Punch had connected.
Crack!!!
The frozen ice crystals—
under the circulation of Fire-type energy within Shiko's body—
melted, shattered, and broke apart in an instant.
That punch hadn't done much damage to Shiko at all.
At most, it had made him ache for a moment and left him disgusted by the icy energy.
Shiko lowered his head.
His gaze fell on Roki, who was still standing there in a daze.
Right now, Roki was drowning in shock.
He had never imagined the fight would end like this.
He had prepared carefully—Mamoswine and Azumarill, those two Pokémon—
specifically to deal with the Dragon-type Pokémon in this valley.
And yet they had been erased by this unknown, terrifyingly strong existence in front of him—
one after another—
three in a row, all instantly one-shot.
The aura this Pokémon gave off—
at most, it looked like mid-tier quasi–Elite Four-level.
The level gap between Roki's Pokémon and the opponent was only five or six levels!
More importantly—
Roki's side even had type advantage and suppression.
At first, Roki believed that no matter what,
a three-on-one rotation battle to grind it down
would surely take this thing out.
"D-damn it…"
Staring at Shiko—
the excitement, anticipation, and greedy desire in Roki's eyes had long since vanished completely.
In their place were overwhelming shock and intense fear.
He looked up—
meeting Shiko's eyes.
In that instant,
a powerful aura and crushing pressure wrapped around his body.
"ROAR!!"
A single bellow.
Vast dragon pressure spread and poured down onto Roki in full.
Roki couldn't hold on.
He dropped to his knees, sweat pouring down, his whole body trembling violently.
At this moment—
Shiko's figure was branded deep into his mind,
like a nightmare he couldn't shake.
It brought him immense psychological pressure and a lingering shadow.
The next second—
that overwhelming pressure abruptly vanished.
Only then did Roki, who had been holding his breath, begin gulping air in huge, ragged breaths.
But in the very next moment—
he felt his body being tightly bound and restrained by something.
He looked down.
A long yellow tail had cinched tightly around his waist.
Then—
a tremendous force yanked upward.
His feet left the ground.
He was lifted into midair.
A massive wave of terror crashed into him.
He struggled frantically while staring at Shiko.
He couldn't understand what the other side was doing.
Wasn't the battle already won?
Why was he attacking the Trainer too?!
Shiko didn't answer.
What he wanted was simple—
to give Roki a lesson he would never forget.
And besides, this guy had shown up out of nowhere, harassed him, and wasted his time for nothing.
Shiko wasn't about to let that go.
Ignoring Roki's struggle,
Shiko whipped his tail—
and hurled him away.
Roki flew in a parabolic arc
and disappeared from sight.
Ding!
Congratulations to the host for completing a Special Quest!
A reward of 5% Steel-type law has been issued!
At that moment,
the system's mechanical electronic voice sounded again in Shiko's mind.
In the next second—
dense, razor-sharp Steel-type energy surged through his entire body.
In an instant,
Shiko keenly sensed that the Steel-type energy contained within him had risen another notch.
A smile of joy appeared on his face.
But immediately after—
his expression turned serious and heavy again.
Within one month, he would be able to fully master 100% of the Dragon-type law.
But then where was he supposed to get the Steel-type law he needed for his next evolution?
If he relied purely on absorbing Steel Gems,
without two or three years,
there was no way he'd reach the level he wanted.
And whether the market could even supply that many Steel Gems
was another problem entirely.
Could it be…
Shiko's brows eased slightly,
and an extremely bold idea surfaced again.
Was he going to repeat the old method—
and obtain energy from Registeel, the steel pillar god?
That would be far harder.
Registeel wasn't like Regidrago,
sealed away for ages, its level having dropped so severely
that Shiko had been given an opportunity.
Registeel right now was absolutely in peak condition.
With Shiko's current state,
facing it—
he had no chance whatsoever.
At the very least,
he would need to reach Elite Four-level.
No—
at minimum, he'd need Champion-level before there was even a tiny possibility.
Forget it.
When the ship reaches the bridge, it will straighten itself out.
Thinking about it now was useless—just needless worry.
What mattered was using this time to raise himself as quickly as possible
and max out the Dragon-type law first.
One week later—
with gems found by the wild Dragon-type Pokémon in the valley,
Shiko had raised the Dragon-type law power inside his body
to 99.5%.
There were still half a month left before the one-month limit.
As long as Shiko obtained five more type-boosting gems from the valley,
he could complete his goal.
Thinking of that,
he finally let out a breath.
Although—
starting from these past few days,
the wild Pokémon's search efficiency had clearly dropped a lot.
That was normal.
Dragon Gems were rare type items with limited production.
The further along it went, the harder they were to find.
But finding five within two weeks—
Shiko felt that shouldn't be a problem.
Even if his luck was so bad it hit rock bottom,
and he came up short by one or two,
that "Adventure Star" side could probably help him scrape them together through the Military's channels.
Meanwhile—
on a plain somewhere in the mountain region—
Roki was leading the Pokémon in his hands
and fighting fiercely against the wild Dragon-type Pokémon in the valley.
Luckily, he had brought a huge pile of medicine.
So even without a Pokémon Center,
he could still fully recover his Pokémon's severe injuries in a day or two.
And only then did Roki realize—
this Dragon Valley was, in fact,
a perfect leveling paradise for the Pokémon he had.
In less than a week,
his three Pokémon had broken through peak Gym-level
and successfully entered quasi–Elite Four-level.
Their strength had taken a huge step forward.
But even after reaching quasi–Elite Four-level,
cutting down anything in this valley like gods and Buddhas alike—
unstoppable wherever he went—
Roki still didn't have the courage
to try challenging Shiko again.
The shadow left by that last defeat was carved deep into his heart.
He couldn't forget it for a long time.
In fact—
every time he so much as glanced back at that mountain peak,
he couldn't help shivering.
That Pokémon was too terrifying.
After giving up his obsession with Shiko,
Roki had chosen a new target—
an Elite Four-level Salamence.
It counted as one of the valley's overlords.
Normally, with Roki's quasi–Elite Four-level strength,
dealing with that Pokémon should have been easy.
But fortunately—
Salamence seemed to have suffered extremely severe injuries
and still hadn't fully recovered.
That reduced its fighting strength significantly.
And Roki's side had a natural advantage against Dragon-type Pokémon.
After weighing it,
Roki decided to take a gamble and try.
This Salamence—
ridiculously strong, right?
Two hours later—
the commotion on a certain mountain peak in the valley finally died down completely.
Roki panted heavily.
The ground at his feet was already a wreck.
Trees had been destroyed.
The entire peak had been shaved down—one small hilltop gone.
The battle's traces were horrifying.
But at this moment—
he stared at the Poké Ball in his hand
and broke into a look of wild excitement.
He succeeded!
He actually did it!
As expected of a powerful Elite Four-level Pokémon!
Even under such brutal type disadvantage,
it still fought through it—
forcing itself to take out all three of his Pokémon before finally exhausting itself and collapsing unconscious.
It was astonishing.
But it was also because it passed out
that he had the chance to capture it successfully.
Thinking of that,
Roki's smile only grew brighter.
Good.
With this Pokémon—
when it came to trading with the Military and fighting for a slot to enter Mt. Silver,
it was basically secured.
This time—
he would tell everyone
that he was the number one genius in the entire valley!
(End of Chapter)
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