Sixty-seven percent!
Feeling the surge of energy inside his body, Shiko was delighted. Light flared in his eyes.
He didn't linger here.
Nor did he show the slightest interest in any of Noivern's other hoarded treasures.
Shiko left the cave immediately and decisively headed for another mountain peak—this one was the territory of an Elite Four-level Altaria.
Himeko and the others watched Shiko's departing figure and hurried after him, even as Ukyo stared in bafflement.
They had barely flown near the peak when they felt a violent collision of power.
Just like when he dealt with Tyrantrum and Noivern before, Shiko relied on his overwhelming draconic pressure, coupled with the ridiculous amount of Dragon-type energy within him, and easily defeated that Altaria.
Then he absorbed the Dragon-type energy crystal it had been holding.
Another three percent of Dragon-type law mastery acquired!
His grasp over that energy inside his body had already reached a shocking seventy percent!
Seventy percent!?
Feeling that vast, surging, restlessly churning energy, Shiko was filled with an indescribable sense of power—and deep satisfaction.
Good.
At this rate, if luck was on his side, he might break through to a full one hundred percent today!
As Shiko calculated in his mind, the excitement and anticipation in his eyes grew even stronger.
Without the slightest hesitation, he climbed the next peak again.
Terrifying pressure and violent energy waves swept out and collided.
After a piercing, agonized screech, another Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon was defeated.
Flygon collapsed onto the ground, its aura utterly wilted.
On the peak, Shiko found the Dragon-type energy crystal Flygon had hidden inside an enormous, towering tree trunk—one even larger than a fist by a full ring.
He didn't hesitate.
After absorbing it, his type laws rose by another two percent.
Good.
Shiko didn't pause for even a moment. He moved like a top predator mid-hunt, carrying a heart-stopping presence and rolling waves of power, heading straight for the next target.
"…So strong."
Aisa stared at Shiko's silhouette and muttered.
"Yeah…"
Himeko nodded dully.
To be honest, the combat power Shiko was showing was shaking her to the core.
She couldn't understand what kind of training Shiko had done over these three months.
It was one thing for his level to rise so quickly—but how had his aura and pressure become so much stronger too?
It was as if he'd been reborn.
As if he'd become a completely different Pokémon.
Himeko couldn't make sense of it.
A Pokémon like him, who was lazy every day and did nothing but eat, drink, and sleep—how could he possibly become stronger this fast?
It completely violated common sense.
And besides…
In her memory, Shiko's personality had always been lazy and allergic to trouble. Because of that, he didn't like provoking conflict or battling other Pokémon.
But this time, after those Dragon-type Pokémon had already started fleeing, why was he still pursuing them so relentlessly?
That wasn't like him.
Himeko couldn't understand.
And then she looked at Shiko's hurried steps.
Unbidden, her mind replayed what Professor Boo had said before:
"GeoGreymon is very likely able to evolve one or two more times."
Could it be…
Himeko frowned slightly, a bold thought forming.
"I told you—don't mess with him!"
"Too vicious! I've never seen a Pokémon like this!"
"This is terrifying!"
Ukyo watched with his heart pounding and tried again to persuade everyone not to keep following.
From the way GeoGreymon was acting, he planned to sweep the entire valley clean—every single Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon.
If they kept trailing behind him…
Once this terrifying Pokémon wiped out all the overlords in the valley, would he turn his fangs on them next?
Ukyo absolutely did not want to face a savage Pokémon like that.
With their current battered lineup of four, he wasn't even sure they could withstand it.
But no matter how he tried to talk them out of it, the people in front of him didn't seem swayed at all.
They also didn't seem to fear this unfamiliar Pokémon in the slightest.
They actually chose to keep following.
Were they insane?
Enjoying excitement was one thing—this was suicide.
Watching his teammates chase after GeoGreymon, Ukyo's head started to ache.
He grit his teeth.
No choice.
He could only follow.
After that, the same scene played out again and again across peak after peak.
In less than an hour, Shiko swept through every overlord in the entire Dragon Valley with overwhelming force.
During that hour, the time spent actually fighting was less than a quarter of it.
The rest was travel.
Among all those Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon, only the two strongest—Garchomp and Salamence—could resist Shiko's offense for even a little while.
The others were basically finished in two hits.
That storm-like, crushing spectacle made the onlookers' hearts pound wildly.
Too strong!
This GeoGreymon—
The more you watched, the more he felt like a war god.
In reality, it wasn't that these Elite Four-level Dragon-types were weak.
It was that Shiko was too strong.
After absorbing the energy from Regidrago, he inherited much of Regidrago's terrifying pressure and power as a third-tier Legendary Pokémon.
That immense presence and oppression was one of the main reasons he could seize the advantage against Elite Four-level Pokémon stronger than him.
And on top of that…
The Dragon-type energy within him was so vast that every Dragon-type move he used was several times more ferocious than what ordinary Dragon-types could produce.
Under that double amplification, it wasn't surprising at all that Shiko could defeat Elite Four-level Pokémon a whole rank above him.
In the last den—Garchomp's nest—he found a massive Dragon-type energy crystal nearly the size of a human head. After absorbing it completely, the Dragon-type energy in Shiko's body surged by an enormous six percent.
In one leap, he smashed through the ninety-percent bottleneck—
Reaching ninety-five percent!
Only five points remained before his goal: one hundred percent mastery of Dragon-type laws.
Five points.
It sounded like very little, but Shiko was starting to feel stuck.
Every Dragon-type Pokémon in the entire valley—he had already dealt with all of them once.
Every Elite Four-level Dragon-type overlord's den—he had already visited all of them once.
Even the dens of those three Dragon-types he had knocked out earlier at the foot of the mountains with a single Dragon Energy—he had gone there too.
All the Dragon-type energy crystals held by those overlords had already fallen into his hands and been absorbed cleanly.
In other words…
What he got from Regidrago, plus what those overlords possessed—
Altogether, it only amounted to ninety-five percent.
So here was the problem:
What was he supposed to do about the remaining five percent?
Shiko frowned, headache blooming.
Walking out of Garchomp's cave dwelling, Shiko felt gloomy.
Even the joy of gaining such a huge boost to his type laws was faintly dulled.
Was he really going to be hard-stuck at that final five percent?
"I'm saying… shouldn't we really leave now?"
"All the Elite Four-level Dragon-type overlords in the valley have been taken care of by this guy. There's nothing left to watch, right?"
"I suggest we withdraw for now and head back."
"I… hey, what are you doing? Why are you going down there?"
Ukyo was only halfway through when he saw Himeko, Kenjiro-buchō, and Aisa jump off their flying mounts and walk straight toward Shiko.
Ukyo froze.
What in the world were they trying to do?
Don't tell him they were thinking of capturing this Pokémon?
Wasn't that insanely reckless?
Ukyo's eyes widened.
No choice.
He could only grit his teeth and follow.
At this moment, Charizard's energy could no longer sustain Mega Evolution, and it reverted from its Mega form back to a normal Charizard.
"Are you okay?"
Himeko walked at the front, looking up at Shiko as she asked with concern.
This kind of brutally fierce Shiko—
It was the first time she had ever seen him.
They had chased across peak after peak as he defeated the valley's Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon one after another.
It was madness.
Shiko shook his head, indicating he was fine.
"Lopun!"
"Garde!"
The moment Himeko finished speaking, two red beams shot out from the Poké Balls at her waist.
Lopunny and Gardevoir appeared, as if in perfect agreement.
The instant they saw Shiko, both Pokémon rubbed against him affectionately.
They hadn't seen him for three full months.
Their longing for Shiko was practically overflowing.
They evolved?
And Lopunny even Mega Evolved?
Shiko looked at the two little ones' changes, feeling genuinely surprised.
This speed of leveling up and getting stronger was absurd.
But then he thought about their talent, plus Himeko's guidance and training—
Progress like this was normal.
After all, compared to these two geniuses…
He was the real monster.
In his line of sight, something faintly swayed.
Looking closer, he realized it was on Lopunny and Gardevoir's necks—
The two type-boosting gems he had given them three months ago, when he first entered the valley.
He hadn't expected it.
They truly kept them carefully, treating them like tokens of affection.
Warmth spread in Shiko's chest.
"This is for you!"
Himeko's words snapped Shiko out of his thoughts.
Shiko lowered his head and saw Himeko open the bag she carried with her.
Inside was a whole pile of blue gemstones.
The moment she opened it, Shiko felt a dense surge of energy.
These were…!?
Dragon Gems!
Shiko's expression stiffened slightly.
There were more than a dozen of them.
Judging by the exchange value, Himeko had probably traded in every reward she'd earned over the last three months of doing missions to get these.
"That's thoughtful. Thank you."
Shiko's voice sounded inside Himeko's mind—gentle in tone.
The contrast between that gentleness and the ferocious, violent aura still clinging to him was enormous.
More than a dozen Dragon Gems…
Enough to raise his type laws by a little over one more point.
But—
He was still three points away from one hundred percent.
Wait.
Staring at the Dragon Gems, Shiko suddenly thought of something.
He stood up.
"Didn't you hear what Aisa said before?"
"This entire Dragon Valley is the Great Axia Alliance's main production site for Dragon Gems and all Dragon-type items."
"In other words, there are still plenty of Dragon Gems in here."
"If that's the case…"
"Then there's a way to get those remaining points!"
"So long as you're fine."
Himeko exhaled in relief.
"Honestly, I never thought you could improve this fast in just three months."
"Now that these Pokémon have been dealt with, the unrest is settled. Next we can restart the valley's mining operations, and we can withdraw as well."
Aisa looked at Shiko, her expression full of shock and awe.
It was hard to imagine.
Three months ago, when she first saw GeoGreymon in the battle arena, she had rated him as comparable to a third-tier Legendary Pokémon—so exaggerated that even she herself felt it was too much.
But she never expected that this Pokémon before her was truly closing in on that evaluation.
"No."
"The valley still needs to remain sealed for over a month."
"I'm going to continue cultivating here."
Shiko spoke again as he communicated with Aisa.
He needed this month—
To raise his Dragon-type law mastery to one hundred percent.
(End of Chapter)
[200 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]