Time flew by.
The final day of the one-month deadline arrived.
Shiko looked at the 99.9% mastery of the Dragon-type Law within his body and felt a little speechless.
His luck really didn't seem all that good.
By now, the search area had almost expanded to cover the entire valley.
Yet for three days in a row, he still hadn't found the final crucial type-boosting gem he needed.
Forget it.
Reaching this point had already gone fairly smoothly.
As for that last 0.1%…
He'd let Dokuro Kaname handle it on his end and figure something out.
Thinking that, Shiko felt a bit more at ease.
99.9% Dragon-type Law.
And 0.3% Steel-type Law.
In just four short months, achieving this much progress—
Shiko was already extremely satisfied. It had far exceeded his expectations.
Besides…
During this one month, he had also found a way to madly raise his strength.
Aside from the experience he gained every day from completing daily quests, battling the wild Dragon-type Pokémon in the valley also let him harvest a massive amount of experience.
Strictly speaking…
Defeating a single Pokémon only gave him a pitiful amount of experience points.
Pokémon below Gym-level could provide only 0.5 experience.
But—
This valley had a lot of Pokémon.
And Shiko had a large-area killing move like Dragon Energy.
One move—
And he could wipe out twenty or thirty at once.
When the numbers stacked up, the experience he gained was far from small!
Of course, he couldn't just shear every last "lamb" in the valley completely clean.
Wild Pokémon, after getting injured, weren't like a Trainer's Pokémon—
they couldn't receive proper treatment.
Most of them relied on their own self-healing ability to slowly recover from wounds.
With Shiko holding back, the wild Pokémon still needed at least over a week to fully recover.
What's more, Shiko still needed these wild Pokémon to help him search for Dragon Gems within the valley.
So even with all that experience available, Shiko harvested it very cautiously.
Over this one month—
Using this method, plus the experience rewards from daily quests,
he successfully raised himself from Level 52, near–Elite Four,
to Level 58, near–Elite Four peak.
Just one step away from Elite Four-level.
This leveling speed was absurdly outrageous.
If word got out—
it would absolutely make people's jaws drop.
Huff…
Shiko suddenly heard the sound of rushing air coming from in front of him.
He sharply looked up—
and saw a Druddigon flying toward him.
That Druddigon carefully drew its forelimbs together,
as if protecting something precious.
Seeing its movements, Shiko's heart instantly leapt with excitement.
Could it be…?!
Had they found the last gem?!
"Roar!"
The Druddigon landed, then excitedly roared at Shiko.
Then it loosened the tightly clenched grip of its hands.
In its red foreclaws—
was, without a doubt, a Dragon-type energy gem.
Shiko's breathing caught.
In his expression,
surprise and joy spilled out.
This was the first time he had ever felt such intense excitement because of a mere type-boosting gem.
He couldn't help it!
Because this gem—
was the final, most critical piece that would bring the Dragon-type Law within his body to 100%!
Shiko took the type-boosting gem from Druddigon's hands and clenched it tightly in his own.
The Dragon-type energy inside the gem, as if drawn by an irresistible pull, seeped out from within that hard crystal—
and was absorbed into his body.
That last strand of pure, dense Dragon-type energy
was like the final tiny fragment in a massive jigsaw puzzle.
All at once—
it brought Shiko's Dragon-type Law to complete perfection!
100% Dragon-type Law: Full Mastery!
Shiko could feel it—
at this very moment,
he had undergone an indescribable, earthshaking change.
Surging, terrifying energy roared and churned inside his body.
An unspeakably powerful sensation of strength flooded him.
"ROAR!!"
He couldn't help but throw his head back and roar toward the sky.
In the blink of an eye,
that dreadful aura spread and rippled throughout the entire valley.
At this moment—
every Pokémon within the whole valley
felt a godlike, overwhelming pressure.
That deep-rooted fear and trembling from the soul itself
made them uncontrollably shake and bow their bodies lower.
Terrified beyond measure,
they all looked toward the mountain peak where Shiko stood.
Some weaker Pokémon
were even directly blasted by that pressure and aura—
and fainted on the spot, losing the ability to battle.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 0.5 experience points.]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining 0.3 experience points.]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining 0.2 experience points.]
"…"
The electronic voice abruptly sounded in his mind again and again, continuously.
What was going on?
Where was all this experience coming from for no reason?
He looked down the slope beneath the mountain peak.
Seeing one fainted Pokémon after another—
he finally understood where this sudden extra experience was coming from.
In that case!
A thought stirred in his mind, and an idea formed.
Anyway, by now his objective had already been achieved.
So before leaving—
he might as well ruthlessly harvest one final wave of experience!
Boom!!
The next second,
Shiko went all-out.
He fully unleashed his pressure and energy with everything he had.
100% Dragon-type Law—
at this moment,
displayed unrivaled might and a natural, absolute oppression over all Dragon-type Pokémon!
A vast aura like raging waves and towering mountains crashed forward head-on.
This momentum
had already far surpassed the limits of ordinary Dragon-type Pokémon.
It could absolutely be called divine!
Staring at that majestic figure on the mountain peak,
the Dragon-type Pokémon in the valley
seemed to be witnessing a brand-new Dragon-type Legendary rising into the sky!
The Druddigon closest to Shiko
suffered the harshest impact.
With Shiko's aura fully unleashed,
even this Druddigon—like Shiko, already at near–Elite Four peak,
and only one step away from entering Elite Four-level—
didn't even last five seconds.
Its eyes rolled back, and it blacked out and fainted on the spot.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 1 experience point.]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining 0.5 experience points.]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining 0.3 experience points.]
...
The electronic voice rang out one after another.
And the experience points inside Shiko's body
kept rising higher and higher.
[Level: near–Elite Four peak (Level 59, 99/100)]
Glancing at his level display,
Shiko's face lit up with joy.
This growth rate was honestly ridiculously fast!
Looks like today would be double happiness!
Not only had his mastery of the Dragon-type Law reached absolute perfection—
even his level…
was about to break through into Elite Four-level!
Inside a mountain cave somewhere in the valley—
"This time you should be completely healed, right?"
"Don't worry. Once you become my Pokémon, I'll definitely give you the best resources!"
"It won't be long before I lead you to break through your limits—surpass Elite Four-level—and become a Champion-level Pokémon!"
Roki stared at the Salamence in front of him,
his face full of sincerity.
Even though he had already used a Poké Ball to capture Salamence earlier,
that had been under the condition that the Pokémon was unconscious.
Roki feared that once Salamence woke up, it wouldn't acknowledge him—
it would rebel, refuse to follow commands,
and might even attack him instead.
Sure enough!
After Salamence woke up,
every one of those worries became reality.
A proud, arrogant pseudo-legendary Pokémon at Elite Four-level
would naturally be unwilling to be captured by some young brat.
However,
Salamence didn't have much strength left to resist.
The injuries Shiko had dealt it still hadn't fully recovered.
And then it had been defeated once more by Roki's Pokémon.
So even though it had awakened,
its condition was still extremely terrible.
It could only use its gaze and body language
to express disgust and dissatisfaction.
As for Roki—
he absolutely refused to give up such a Salamence.
This was a ready-made Elite Four-level Pokémon!
As long as he could truly make it submit,
then without question,
he would become an Elite Four-level Trainer!
An Elite Four-level at eighteen!
That would absolutely be the youngest in the League's entire history!
Just for the sake of that title alone,
Roki couldn't possibly give up.
Not to mention—
after working so hard to stuff it into a ball,
how could he just let it go now…?
Roki made up his mind.
Even if he had to cling shamelessly and pester until the end,
he would still make Salamence submit!
And so,
over the next half month or so,
Roki used every trick he could think of.
Not only did he eat and stay together with Salamence—
he also used the precious medicinal materials and items he had brought
to treat Salamence's injuries.
On ordinary days he also kept circling around it, nagging nonstop,
not caring whether Salamence could understand or whether it wanted to listen.
After being tormented like that for over half a month,
Salamence's injuries
finally healed under Roki's careful care.
And Salamence's impression of Roki
also improved quite a bit.
At this moment,
looking at the young man before it,
it fell into deep contemplation.
Should it stay here…
or follow this young man?
This was its homeland—the paradise of Dragon-type Pokémon.
It had been born and raised here.
Leaving so abruptly
felt hard to accept.
But…
if it stayed here,
it seemed it had already reached the limit of what it could improve.
Especially now, in the valley,
with that guy's presence—
pressing down on the living space of the former "overlords" like them.
Resources had become scarcer.
And leveling up would only become harder.
Maybe…
following this young man
was the correct decision.
Salamence hesitated again and again, weighing the pros and cons.
Elite Four-level Pokémon already possessed quite sharp intelligence.
They could analyze the situation, calculate gains and losses.
Lowering its head,
seeing Roki's sincere, expectant expression—
Salamence finally made its choice.
It nodded hard.
Roki froze.
Then he broke into a wildly delighted, brilliant smile.
It worked!
He actually succeeded?!
Salamence had acknowledged him!
Then that meant—
right now, he was already an Elite Four-level Trainer!
The youngest Elite Four-level!
Just thinking of that title
made Roki feel so pleased he could float into the sky.
Without a doubt,
he was the League's—
no, not that—
the entire world's strongest genius!
But before his joy could fade—
all of a sudden,
both man and dragon
felt a sky-covering, terrifying aura seep in.
Sensing that familiar pressure,
Roki's smile instantly froze on his face.
In his mind,
that nightmare-like, inescapable terrifying figure immediately surfaced!
This aura!
This oppression!
It definitely wasn't something that kind of Pokémon could release!
My god!
It had only been a month.
Why did his pressure feel even stronger?!
In just one month—
could a wild Dragon-type really grow this fast?!
Roki was utterly shocked.
Scene after scene from before replayed in his mind.
Cold sweat densely coated his forehead.
At a time like this—
he absolutely couldn't show such a cowardly appearance!
Otherwise Salamence would look down on him!
Roki clenched his teeth.
He forced himself to look a bit more composed under that momentum.
He raised his head,
squeezed out a smile, and looked toward Salamence—
only to find, to his complete disbelief,
that this Elite Four-level Salamence
reacted even more strongly than he did!
As a Dragon-type Pokémon,
this aura's oppression was far more intense for it.
And with this pressure coming from Shiko—
the scene of being crushed by Shiko's will once again surfaced.
Salamence instinctively felt enormous fear.
Under that wave-like impact of aura,
it nearly collapsed to the ground—
and almost fainted again.
It was only because Shiko's level
was still merely near–Elite Four-level,
one rank below it,
that Salamence barely held on.
If Shiko were at the same level as it—
Salamence felt it wouldn't be able to withstand it at all!
"ROAR!!"
On the mountaintop!
With the pressure released through the feral-beast energy within Shiko's body,
his experience points surged all the way upward.
That final sliver of "point" experience
came rushing in all at once.
In an instant,
his aura became vastly stronger by a huge margin!
From near–Elite Four peak—
he rapidly entered Elite Four-level!!!
(End of Chapter)
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