On the surface, it looked like nothing more than a single level increase.
But for ordinary Pokémon, Elite Four-level and non–Elite Four-level were two completely different forms of life.
The moment one stepped into Elite Four-level, their life tier would undergo a qualitative leap.
Not only would their strength surge and rise to a higher realm—
their intelligence would also increase dramatically.
Completely not inferior to humans!
And in terms of lifespan,
they would live longer than others of the same species.
Elite Four-level wild Pokémon
were called apex overlords.
They were the unquestionable kings of their entire clans.
Even Elite Four-level Pokémon in a Trainer's hands
received extremely high treatment from the human League.
Just like Miyazato Aisa's Dragonite—
its status was extraordinary, respected by all.
"ROAR!"
Feeling the insane growth of powerful strength inside his body,
Shiko abruptly felt as if he had been reborn.
The aura he released surged again,
spreading out to blanket the entire valley.
Before, those Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon in Dragon Valley
had still been able to endure that massive impact under Shiko's draconic pressure.
But now, after Shiko crossed that bottleneck
and also reached Elite Four-level—
they couldn't endure it anymore.
Under that oppressive presence,
it wasn't just their bodies—
even their souls were trembling violently.
Inside the valley,
Salamence's eyes filled with shock.
Gritting its teeth as it resisted Shiko's aura,
it had clearly already reached its limit!
BOOM!!!
Its body toppled over, crashing to the ground.
Its pupils turned into spirals as it fainted on the spot.
"Salamence?!"
Hatsu Roki panicked as he looked at his unconscious Salamence.
No matter what, he couldn't believe it.
The Elite Four-level Dragon-type Pokémon he had only just barely managed to subdue through endless effort—
couldn't even withstand the draconic pressure of another Dragon-type Pokémon that had just stepped into Elite Four-level?
That was absurd!
That Salamence
was Elite Four high-tier strength!
And that terrifying dragon beast—
was still only Elite Four entry-tier!
Across such a massive gap in tier,
it could still suppress with nothing but presence alone?
That was beyond ridiculous!
What in the world was that Pokémon?
In Roki's mind,
Shiko's figure surfaced once again.
He subconsciously shivered.
Could it be—
a mysterious Legendary Pokémon that hadn't been recorded in the Pokédex at all?
The moment that thought appeared,
it took root deep in his mind.
That had to be it. There was no way it was wrong!
Otherwise,
how could that Pokémon, the instant it stepped into Elite Four-level,
press an Elite Four high-tier pseudo-legendary down so completely?
At that thought,
cold fear immediately welled up in Roki's heart.
He had actually wanted to capture a Legendary Pokémon?
He must've been out of his mind!
Looking at the Salamence lying unconscious before him,
the joy he'd felt at capturing an Elite Four-level Pokémon vanished in an instant.
What a terrifying Pokémon.
Once Salamence woke up, he would leave this place immediately.
For the rest of his life,
Roki never wanted to see Shiko again.
…
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining 1.5 experience points]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining 1.8 experience points]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining 1 experience point]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining 0.8 experience points]
…
One electronic notification after another rang out in Shiko's mind.
A steady stream of experience was seized by him.
After breaking into Elite Four-level,
the experience he obtained was even more than before!
It seemed
that it was because his stronger draconic pressure
had also affected the Pokémon at the very edge of the valley.
Besides that,
Shiko also noticed that
within these notifications,
he had gained quite a few experience rewards above 1 point.
Those were probably all provided by the Elite Four-level Pokémon in the valley.
Looks like
after breaking into Elite Four-level,
he truly had entered a brand-new realm.
With complete mastery of the Dragon-type laws plus Elite Four-level strength,
even those Elite Four high-tier Dragon-type Pokémon
couldn't withstand his aura!
After releasing his pressure without restraint, thoroughly and freely,
Shiko gained experience points
and his level
shot up from the Elite Four entry-tier Level 60 he had just reached—
jumping four levels in one go,
to reach Elite Four mid-tier.
That increase
made Shiko so delighted he almost couldn't believe it.
He looked down the mountainside.
Within the area visible to the naked eye,
all the wild Dragon-type Pokémon were sprawled on the ground, prostrated.
Watching the valley floor filled with Pokémon lying in all directions,
Shiko slowly
reined his aura back in.
His purpose for staying in Dragon Valley had been achieved.
Next,
he needed to find a way
to fill in what he lacked in the Steel-type laws.
If he relied purely on Steel-type gems,
or the energy contained within certain rare Steel-type items,
Shiko had nowhere near the patience to raise it little by little.
Then
the only method
might be the same as this time—
find a large quantity of Steel-type crystals, absorb them,
and rapidly raise the strength of the laws within his body.
Shiko frowned.
This difficulty was truly enormous.
Better to search and see
whether there were ruins related to Steel-type Legendary Pokémon,
or regions where large numbers of Steel-type Pokémon lived.
In places like that,
Steel-type crystals that contained what he needed were the most likely to exist.
Shiko analyzed quietly.
Looks like next,
he would need to get information from the Military
and change locations for cultivation.
If he calculated the time,
the one-month time limit had also arrived.
According to the prior plan and agreement,
Isobe Himeko should be coming from the Military today to bring him out of the valley.
Thinking of that,
he felt a bit gloomy.
Not being able to fly was awkward.
And with his huge body,
he also couldn't just grab any random Dragon-type Pokémon in the valley as a ride.
So either he ran back himself,
or he waited for someone to come and take him back.
Shiko looked up at the sky,
quietly waiting for Himeko's figure to appear.
…
Within the boundless expanse of cosmic space,
an elegant, noble Pokémon strolled through the void.
Its gaze
swept across one enormous planet after another,
as if it were inspecting the state of life on every world.
This pure-white Pokémon
radiated a divine, dazzling brilliance.
Around its waist was a golden ring.
From it
burst eighteen completely different streams of energy-light.
Arceus!!!
The being said to have created Pokémon and the entire Pokémon World!
The supreme god above even the first-tier Legendary Pokémon!
At this moment,
this legendary existence was walking through the vast cosmos.
After inspecting world after world filled with life,
its gaze stopped on two sea-blue planets.
And right at that moment—
among the eighteen divine lights on Arceus's body,
one blue beam
suddenly scattered into countless points of light.
Crack!!!
A crisp cracking sound rang out.
The Draco Plate—symbolizing Dragon-type energy—
mysteriously shattered in that instant.
Then in the next second,
the dust-like fragments of the shattered Dragon-type Plate
rapidly recombined and solidified,
restoring it to its original form.
Deep blue light burst forth again,
as if nothing had happened at all.
In Arceus's eyes,
a trace of surprise flashed inadvertently.
A Pokémon
had mastered a complete set of type laws?
Arceus was a little taken aback.
By the rules it had established,
Legendary Pokémon were created complete from birth.
Only those Legendary Pokémon
could possibly master complete type laws
and stand above ordinary Pokémon.
But now,
Arceus sensed that
the Pokémon that had mastered complete type laws
did not belong to any Legendary Pokémon it recognized.
In that case—
it was an ordinary Pokémon?
That was impossible!
Why would an ordinary Pokémon be able to cross the rules it had set?
Arceus stepped lightly through empty space on four hooves,
slowly drawing closer to those sea-blue planets.
…
Great Axia Alliance.
In the eastern mountain range region,
Regigigas trudged with heavy steps,
slowly advancing toward the northern area.
Its speed and movements were all very slow.
At a glance, it looked like a small mountain moving gradually.
Even so,
the Military's surveillance never stopped for a second—
twenty-four hours a day.
After all, this was a first-tier Legendary Pokémon!
It absolutely possessed the power
to overturn the entire Great Axia Alliance,
and even plunge the whole world into an enormous crisis.
Without understanding its objective,
the only thing they could do was monitor its movements!
Regigigas continued with its slow steps,
still advancing little by little toward the north.
On the monitoring side,
the personnel maintained strict observation while reporting information to Military Headquarters.
All of a sudden,
Regigigas's movement stopped for no apparent reason.
As if it had been frozen in place.
It held the pose of moving forward,
standing there without moving at all.
The personnel responsible for surveillance on site were also stunned for a moment.
They watched Regigigas,
observed for quite a while,
and only after confirming it truly wasn't moving
did they report the information to the Military.
"What? Why did it suddenly stop?"
The Military's senior commanders
had been gathered discussing how to handle Regigigas.
Hearing this news out of nowhere,
they stood up from their chairs at once.
The unexpected information genuinely shocked them.
"Contact the team at Mt. Silver immediately! Check Registeel's situation!"
As if suddenly realizing something,
the Military high command immediately had someone contact the personnel responsible for monitoring Registeel at Mt. Silver.
The words had barely fallen—
and unexpectedly, a message arrived from that side.
"Headquarters! This is the Mt. Silver reconnaissance squad!"
"Registeel, for unknown reasons, seems to have fallen back into a deep slumber!"
Huh?!
That one stopped too?
As the report came in,
the Military's senior figures
showed surprise on their faces.
But immediately after, they sharply caught the connection.
Registeel had awakened in the first place because of Regigigas.
Now that
Regigigas's actions had stopped,
Registeel showing this state
was also within expectations.
"Continue strict monitoring. Report their status once every half hour!"
"If there's any sudden situation, report it immediately!"
Even though they didn't understand why the two Pokémon had behaved like this,
they couldn't lower their guard just because they had stopped moving.
"Yes! Understood!"
Receiving the order from above,
the personnel responsible for surveillance nodded solemnly and agreed.
After putting down the communicator,
they looked toward the rigid Regigigas standing in the distance.
It still maintained that forward-charging posture without moving.
And furthermore—
those seven small recessed sockets on its body that shimmered with sapphire-blue luster…
This…
Did it really re-enter dormancy?
What was going on?
A false alarm?
Inside the Northern Military Division base,
"Today is the final day of the deadline, right? You need to go to the valley and bring GeoGreymon back."
"As for this, just take it along as a bit of handiwork. Be careful—remember to go early and come back early."
Miyazato Aisa spoke to Himeko with a smile,
and at the same time took out a Poké Ball and handed it to her.
Himeko nodded.
She carefully put it away,
and anticipation rose in her expression.
A month had passed.
She had no idea what realm Shiko had cultivated to now.
When she saw him again this time—
would he give her another huge surprise?
(End of Chapter)
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