After Shiko and Himeko climbed out of the underground cave, Shiko released Dugtrio.
"Chi-chi!"
Dugtrio cried out once, then immediately drilled straight down into the ground and began searching like crazy again.
Mt. Silver's territory was vast.
The two of them followed for more than two hours, detouring around several large mountains. They passed through woodland, streams, and rolling hills—yet Dugtrio still didn't stop. It kept tunneling forward underground nonstop, and its speed showed no sign of slowing the way a king-level Pokémon should.
They chased for another ten-plus minutes and arrived at a wide, open plain.
Only then did Dugtrio's movement suddenly halt.
"Chi-chi!"
It burst up from beneath the ground, looked at Shiko and Himeko, and its expression was tinged with confusion.
"You mean… we lost it?"
Shiko froze, genuinely surprised.
Dugtrio's sense of smell was extremely sharp—especially this one, which had been specially trained for finding minerals and rare items. In that area, it was even more of an expert.
At the start, it had advanced so quickly, without the slightest hesitation, which meant only one thing.
It had definitely caught the scent of that liquid memory alloy.
But now it suddenly couldn't find it…
Shiko frowned slightly. A look of understanding surfaced in his eyes.
He slowly raised his head and gazed into the distance.
So that's how it was.
Most likely, it was a chain reaction caused by him absorbing the Steel-type energy from that lump of memory alloy earlier.
Clearly, while he was absorbing the energy from that alloy, he had already drawn the attention of the alloy's original owner.
After noticing, the other party decisively activated an emergency measure—retrieving the liquid memory alloy distributed throughout Mt. Silver from every location.
That was why Dugtrio had been able to track the traces at first…
…but after following for a distance, it could no longer find anything.
Once Shiko was certain of his guess, he felt his plan had hit another bottleneck.
Without that memory alloy, it would be hard to execute what he wanted to do.
"Then what do we do~?"
After Shiko explained his thoughts, Himeko furrowed her brows.
"Then we shelve this plan for now."
Shiko thought for a moment before continuing.
"They acted directly against Pokémon, which means their accumulation of Steel-type energy has reached a critical stage."
"It's very likely they're storing up energy to prepare for their next evolution."
"Let's wait. I think they won't be able to resist making another move."
"During this time, we'll watch and adapt. Besides, there are still plenty of other Steel-type resources here."
Shiko spoke calmly. His mentality adjusted quickly.
Since he couldn't get the genuine liquid memory alloy again in the short term, he would set it aside for the moment.
Mt. Silver still had large quantities of other Steel-type resources.
Those things had lower efficiency and contained less energy, but…
They could still improve how well he controlled the Steel-type energy inside his body.
"That's true."
Himeko was silent for a moment. After carefully mulling over what Shiko said, she nodded.
Then she unconsciously lifted her head to look at him, a trace of astonishment flashing through her beautiful eyes.
To be honest…
Shiko's intelligence was terrifyingly high.
Even though Pokémon at the Elite Four level all possessed varying degrees of intelligence…
Someone like Shiko was simply far too rare.
"Dugtrio! Keep searching for Steel-type materials and items!"
"Chi-chi!"
After hearing Shiko's order, Dugtrio nodded, drilled into the ground, and resumed digging through the soil below.
…
Half a month later.
On a certain mountaintop of Mt. Silver, there stood nothing but a single acacia tree, stark and bare.
Its trunk was so thick it would take more than ten people with arms linked to encircle it.
Even the branches extending from the trunk were absurdly thick—about the width of a large basin opening.
On those chaotic, tangled branches were countless bird nests.
But these nests were strange.
They weren't built from mud and twigs.
Every one of them was piled up entirely from metal objects.
All across the tree, there were hundreds upon hundreds of nests, large and small.
At the very top of the acacia tree sat the largest nest of all.
Compared to the rough, messy look of ordinary nests…
This one had been polished exceptionally smooth—like it had been hammered and ground out of a single solid block of alloy.
This mountaintop tree had once been a Corviknight settlement.
That massive nest at the very top was the nest of the settlement's mid-tier Elite Four-level Corviknight.
But now…
This place had become Shiko's territory.
Some time ago, while investigating outside, Dugtrio discovered this location.
Crows by nature loved shiny things.
Pokémon like Corviknight were no exception.
Especially the settlement leader—an Elite Four-level Corviknight—whose nest contained a massive stockpile of Steel-type items.
After Dugtrio confirmed the situation, it hurried back, intending to report the intel to Shiko.
But it didn't expect that its every move had already been watched by the Corviknight.
As it left, it was ambushed by the wild Pokémon in a frenzy.
If not for its quick reactions—diving into the depths of the earth the instant it was attacked—it would likely have been torn apart by those sharp claws and steel beaks.
Dugtrio fled back covered in wounds.
The moment Shiko saw how battered and miserable it looked, anger surged in him.
And the result was—
He defeated the entire settlement: several hundred Corviknight, all by himself.
Flamethrower, Super Burst, Super Flame…
Before Shiko's fire-type moves—pushed recklessly to the absolute limit—
these Steel-type Pokémon, weak to Fire, were utterly helpless.
More than half were roasted black on the spot.
Even that Elite Four-level Corviknight leader didn't last long.
After that…
Under Shiko's overwhelming pressure, every Corviknight was tamed into a flock of tool birds.
Since they were also good at finding Steel-type materials, Shiko chose to make full use of them.
He sent them all out to search for things on his behalf.
With so many Corviknight helping…
Over these half a month, Shiko accumulated a huge amount of Steel-type items.
The energy he absorbed from them raised the Steel-type Taming Attribute Law within his body by another seven percent…
leaping up to thirty percent!
That afternoon, Shiko bathed in the warm sunlight, watching Lopunny and Gardevoir conduct specialized training under Himeko's direction.
"Chi-chi!!"
Dugtrio suddenly poked its head out from a small mound of dirt beside him.
"Found something new again?"
"Then have Corviknight bring it back."
Shiko glanced at Dugtrio and lowered his voice.
"Chi-chi!"
Dugtrio was so excited it could barely contain itself, urgently crying out.
"Hm?"
"What?"
"You're saying… you found that liquid memory alloy again!?"
(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!]