Ever since returning from the Rocky Mountain range, Kazuya had realized that the grassland was not just a comfort zone; it was practically a retirent ho. The competitive drive of the species here could not compare to other regions at all.
Take the Rocky Mountain range, for example. Kazuya had barely flown a few kiloters into it before witnessing that massive free-for-all; the situation deeper inside was simply unimaginable.
If Goodra hadn't ntioned that his father was heavily injured and ambushed while at war with the Rocky Mountain Overlord, Kazuya would have doubted that an Overlord could even form in that place. The Rocky Mountain range was too vast, probably comparable to the entire Mt. Silver range. If an Overlord truly existed there, its strength would undoubtedly be greater, not weaker, than the Overlord Tyranitar. He couldn't fathom what kind of clan could secure that throne.
However, if he had to venture a guess, it would likely be one of those pseudo-legendary clans. A pseudo-legendary Pokémon isn't inherently stronger than an ordinary Pokémon; that much was undeniable. In the League Era, from random bypassers to Masters, cases of pseudo-legendaries getting thrashed were a di a dozen, not isolated exceptions.
But those Pokémon capable of thrashing pseudo-legendaries were mostly trained specifically by Trainers to develop their skills. In the Ancient Era, humans hadn't even appeared in this world yet. How could a bunch of wild Pokémon know how to deliberately unlock their own potential through targeted developnt? Without the interference of Legendary Pokémon and with normal growth patterns, Kazuya didn't know which other clans could compete with the pseudo-legendaries for the throne.
[Continue Growing]
This was the singular thought in Kazuya's mind right now. He was confident that the Dragon Clan's potential was second to no single clan. Pseudo-legendaries occupied two slots among the Dragon Clan's five great tribes. Day to day, he hadn't seen the other three clans perform any worse than the Kommo-o and Goodra lines.
Ultimately, it ca down to finding and developing the latent potential and racial traits of each clan. For instance, the Bastiodon line was inherently slow. No matter how they were trained, they could never be faster than a Cyclizar. But their skulls were exceptionally hard and very broad, capable of shielding their entire torso behind them and completely neutralizing all attacks from a single direction.
Since that was the case, they should abandon speed entirely and devote all their ti and energy to elevating their "defensive counter-attack" capabilities. Utilizing their natural physical build to defend and strike back was a physiological advantage unique to the Bastiodon clan, a one-of-a-kind trait among all Pokémon that served as their distinct racial ability.
Similarly, the Rampardos and Cyclizar clans each possessed their own unique racial traits. Being able to identify them and knowing how to develop them was exactly where a Trainer's skill was put to the test.
Among the Dragon Clan's five great tribes, Kazuya hadn't raised a single one before; they were scarce even during the League Era. But ti was the one thing he had plenty of to figure out their training by trial and error. The Dragon Clan lacked anything but ti.
As long as the swamp didn't disappear, most Pokémon from the Rocky Mountains couldn't cross over. Therefore, sticking to this direction and continuing to lead the Dragon Clan to grow silently was the way to go.
With the northern grassland entirely secured now, Kazuya had no desire to keep expanding their territory. Any further expansion would put a massive strain on the Dragon Clan's patrols. Right now, the priority was elevating their strength and expanding their population.
It was a pity that the grassland only held this few Dragon-type Pokémon. If he wanted to absorb other dragon species, he would likely have to make a trip out to the Rocky Mountains, or explore in an entirely different direction.
"Roar——!"
A Charizard's roar echoed from the horizon. Today's portion of "Dragon Dad's Love" had arrived.
In a flash, a full two and a half years passed.
One night, Kazuya suddenly jolted awake from a dream. In the dream was that night over a hundred years ago when he left ho. Lorelei had fallen into an eternal slumber that day, and Kazuya had summoned the Lunar Pokémon, Cresselia, to help restart her life inside a dream.
Kazuya rembered a gentle drizzle falling outside that day. Even though it was dayti, a full moon hung in the sky. That was Cresselia's power; wherever the moonlight shone, happiness blossod inch by inch.
Just like tonight.
"The moon is so round. It must be August by now," Kazuya murmured, looking up at the sky and letting out a distant sigh.
The moon hung high in the clean night sky, encircled by countless brilliant stars. A dim yellow moonlight spilled from the heavens, as if draping an ethereal blanket over the grassland. Lost fireflies flew out from the wild grass, chasing the full moon in the sky, thinking it was a companion who had also lost its way.
Kazuya smiled faintly, but his peripheral vision caught a few strands of fluorescent pink lunar radiance. He turned his head in bewildernt, his eyelids lifting slightly as a look of contemplation filled his eyes.
Cradled in the arms of the soundly sleeping Floette, that Eternal Flower was actively absorbing the moonlight spilling from the sky. Floette was completely oblivious to this, holding the flower tightly as she slept soundly.
"Photosynthesis?" Kazuya muttered, pinching his chin.
He recalled the scene from over two years ago when Floette attempted to use the Eternal Flower to siphon energy from a corpse.
"Right, that was also at night." Kazuya's eyes lit up.
I see. The Eternal Flower, like any other flower, also relies on "photosynthesis" to draw power, feeding it back into Floette herself to stimulate her evolution. But the difference lay in the attributes.
An ordinary Floette possesses a higher proportion of Grass-type genes, so the energy required for evolution is obtained from sunlight. But for the Eternal Flower, the Fairy-type genes occupy a larger proportion, and the source of Fairy power is the nightti moonlight.
"Does a Florges in the Eternal Flower form focus primarily on the Fairy type?" Kazuya grinned, reaching out to gently nudge Floette.
"Flo-ette..." Floette woke up groggily, her hazy eyes looking up at Kazuya. She didn't know why he was waking her up in the middle of the night.
"Look at the Eternal Flower." Kazuya pointed toward her arms.
"...Flo-ette?!" Floette's gaze shifted, and her eyes widened drastically. She stared at her small black flower, her mouth agape in astonishnt.
Through so many nights, this was her first ti seeing the Eternal Flower act like this. What was going on?
"It's a full moon tonight, isn't it? The moonlight today is exceptionally 'intense'." Kazuya looked up at the sky, voicing his thoughts.
There were likely two reasons why the Eternal Flower hadn't actively undergone photosynthesis before. One was that the intensity of the moonlight wasn't enough for it to photosynthesize on its own. The other was that Floette's own strength hadn't been sufficient to stimulate the Eternal Flower into photosynthesizing by itself. Both were possible.
If it was the latter, it ant the Eternal Flower deed Floette to have reached her absolute limit. It was ti to evolve.
"Flo-ette..."
"Are you happy now? The Eternal Flower isn't so flower of ill on." Kazuya smiled, tapping Floette's head.
"Flo-ette." Floette nodded with a smile. She had still been a little self-conscious about that "flower of ill on" label.
"Do you want to evolve?"
Facing Kazuya's question, Floette looked down at the Eternal Flower, hesitating for a very long ti. She lifted her head to look at Kazuya, looking sowhat helpless.
"Whether you evolve or not, you are a mber of the Dragon Clan. There's no need to fret over it; letting nature take its course is perfectly fine too." Kazuya reached out to comfort her, then lay back down on the grass, preparing to go back to sleep.
Hearing this, Floette simply stopped worrying about it. She hugged the Eternal Flower and plopped onto her flower bed, inhaling the surging floral fragrance as she peacefully drifted back to sleep.
The next day, Kazuya woke up early. Looking at the sun hanging high on the horizon, his mood improved significantly.
Sumr was at its peak. For the vast majority of Pokémon, this weather could hardly be described as friendly. Taking the Dragon Clan mbers as an example, even their daily patrols had beco incredibly sluggish. Everyone just wanted to lie sprawled across the grassland to minimize physical exertion.
But for Fire-type Pokémon, this weather made them exceptionally energetic. Hot? Aside from feeling hot when facing the surrounding magma right after birth, Kazuya hadn't known what heat felt like in this life. Even weather like this could only be described as warm.
However, precisely because of this weather, coupled with his already high body temperature as a Fire-type Pokémon, the little dragons who usually loved snuggling up to him were now unwilling to co near him. It brought quite a bit of sorrow to Kazuya, the empty-nester.
In the afternoon, looking at the five or six Charizards flying away in the distance, Kazuya slumped onto the ground in exhaustion. The volcano Charizard clan was almost running out of dragons to deploy against him.
With Kazuya's current level at Lv. 72, he could even thrash an upper Elite Four-level Charizard. So if his dragon dad wanted to train him, he had to dispatch multiple Elite Four-level Charizards simultaneously. And after several rounds, it was always those sa four or five familiar faces. Kazuya naturally realized that his dragon dad's side was running short on available dragons. Once even these four or five Charizards combined couldn't beat him...
"Roar~"
A roar nearby disrupted Kazuya's thoughts. Turning his head, he saw a Charizard attentively watching Floette apply dicine to his little brother (brother-kun).
This was a female Charizard. Holding pseudo-Elite Four strength, she had been dispatched by his dragon dad to temper brother-kun. But unlike the other Charizards, this female Charizard wasn't particularly fond of fighting, possessed a softer disposition, and... she had fallen in love with brother-kun at first sight.
This wasn't surprising at all. Under the cultivation of his elder brother and father, brother-kun had been forcefully molded into a "talented genius who was both gifted and hardworking." Not only was he powerful at a young age, but his appearance was also exceptionally handso. Coupled with a physique that was larger than most Charizards, it was an undeniably charming advantage.
So, Kazuya didn't find it strange that a female Charizard had fallen for him at first sight.
A week ago, this female Charizard had arrived at the Dragon Clan's territory for the first ti. Upon seeing brother-kun, her eyes lit up instantly, and she boldly pursued him, directly expressing her feelings. The Pokémon world was just that straightforward. The Dragonair from back then and the Milotic now had basically made the exact sa style of confession.
As the elder brother, Kazuya held a relatively favorable impression of this bold and straightforward female Charizard. Although he was face-blind to dragons, he gathered an important piece of information from the expressions of the other Dragon Clan mbers—this female Charizard belonged to the exceptionally beautiful category.
Furthermore, judging by her size, this female Charizard's talent was also quite good. She was likely only a dozen or so years old right now, twenty at most, yet already possessed pseudo-Elite Four strength. If this romance between a younger brother and an older sister could work out, Kazuya would be thoroughly delighted.
~~~
Get early access to 30 advanced chapters on Patreon!
spat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 1 extra chapters
Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter
User Comments
0 comments from readers