The time had come.
After weighing the situation and deciding that he could handle these two Third-tier Legendaries in their current, exhausted state, Shiko stepped out from the woods where he had been hiding.
He slowly walked to the entrance of the cave.
Inside the cavern, those two tyrannical auras were still grinding against each other without pause.
The collision of Steel-type energy had already stopped.
But the immense pressure and presence unique to Third-tier Legendaries were still locked in a struggle.
Like two hostile beasts,
they were tearing at each other,
neither able to claim victory anytime soon.
And Shiko's sudden arrival
instantly drew the attention of both of those presences.
Almost at the same moment,
the two auras shifted targets in unison
and came surging down on Shiko.
Facing the overwhelming pressure of two Third-tier Legendaries head-on,
Shiko, in that instant,
felt an almost suffocating sense of oppression.
It was something he had never experienced before.
It felt like a tiny boat carefully trying to navigate a raging ocean beneath towering waves,
tottering on the verge of capsizing at any moment.
He did not hesitate at all.
His eyes turned serious and resolute.
The Steel-type law coursed through his entire body,
draping his yellow skin in a layer of silver armor.
His dragon-type law erupted at full power.
The pure, deep crimson Dragon-type energy belonging to a dragon Pokémon
flickered around him like flames.
The aura of a Champion-level Pokémon rose explosively.
Shiko pushed his condition to its absolute peak.
In the face of the impact coming from those two Third-tier Legendaries,
he did not underestimate them in the slightest.
Boom!!!
The terrifying aura slammed into Shiko's body.
That razor-sharp energy, like countless blades,
collided with the dragon aura on the surface of his body and stalemated for a brief moment before shattering it apart.
Then,
it crashed directly into Shiko himself,
sending bursts of sparks flying.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The crisp sounds of impact rang out without end.
Under the force of those two auras,
Shiko's body was pushed backward again and again.
Even the alloy floor beneath his feet
was gouged open by his claws,
leaving several deep cracks.
That scalp-numbing bombardment of aura
lasted for a full minute before finally disappearing.
Shiko panted heavily.
Looking at the claw marks on the ground—marks he himself had carved for more than ten meters—he cursed inwardly.
Ridiculous!
A Legendary Pokémon really was a Legendary Pokémon!
Even though he could already be counted among the strongest combat forces in human trainers' hands,
compared with monsters like these,
he was still far behind.
But fortunately,
he could now endure their aura.
That being the case,
reaching the deepest part of the cavern would no longer be a problem.
At the thought of facing these two Third-tier Legendaries next—both already at the end of their strength, with only the last traces of stamina left after battling to the brink—
anticipation began to flicker in Shiko's eyes.
He withstood the pressure of those two auras
and advanced deeper into the cave,
step by step.
Inside the vast space at the deepest point,
the entire area, forged from hard alloy,
had been battered into a miserable state by the battle between Melmetal and Registeel.
It was riddled with damage and littered everywhere with huge chunks of broken alloy that had fallen away.
Even the alloy floor itself
had split open with giant, deep ravines like a spiderweb.
The destructive power of the battle between those two Pokémon
was plain to see.
But now,
those two were each resting on one side.
As fellow pure Steel-type Third-tier Legendaries,
after this frenzied battle,
they had realized that neither of them could do anything to the other.
After fighting bitterly for so long,
the two Pokémon exchanged a look.
Without saying a word,
they understood each other.
They both felt that there was no point in continuing this fight.
The final result
would be nothing more than both of them collapsing together and losing the ability to battle.
So,
without needing to speak,
they silently reached an agreement.
This incident would end here.
Each would take a step back.
Each would return to its own territory.
And from this day on,
they would never interfere with one another again.
After sitting on the ground to rest for a while,
Melmetal reabsorbed the liquid memory alloy that had been shaken loose onto the floor during the battle.
The silver-white metallic sheen on its body
had clearly dimmed quite a bit after this fight.
The black eye inside the hex nut
rolled around with visible pain,
and after giving Registeel a long, deep look,
it turned its head
and prepared to leave toward the cave entrance.
The red lights flickering inside the seven recessed pits on Registeel's body flashed in an unusually hurried rhythm,
just like the dissatisfaction and anger in its current mood.
Suddenly,
Melmetal's departing footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
Registeel, too,
shot up from its seated resting position.
The two Pokémon exchanged a glance,
and each caught the same message in the other's expression.
Someone had come in!
No—
a Pokémon had entered!
The emotions of both Pokémon instantly tensed.
Anything capable of resisting the powerful pressure of two Third-tier Legendaries and reaching this place
was definitely no ordinary existence.
And right now,
they were in their weakest state.
Was this newcomer friend or foe?
And what was its purpose?
Melmetal stepped back.
The black eyeball inside its hex nut narrowed slightly.
Without seeming to do so deliberately,
it had already moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Registeel.
From the silver passage,
there came the sound of heavy, deliberate footsteps.
Melmetal and Registeel
gradually sensed an aura spreading from within that corridor.
Exceptionally fierce and powerful Dragon-type energy!
Along with a fairly strong fluctuation of Steel-type aura!
And...
the distinctive oppressive force unique to a Champion-level Pokémon!
Could it be a Champion-level Dragon- and Steel-type Pokémon?
Melmetal and Registeel exchanged another glance.
Both saw a trace of confusion in the other's eyes.
At present, there were only two Pokémon with those two types.
One was Duraludon.
And the other
was an even more powerful First-tier Legendary than they were—
the mighty being that wielded the power of time!
Dialga!
It definitely couldn't be Duraludon!
A wild Pokémon could never possess such intense law fluctuations.
And there was no way it could have reached this place while being merely Champion-level.
Then—
could the one who entered really be Dialga!?
(End of Chapter)
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