The information Dugtrio brought back truly lifted Shiko's spirits.
Just as he had predicted.
Sure enough, the other side hadn't been able to hold back.
After lying low in stiff silence for half a month, they finally made a move again.
"Let's go!"
Shiko didn't hesitate for a second.
He immediately got to his feet and had Dugtrio lead the way.
It had taken so much effort to finally find even a bit of memory alloy—if the other side noticed and retrieved it, that would be a real problem.
"Where are you going?"
Seeing Shiko suddenly stand up, Himeko hurriedly asked with concern.
Lopunny and Gardevoir also stopped what they were doing and stared straight at Shiko.
"I found the alloy. I'm going to take a look. You stay here and wait for me."
After tossing out that simple line, Shiko followed the trail Dugtrio had left and headed down the mountain at speed.
"Be careful!"
"Xubi!"
"Ralts!"
Watching Shiko's back fade into the distance, the girl and the two Pokémon both called out their worried reminders.
The newly discovered spot with liquid memory alloy wasn't far from the peak Shiko had claimed.
It was about one kilometer to the west.
With Shiko and Dugtrio's speed, they arrived in no time.
"Be-chi!"
Dugtrio poked its head out of the soil and called twice.
Then it dove right back down, rapidly moving underground.
On the surface, dirt clods bulged up and piled into a ring with a one-meter radius.
"Zhi-zhi!"
Dugtrio popped out again and called twice.
Shiko understood what it meant.
That pool of liquid metal should be within the area beneath that ring.
Pa!!
A layer of deep crimson light wrapped over Shiko's razor-sharp foreclaws.
Dragon-type energy coiled around them, making his claws radiate a ferocious, violent aura.
The ground layers of Mt. Silver were far harder than most places.
If he dug with brute force alone, it would take a lot of effort.
So Shiko chose to use Dragon Claw to break through quickly.
He slashed down at the ground with one claw.
Even after deliberately holding back a little, the hardened soil layer split open instantly.
Crushed stone flew everywhere, and a small pit appeared in the ground nearby.
He still didn't see any liquid alloy.
But Shiko could clearly sense that faint, rippling aura of Steel-type energy.
He hadn't come to the wrong place.
That liquid memory alloy really was down below.
He put a bit more strength into it.
Another Dragon Claw chopped down into the pit.
Crack!!
The sound of soil and rock shattering rang out.
The pit sank deeper again.
This time, Shiko's force was just right.
With that single strike, he exposed the liquid metal.
This big of a pool!?
Staring at the silver-white, faintly glowing lump of liquid alloy at the bottom, Shiko couldn't help feeling surprised.
This pool was eight times bigger than the last one, which had only been about half a palm in size.
It was almost the size of two palms now.
In other words…
The Steel-type energy inside this lump of liquid metal could provide Shiko with a staggering eight percent of the Steel Attribute Law.
Eight percent!!!
He had mobilized an entire Corviknight flock—hundreds of Pokémon—just to painstakingly raise the Steel Attribute Law in his body by seven percent, using large quantities of Steel-type items they found.
But now…
He could directly add another eight percent in one shot!
The contrast made Shiko sigh with emotion.
As expected!
The gap between ordinary Pokémon and Legendary Pokémon was simply enormous!
A normal Pokémon—even if it reached Elite Four level—
Unless it had extraordinary talent and a special individual nature,
no matter how much attribute energy it accumulated in its body, it still wouldn't be able to transform into an Attribute Law.
But Legendary Pokémon were different.
Just this single pool of liquid memory alloy contained a full eight percent of the Steel Attribute Law.
Tsk tsk.
Looks like my plan wasn't wrong.
Milking benefits from these Legendary Pokémon…
really was the fastest route to pushing the Attribute Laws in his body to one hundred percent.
"Zhi-zhi!!"
Right as Shiko stared at the pool of liquid alloy in a daze, Dugtrio drilled up from underground again and called out a few times at him.
"Everything around here—all the ore and Steel-type materials and item resources—are gone?"
Shiko paused, then immediately understood.
There was an extremely high chance this pool of liquid alloy had devoured all the nearby ore and material items.
That was why the Steel-type energy inside it was so intense.
What a brutal kind of plundering.
And judging by this situation…
the other side was probably already close to evolving—right at the crucial point.
Shiko thrust his sharp claws into the pool of memory alloy.
A flash of light passed over his hand.
Immediately after, that pool of memory alloy was stored into the System.
He was extremely tempted by the attribute energy inside it.
But for the success of the plan that came next, Shiko still forced himself to suppress the urge.
After obtaining this lump of alloy material, Shiko returned to the mountain peak with Dugtrio.
"How was it?"
The moment she saw him come back, Himeko hurriedly asked.
"Handled."
Shiko nodded.
His answer instantly made Himeko breathe a sigh of relief.
"Then next, we act according to the plan?"
Coming back to herself, Himeko followed up with another question.
"Mm."
Shiko nodded firmly, his expression turning serious and solemn.
Seeing him confirm it, Himeko's heart abruptly tightened.
He was really preparing to make a move on those Third-tier Legendaries…
This was way too insane!
Reborn into a new life—
Himeko, like the older generation of Trainers, had personally witnessed and experienced the terrifying strength of Legendary Pokémon!
Forget First-tier Legendaries.
Even collisions between Third-tier Legendaries could be described as heaven and earth shattering!
Shiko was strong enough, yes.
But that strength was among ordinary Pokémon.
Compared to Legendary Pokémon…
his Elite Four level strength still had a long way to go.
"Don't worry. I'm confident."
Shiko noticed Himeko's tense, worried look and spoke to reassure her.
"I'm all in!"
Himeko looked at Shiko, clenched her fist, and bit down hard on her lip.
(End of Chapter)
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