Shiko stood where he was, gulping down air in huge breaths.
He had actually beaten Regidrago—a third-tier Legendary Pokémon!
Staring at the body collapsed on the ground, unconscious, Shiko still felt like it was unreal.
This battle had looked simple on the surface.
But the head-on contest of pure energy had drained every last bit of Dragon-type energy from his body.
Right now, just standing there already felt difficult.
After resting for a long while, Shiko finally forced himself to move his feet and slowly walked over to Regidrago.
Looking at that enormous red Dragon-type energy crystal, greed flickered in his eyes again.
Such a huge one!
How much Type Law energy would it provide him?
The key issue was… could he absorb it directly like this?
He placed his forelimb on Regidrago's body and tried.
When the system's prompt sounded—"Do you want to absorb directly?"—Shiko finally let out a breath.
He could absorb it!
All this effort hadn't been wasted!
As pure Dragon-type energy surged into his body, a bright smile spread across his face.
Sure enough.
Even though Regidrago was a Pokémon, it had been formed after a pure crystal was granted life.
That meant he could still absorb its energy all the same.
Five percent…
Six percent…
Seven percent…
The absurd increase in Type Laws left Shiko dumbfounded.
After a moment of stunned silence, delight flooded his expression.
As expected of a third-tier Legendary!
As expected of a Pokémon made from an energy crystal!
The intensity of energy it provided was on a completely different level!
Before, when he absorbed those fist-sized Dragon-type energy crystals, the increase had only been 0.1 at a time.
Now it was jumping by a full percent each time.
A tenfold difference in effect.
He felt the dried-up energy inside him gradually refill.
It even grew stronger than before.
The smile on Shiko's face became impossible to restrain.
At that moment, he glanced at Regidrago without thinking—
and froze slightly.
He noticed something unexpectedly interesting.
Regidrago's level…
was dropping rapidly, nonstop.
From early-stage Elite Four-level strength…
all the way down to Gym-level, then Elite-level…
Was it because he was extracting the energy inside its crystal?
Shiko was surprised.
After thinking it through, that was the only explanation he could come up with.
And at that very moment—
what Shiko didn't know was that the entire Dragon Valley had already begun to stir.
The terrifying energy fluctuations coming from the deepest mountain peak vanished after lasting for a short time.
Of the two powerful auras, only one remained.
It was the one the Dragon-type Elite Four-level Pokémon in the valley all recognized—
Shiko's aura.
He… won?
That thought surfaced instinctively among the valley's rulers, and they were all taken aback.
Someone who hadn't even reached Elite Four-level…
actually possessed such frightening strength.
It was simply unbelievable.
No one knew who exactly had clashed with Shiko inside that mysterious peak.
But anything that could appear in the deepest part of that mountain—
was absolutely not an ordinary Pokémon.
Realizing that, the rulers of the valley silently raised Shiko's danger rating by another tier.
And right then, they noticed a change in the mountain itself.
That powerful, dreadful pressure that had been suppressing the entire peak…
seemed to be weakening little by little.
At first, the Pokémon thought it was just their imagination.
But after watching carefully for a long time, they realized it wasn't.
That pressure truly was fading continuously!
And at this rate—
before long, it would drop to a level they could fully endure.
When that happened,
they could personally go into the mysterious peak and investigate.
See what had happened here.
Why such a powerful energy fluctuation had been produced.
More than that—
they wanted to see whether the peak that had previously spewed out massive quantities of Dragon-type energy crystals
was still hiding treasures inside.
Dragon-type Pokémon were born with a strong urge to collect.
Wild ones especially.
Now, every Dragon-type Pokémon in the valley that had reached Elite Four-level
was itching to move.
Their gazes locked onto that mountain peak,
waiting for the critical moment to arrive.
Meanwhile, Shiko—completely unaware of the commotion outside—
continued absorbing the energy from Regidrago with deep satisfaction.
Watching the Type Laws inside his body
rise bit by bit,
the sense of gain and fulfillment
made him feel euphoric.
Shiko absorbed extremely quickly.
Regidrago's level dropped extremely quickly as well.
From Gym-level,
it plunged to Elite-level, then Professional-level.
Finally, it fell from Entry-level to Starter level—
and only stopped when it couldn't drop any further.
At the same time, the increase in Type Laws inside Shiko's body
also stopped.
No more, no less—
exactly sixty-five percent.
From Regidrago alone,
Shiko obtained a terrifying sixty percent of Dragon-type Laws.
Tch!
As expected of a third-tier Legendary!
No—
more precisely, as expected of a third-tier Legendary Pokémon made by Regigigas using pure Dragon-type energy crystals.
It really was powerful enough.
This harvest was far beyond what Shiko had imagined!
Looking at Regidrago, still unconscious,
Shiko couldn't help but picture the scene—
when Regidrago woke up,
realized its strength had dropped all the way to the Starter stage,
and flew into a rage.
It would definitely be spectacular.
Shiko felt no guilt about what he had done.
Winner takes all—if you bet, you accept the loss.
Since he had won this battle,
this was the reward he deserved.
Besides—
if he had been the one to lose,
judging by the attitude Regidrago had shown at the start of the fight,
Shiko knew his own end wouldn't have been pretty.
He grabbed Regidrago and, with one motion, tossed it back into that metal furnace.
Watching the metal furnace bob up and down in the scorching magma,
Shiko paused.
Then, as if he suddenly thought of something, his eyes lit up.
Hm?
Could this metal furnace also be made from some special material?
Could it contain dense Steel-type energy?
Once that thought appeared, Shiko didn't hesitate at all.
He waded straight into the lava lake
and walked toward the furnace in the center.
His body already carried powerful Fire-type energy.
So for him,
this magma—without any Fire-type energy fluctuations, only pure heat—
didn't cause much damage.
The farther he went toward the center, the deeper it became.
The lake's depth had long surpassed Shiko's four-meter height.
He had to start swimming to the center.
Drawing close to that massive furnace, Shiko's expression turned delighted.
Just as he'd guessed.
A furnace capable of sealing a third-tier Legendary like Regidrago
couldn't possibly be something ordinary.
The materials used to forge the furnace—
while inferior to those tools he'd seen before that were cast by smelting Steel-type gems into hammers, clamps, and the like—
still weren't common metals.
It seemed to be made from a large amount of metallic film,
stacked into layers to form metal sheets,
and only then forged into the furnace.
Because of that, the furnace contained quite a bit of Steel-type energy.
With this unexpected bonus, Shiko naturally wouldn't let it go.
He pressed his hand against the furnace.
After the system prompt sounded, he nodded.
In the next second,
dense Steel-type energy was drawn out from the furnace,
pouring into his body in an endless stream.
A few minutes later,
the tall, silvery furnace became dull and lifeless.
Inside Shiko's body,
the Steel-type energy he possessed
also advanced.
It broke through to a full eight percent.
That gain made him even more pleased.
Wait!
Maybe there's more good stuff!
Shiko thought for a moment and didn't rush to leave.
Instead, he stuck his head into the opening
where Regidrago had burst out from inside the steel furnace earlier, to check.
Tch!
There really was something new!
A grin bloomed on Shiko's face again.
He felt like he'd been lucky to the extreme today.
At the bottom of the steel furnace,
there were a huge number of Flame Orbs.
One after another, each flashing with a vivid red glow and radiating scorching energy.
These were all good things!
Like Type-boosting gems, they were precious items that could increase the Type Laws inside the body.
Since he was already here, there was no reason to waste them!
Shiko immediately began absorbing the energy contained within those Flame Orbs.
After more than ten minutes,
the red light flickering beneath the furnace finally dimmed completely.
Not bad!
His Fire-type Laws
had risen to three percent as well.
Shiko was overjoyed.
This trip into the valley—
he hadn't expected all three of his Type Laws
to make such substantial progress.
It really hadn't been a wasted trip.
If he could run into opportunities like this a few more times,
he'd probably reach one hundred percent in both Steel and Dragon in no time.
Then evolving into WarGreymon wouldn't be far off.
But Shiko also understood.
This time, being able to squeeze out so much Dragon-type Law energy from Regidrago
was purely because he'd gotten lucky.
Regidrago had broken its seal, its strength had declined, and its stamina was exhausted—
only then had Shiko been given such a chance.
If he wanted to use the same method to obtain Steel-type Laws,
he would have to set his sights on that Steel Titan, Registeel.
But Registeel was different from the Dragon Titan.
It hadn't suffered any sealing at all.
Right now, it was at the peak of its power.
If he wanted to fight it,
Shiko knew
he was still far from being able to.
So—
for Steel-type Laws, he'd have to find another way.
Thinking this over, Shiko returned from the lava lake to the shore.
Then he triggered the mechanism on the wall,
making the massive furnace,
along with the unconscious Regidrago,
sink back down into the magma.
After finishing all of that, Shiko suddenly felt drained and exhausted.
The earlier battle had forcibly overdrawn his body.
And right after that, he had replenished himself in a short burst by absorbing three powerful types of energy.
The energy systems inside him intertwined and collided,
making his condition worsen.
No.
He needed to rest.
His eyelids grew heavy.
He found a flat spot,
lay down flat,
and fell into a deep sleep.
…
Eastern Plateau.
Within a stretch of continuous mountain ranges,
on a small, short mountain—only about four meters high—nestled among the peaks, trees grew lush and green.
Many small Pokémon lived on this hill, such as Rattata, Spearow, and Diglett.
Just as they were foraging and living as usual—
the entire mountain suddenly began to shake violently.
The sudden, terrifying movement
sent the small Pokémon on the mountain fleeing in all directions.
Immediately after,
a shocking scene appeared.
On the surface of the hill,
seven glowing points appeared, shining like blue sapphires.
Four points above formed a diamond shape.
Three points below extended downward in a straight line—
like a tail dragging beneath the diamond.
The tremendous rumbling
echoed through heaven and earth.
The pattern inside those glowing points looked like a signal that some kind of machine had started up.
In the next second,
a tall, powerfully built Pokémon
slowly climbed up from underground—its legs emerging first.
That hill—
was actually this Pokémon's body!
Its movements were slow.
After it stood upright,
it cautiously faced toward the right.
Over there,
it sensed an aura it recognized—
and that aura seemed to have vanished completely.
Across the thousands of years of change,
it had felt that aura go from strong to weak.
But no matter how weak it became,
it could still sense that faint trace.
Because that Pokémon…
was something it had created with its own hands.
"…"
"…Headquarters, do you copy? This is Eastern Military Monitoring Team Number One…"
"Third-tier alert! Third-tier alert!"
"Attention! Regigigas has awakened!"
(End of Chapter)
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