"After you find him, go back to Wintergreen Forest and investigate what's going on inside."
"Once you're done investigating, head straight to Mt. Silver and rendezvous with me."
Right before Himeko set off, Aisa handed her another task.
"What happened over at Wintergreen Forest?" Himeko asked instinctively.
"We've found suspected traces of Team Dark, so we want you to go confirm it," Aisa explained.
The Military had received a report from the Wintergreen City Defense Forces.
But it was only that Team Dark had possibly been spotted.
There was no 100% confirmation.
Given what had happened in Wintergreen Forest before, Aisa still felt it was best to have Himeko—someone local—swing by and investigate while she was at it.
"Understood!" Himeko nodded.
After reminding her to be careful, Aisa watched as Himeko mounted Pidgeot and vanished from view.
It was obvious Pidgeot had been trained specifically as a flying mount.
It had just reached Gym-level strength.
Its speed was noticeably better than an ordinary Gym-level Pidgeot.
When it flew through the sky, it was like a small jet.
Riding on its back, Himeko felt wave after wave of rushing air slam into her face.
It took her quite a while to steady her breathing.
But then again…
Why did she have to report back to Mt. Silver after finishing the investigation, instead of returning to base?
Himeko remembered that Mt. Silver had been under lockdown recently.
So why was it letting people in again now?
She couldn't come up with an answer no matter how she turned it over in her head, so she set it aside for the time being.
The Northern Military Division base was quite far from Dragon Valley.
After Pidgeot flew for nearly two hours, the outline of that imposing valley finally appeared faintly within Himeko's field of view.
Looking at the familiar Dragon Valley ahead, Himeko's heart started pounding violently for no apparent reason.
Her emotions also grew a little excited.
It had been a month since she'd last seen Shiko.
She was looking forward to seeing just how much he'd improved.
Lopunny and Gardevoir had already been trained up to the peak of Gym-level.
With Shiko's consistently outrageous training speed…
Himeko felt that even though Shiko was already quasi–Elite Four level—and even though raising his strength further should have been harder—
His speed definitely wouldn't be slower than Lopunny's and Gardevoir's.
At the very least, he should have reached mid quasi–Elite Four level.
As she was thinking that, she and Pidgeot had already begun a rapid dive from the sky, landing at the valley entrance.
She showed her identification and documents to the staff on duty.
After confirming everything was in order, the guards let Himeko through.
She passed through the entrance and entered the valley.
After walking inward for a short distance, the scene ahead instantly left Himeko stunned.
The ground was carpeted with Dragon-type Pokémon lying unconscious.
Huge piles of them were heaped together—
Like fish in a pond floating up after being slaughtered.
As far as she could see…
They were everywhere.
Had some earthshaking battle happened here?
Had the spreading shockwaves knocked all these wild Dragon-type Pokémon unconscious?
Himeko checked the condition of the fainted Pokémon.
Among the massive number of unconscious Dragon-types on the ground, there were quite a few with very high levels—
Some had already reached Gym-level!
Realizing that, Himeko's heart started racing.
Shockwaves alone were enough to knock Gym-level Pokémon unconscious.
So what kind of battle could have happened here…
To overflow with such terrifying energy?
The Pokémon battling had to be at least Champion-level to cause a disturbance on this scale.
But that raised a problem.
Where would a Champion-level Pokémon come from in this valley?
The strongest here should have only been high-tier Elite Four level.
Wait—
A thought suddenly surfaced in Himeko's mind.
Could it be that one of the valley's original Elite Four–level Dragon-types had broken through during this month…
And reached Champion-level?
Thinking carefully, it wasn't impossible—there was even a strong chance.
The moment she got that far, Himeko immediately quickened her pace.
Shiko and the Elite Four–level Pokémon in this valley had a blood feud.
Before, he'd beaten every Elite Four–level Pokémon here by himself.
So if that was the case…
Then the two sides in the battle were very likely Shiko—
And some newly advanced existence within the valley.
This is bad!
By the time she reached that conclusion, Himeko's expression had already grown heavy.
She couldn't help worrying about Shiko's condition.
She didn't linger where she was.
She hurriedly began searching around for Shiko's figure.
The deeper she went into the valley, the more horrifying the scene became.
Unconscious Pokémon covered the ground.
Himeko's brows knit tighter and tighter.
The only thing that puzzled her was—
After walking for quite a while, aside from the countless fainted Pokémon on the ground…
She hadn't caught any sign of battle damage at all.
Right now, she had no mood to analyze that.
Her mind was anxious, focused entirely on finding Shiko.
"Shiko!?" Her clear voice rang out sharply in the silent valley.
"Shiko!?"
No response came, and she grew even more worried.
Oh no—
Don't tell me I guessed right…
Did something really happen to Shiko?
Himeko's breathing hitched.
She kept shouting loudly, her voice already carrying a faint sob.
"Shiko!?"
Himeko continued calling out.
"ROAR!!"
Suddenly, a roar came from within the valley, as if answering her call.
Himeko recognized that familiar voice, and joy burst through her.
Great—
He's still here. It looks like he's fine!
As she exhaled in relief, she quickly lifted her head and looked toward where the sound came from.
On a mountain peak not far away, Shiko's figure was clearly visible.
One person and one Pokémon looked at each other across the distance.
Himeko fully relaxed—then her heart jolted again.
This…
Why does Shiko's aura feel so much more oppressive now?!
In this month…
He seemed to have grown stronger.
Not just a little stronger—
A qualitative leap.
A thought suddenly sprang into Himeko's mind.
With this kind of pressure and presence…
Had Shiko broken through to Elite Four level?
No.
That can't be.
Even if Shiko was extraordinarily gifted, with terrifying potential—
Elite Four level wasn't something you broke through so easily!
Otherwise, among the tens of millions of Trainers across the entire Alliance, there wouldn't be so few Elite Four–level Trainers!
Elite Four level—
Was an enormous threshold for all Pokémon.
In a single month…
No matter what, Himeko couldn't believe Shiko could go from early quasi–Elite Four level—
To crossing an entire major tier and stepping into Elite Four level.
It was too absurd, too unimaginable!
While thinking rapidly, Himeko climbed up that mountain peak.
"You're not late," Shiko quipped when he saw her.
Himeko didn't answer.
She only stared at Shiko in silence.
Now that she was closer…
The oppressive aura rolling off Shiko was even stronger.
Even though she was human and not a Pokémon, she was still suppressed so hard that a powerful, panicked tightness rose in her chest.
Himeko noticed the unconscious Druddigon beside Shiko.
Instinctively, she used her Eye of Appraisal to check it.
A quasi–Elite Four–level Druddigon?
Why was it unconscious here?
Himeko also noticed there wasn't a single wound on Druddigon's body.
It clearly hadn't been beaten into unconsciousness.
It had most likely fainted from being slammed by aura pressure.
Himeko's expression immediately turned strange.
She looked at Shiko—
At that attribute panel filled entirely with question marks—
And hesitated, half disbelieving yet carrying a small, hopeful expectation as she spoke.
"Y-you… what level are you now?"
"Just reached Elite Four level," Shiko's voice sounded in Himeko's mind.
Elite Four level!?
It really was Elite Four level?!
Himeko's expression instantly became complicated.
She stared at Shiko, unable to speak for a long while.
This was way too outrageous!
Lopunny and Gardevoir already leveled up incredibly fast—
But Shiko?
Without her guidance, without any help at all…
In just over half a year, he had gone from a Pokémon that had only just hatched from an Egg—
To the absurd height of Elite Four level!
Unbelievable.
That had absolutely refreshed the world record.
And when she thought about Shiko's daily "training routine" being nothing but eating, drinking, sleeping, and sunbathing—
It made even less sense.
So lazy…
And still rising to Elite Four level at lightning speed—
Then there was only one explanation.
Shiko's talent was simply too high.
So high it far surpassed ordinary Pokémon by an enormous margin.
As expected…
Worthy of that analyzed "third-tier Legendary" potential.
Himeko looked at Shiko, and a faint light seemed to glow in her eyes.
"Can we go now?" Shiko felt uncomfortable under her stare.
Only then did Himeko react.
She nodded, took out Shiko's Luxury Ball, and recalled Pidgeot.
She clipped the Poké Ball back onto her belt.
Then, brimming with confidence, Himeko left with Shiko.
Back at the valley area, she released Pidgeot again.
She fed it a Flying-type Pokéblock to ease the fatigue from the long flight.
Then she mounted up and left the place.
"What's the plan next?" Shiko asked curiously when he noticed Himeko's direction wasn't toward the Northern Military Division base.
"First, we're going back to Wintergreen Forest to investigate the reports about Team Dark showing up."
"Then we'll meet up with the Northern Military Division."
Himeko answered.
Shiko nodded.
In those two lines, there was a place name that interested him.
"Mt. Silver—does it have resource mines?"
"An important resource mining area for the Military. The main production site for Steel-type materials."
"And it's also said there are large numbers of Steel-type Pokémon there. Rumor has it that the third-tier Legendary Registeel is sleeping somewhere in Mt. Silver."
Himeko explained.
Huh?
Hearing that, Shiko froze for a moment—then delight rose in him.
So it really was…
When one path runs out, another opens.
Luck like this couldn't be stopped even if you tried.
Looks like on this Mt. Silver trip…
He'd probably be able to refine his Steel-type laws quite a bit more.
…
Meanwhile.
Inside Dragon Valley.
With Shiko's departure, the terrifying draconic pressure that had blanketed the entire valley finally vanished completely.
The wild Pokémon that had fainted under Shiko's oppressive aura—
Over the next hour or two after he left, they slowly began to wake up.
Inside a cave, Salamence also gradually regained consciousness.
After realizing Shiko's aura was no longer present, it let out a long breath of relief without even realizing it.
"How is it? Are you okay?" Roki asked.
"Roar." Salamence growled low and shook its head.
"Good," Roki's heart finally settled.
As he spoke, he took out an empty Poké Ball and pressed the button.
Salamence transformed into a red beam of light and returned to the Poké Ball.
Roki felt the heavy, solid weight of the ball in his hand.
A smile he couldn't suppress spread across his face.
Now—
He finally counted as an Elite Four–level Trainer.
In the entire Great Axia Alliance, he had stepped into the topmost ranks of the upper echelon.
This trip to Mt. Silver—
He was going to shock those big shots' eyes right out of their heads!
And also—
That young genius who stole his spotlight back when they were freshmen—
He would definitely deal with them properly!
He would make everyone understand—
Who was the Alliance's true number one genius!
(End of Chapter)
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