Chapter 588: [Dragon Clan] [Black Flower] [Song]
"See that? I am stronger than your leader."
Kazuya stood at the edge of the giant crater, his golden eyes gleaming with Aura light as he scanned the Rampardos below.
He pointed down into the giant crater at the Alpha Rampardos, who was head-down, embedded into the earth like a thumbtack.
The Alpha Rampardos remained motionless.
As if it had lost its life.
However, Kazuya knew it had merely fallen unconscious.
Hearing Kazuya's words, the Rampardos looked at each other, their eyes filled with utter bewilderment.
And then what?
"Pelu!"
A slightly larger Rampardos stood up.
Looking completely unresigned, he charged towards Kazuya with a Headbutt.
Bang!
Kazuya's heavy Dragon Tail swept out.
The over ten-meter-long giant tail acted like a massive whip, viciously striking the Rampardos's abdomen and sending it flying sideways for several meters.
Crack—!
The sickening sound of ribs snapping rang out.
Bang!
Bang!
The Rampardos bounced twice on the ground like a rubber ball, even spitting out blood in mid-air.
When he finally scrambled up, he immediately dropped to his knees before Kazuya:
"Pelu."
Boss.
A hint of confusion flashed across Kazuya's eyes, his expression morphing into a literal 0.o?
His tail strike just now was indeed powerful. Not only did he use his full strength, but he had also specifically aimed at the Rampardos's weak spot.
However, this Rampardos was estimated to be around Lv. 43.
It was practically the number one dragon under the Alpha Rampardos.
Although Kazuya was an Alpha himself, his Lv. 37 status was a hard fact; his raw strength was ultimately limited.
A single Dragon Tail definitely couldn't have one-shot him.
Even if he had struck two more times, this Rampardos could have probably tanked it.
Why did he yield so easily?
Could he have been subdued by Kazuya's sheer tyrannical aura?
Regardless, Kazuya certainly didn't remember hiring any paid actors.
"Pelu!"
"Pelu!"
The boss had fallen, and the second-in-command took the lead.
The rest of the Rampardos weren't smart to begin with, so they hurriedly followed suit, imitating their second-in-command and dropping to their knees before Kazuya.
It was exactly at this moment.
The Alpha Rampardos in the giant crater was quietly shrinking in size.
When a territory's ownership shifted to another Pokémon—and when a leader's status and recognition in the hearts of their clansmen transferred—the [Alpha] designation naturally disappeared along with it.
In his previous life, Kazuya had acted as a "fake" Alpha for an entire lifetime.
That was because the Mightyena pack on Mount Wolf hadn't gone through a generational shift yet; they were all Mightyena who personally knew and respected him.
No matter when he returned to Mount Wolf, the Mightyena would honor him, and he would still be the young master of Mount Wolf.
But if fifty years had passed...
The fake Alpha designation above Kazuya's head would have definitely faded away.
After all, by then, One-Eye and that generation of Mightyena would have likely retired to the second line, completely ignoring clan affairs.
"Pelu..."
Seeing their former leader shrink, the Rampardos kneeling a dozen meters away were not only not sad, but they actually breathed a collective sigh of relief.
There was something Kazuya didn't know.
He and the Alpha Rampardos were littermates, just like Kazuya and Charmeleon.
It was just that the two brothers had taken different paths.
Perhaps Pokémon born in the same litter are always like this—their talents become highly differentiated.
Just like how Kazuya's physique was immensely stronger than Charmeleon's; his talent in that aspect was far beyond what brother-kun could ever compare to.
He could always effortlessly suppress brother-kun with a single hand, leaving him unable to get up.
However, brother-kun's Fire-type talent could similarly crush Kazuya's. Even though Kazuya's Fire-type talent was extraordinary, it couldn't hold a candle to the former.
Even brother-kun's resting body temperature was significantly higher than Kazuya's.
Furthermore, considering the Charizard line...
Special Attack was their true strong suit.
Therefore, brother-kun was a born grand mage of explosive flames. Fire-type special moves would always be his most ferocious asset.
Meanwhile, Kazuya was an all-around battle mage.
Despite his impressive Special Attack, the influence of his past lives meant his greatest expertise lay in melee damage output.
The Rampardos brothers were slightly different, but it was a similar case of talent differentiation.
The Alpha Rampardos had taken a purely physical path. The blue skull on his head was innately much larger than that of any other Rampardos.
Consequently, he was also much stupider.
But that wasn't a problem.
Because the Alpha Rampardos had a younger brother with a very small skull.
This meant the pressure on this younger brother's brain was minimal, allowing his brain to be more developed and much smarter.
With the two brothers working together...
They had managed to survive for over a decade, eventually becoming the two leaders of the Rampardos clan today.
The second-in-command Rampardos more or less realized that he was different from his peers.
He possessed great wisdom hidden behind a facade of stupidity!
Just like right now.
When his big brother fell, and after he had personally tested Kazuya's level, the Rampardos immediately understood the situation.
The Rampardos clan had reached a dead end.
Submit.
Or die.
Their Rampardos clan's retreat path had already been entirely blocked by the Bastiodons and Hakamo-o.
They couldn't run away.
Not to mention his big brother was literally planted headfirst into the dirt here.
He couldn't abandon his sibling and flee alone.
Therefore, the only way to survive was to submit.
Regardless, the second-in-command didn't feel there was anything shameful about it.
Submitting to the strong.
That was the most normal unspoken rule in the Pokémon world.
Over in the volcanic mountain range, who knew how many Fire-type Pokémon had submitted to the Charizard clan?
No one thought anything bad about it.
Even a proudly honorable clan like the Hakamo-o willingly acted as underlings for the stronger Kazuya.
For the Rampardos—who inherently had no concept of dignity or honor to speak of—there were even fewer psychological hurdles to overcome in their hearts.
"Mm, very sensible. Go persuade your Alpha. It doesn't matter if you can't convince him. I won't kill him, but I will drive him away."
Kazuya nodded, issuing commands like a true mountain king.
"Pelu."
The second-in-command Rampardos nodded.
This task was actually quite easy.
He knew his own big brother best.
He completely lacked the desire to be an Alpha; he just wanted to happily headbutt massive walls every single day.
He had even once sat on the ground crying endlessly because his physique was too large and his strength too great, making it impossible to headbutt his companions to his heart's content without hurting them.
The Rampardos turned his head.
He secretly scanned the Bastiodons and Hakamo-o.
Now that his big brother's size had shrunk, and there were so many highly-durable "city walls" added to their allied forces, his brother would definitely be thrilled to death.
If only Kazuya had told the Alpha Rampardos about this amazing benefit earlier...
Then why even fight?
The Alpha Rampardos would have bowed down instantly.
"Very good! From today onwards, the three clans merge into one, hand in hand to survive on this grassland."
Kazuya nodded in satisfaction, holding his head high with a little pride blooming in his chest.
"Let's not divide ourselves into separate clans anymore. Everyone here is a dragon. From now on, we are all members of the 'Dragon Clan'."
Just as Kazuya was marveling at his own grand ambitions...
Smack!
A black flower slapped directly onto Kazuya's face.
"Flo-ette!"
Floette landed angrily on Kazuya's head, reaching out to dissatisfiedly pat his forehead.
Logically speaking.
As the boss, to maintain his unyielding majesty, Kazuya shouldn't let a subordinate treat him like this.
Just like right now.
The Rampardos were staring at Floette with entirely dumbfounded expressions.
They couldn't fathom how this tiny flower spirit dared to do such a thing.
However.
Kazuya didn't mind at all.
Floette and Charmeleon were different to him.
The two of them didn't possess the slightest nature of subordinates.
They were purely and utterly his [Family].
It could be safely said.
Floette was the second-in-command of the Dragon Clan.
While Charmeleon was the third-in-command-kun of the Dragon Clan.
"Of course I haven't forgotten, our family also has a Flower Princess."
Kazuya blinked and hurriedly corrected himself.
"Flo-ette? Flo-ette."
Hearing this, Floette hurriedly hugged her Eternal Flower and struck a dignified posture.
She pricked up her ears.
Listening earnestly to see what this guy Kazuya was prepared to announce next.
Back then, she had rescued the two dragon cubs from the Sneasels' encirclement, brought them home for protection, and had even broken ties with the Florges clan for their sake, drifting all the way north until today.
If Kazuya didn't make some proper compensation...
It would truly break Floette's heart too much.
"Here's the plan. In the future, we will plant a ring of black flowers around the borders of our Dragon Clan's territory."
"Everything surrounded by these black flowers belongs to the Dragon Clan's territory and protected area."
"Entering here is equivalent to receiving the protection of the Flower Princess. No one is allowed to attack the Pokémon inside, unless they are confirmed enemies."
Kazuya had pinched his chin and pondered for a long time before coming up with this policy.
The entire Dragon Clan.
Would forever be associated with black flowers because of this singular rule.
And black flowers...
Were Floette's absolute favorite flower color.
It also signified the 'Eternal Flower'.
"Flo-ette!"
After hearing this, Floette happily reached out and hugged Kazuya.
She had rescued these two dragon cubs back then...
She really didn't save the wrong ones!
"Rua!"
Seeing his older brother looking so majestic and awe-inspiring, Charmeleon let out a long howl to the sky, the flame on his tail burning intensely.
He was simply too excited.
And with him howling like this.
Just like an Alpha wolf howling in a wolf pack, the other wolves naturally felt compelled to follow suit.
Consequently.
"Bastio!"
"Haka!"
"Pelu!"
The dragons of all three clans strained their necks and started howling in unison.
Don't even mention it.
Seventy massive dragons howling together.
It could easily be considered a rare, awe-inspiring spectacle on this vast grassland.
"Shh!!"
Kazuya blew a sharp breath.
Making the dragons fall silent immediately.
Everyone looked at this great king with confused faces, not knowing what he meant.
Kazuya, however, shook his head speechlessly.
They weren't awesome enough yet to just howl blindly on this grassland.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the Dragon Clan now had a large population of a full seventy.
Over twenty of them were juvenile dragons below Lv. 30, with virtually no combat power.
As for the rest...
The strongest among them were just the former patriarchs of the three clans, averaging around Lv. 45.
At this level of strength...
Any Elite Four-level, or even Gym Leader-level Alpha could easily wipe them out completely.
So it was definitely better not to howl blindly.
Kazuya temporarily didn't want the volcano Charizard clan to discover his and brother-kun's existence.
"Don't howl blindly."
Kazuya's command instantly brought everyone's high spirits down.
At such a victorious moment...
We are supposed to cheer and boil with excitement, but we can't even howl?
"Let's sing instead. I'll teach you guys how to sing."
Looking at their crestfallen expressions, Kazuya sighed helplessly.
"Flo-ette?"
Floette tilted her head in confusion.
Singing?
The other dragons also showed blank, bewildered faces.
For them.
Singing was a completely foreign concept.
In fact, many individuals among them didn't even know what singing was.
"Mm, what song should I teach you..."
Kazuya turned his head to look towards the edge of the grassland.
The sun was about to set; the golden hour of dusk had arrived.
It was time to say goodbye to today.
A sudden gleam flashed in Kazuya's eyes as he remembered a perfect song:
"Ah, I got it. This song is called..."
"[The Chant of the Ancient Dragon]."
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