Chapter 595: Safe Zone
"Dudu."
A panting sound came from the northernmost part of the grassland.
A purple Pokémon, resembling a salamander, was seen rapidly rustling through the grass, heading towards the Dragon Clan's territory.
The little guy didn't know what was ahead, nor did he know whose territory it was.
He only knew that if he stopped running now, he would die!
Behind this little thing,
Three Sneasels were in hot pursuit.
They were black Sneasels.
Not the Hisuian form.
These days, the number of Poison-type Pokémon fleeing from the northern swamp had gradually increased. At first, the Sneasels were somewhat doubtful and uncertain, but later they discovered...
The northern border of this grassland was clearly a mysterious food delivery spot.
The Pokémon fleeing from the swamp.
Were mostly weak and solitary.
They could completely wait here, guarding the tree stump for a rabbit to crash into it, sitting back and waiting for food to be delivered to their door.
Today.
They waited for a bizarre purple reptile wearing a loincloth.
But...
This guy was actually running towards that place!
"Snea!"
The Sneasel standing in the middle shouted anxiously.
Once that guy ran into the Dragon Clan's territory, they would have to return empty-handed this time.
They had to speed up.
The three Sneasels accelerated simultaneously.
Hearing the footsteps pressing closer behind him.
Toxel was so frightened that his body frantically secreted paralyzing toxins; this was their species' means of self-preservation.
But this means of self-preservation...
Was quite useless.
Toxel was simply too weak.
Toxel.
A Poison and Electric-type Pokémon, and their evolutionary line was also the only Poison/Electric combination in the entire Pokémon League.
However.
Toxel's weakness had nothing to do with this attribute combination.
On the contrary.
The Poison/Electric attribute combination was actually quite good.
With a full 8 resistances, it was only weak to Ground and the rare Psychic-type.
The reason for Toxel's weakness.
Lay in their classification as a [Baby Pokémon].
In this classification, Toxel was alone in its evolutionary stage logic,
But there were many similar Pokémon.
Togepi.
Cleffa.
Igglybuff.
Smoochum.
They were all Pokémon that, even after leaving the infant stage, were still babies.
This was the biggest reason for Toxel's weakness.
Secondly.
Their nature was often prone to be Rattled.
Rattled was not a highly practical Ability in the games, because most Pokémon possessing this Ability completely couldn't make use of it.
Even in the eighth generation, when it was updated to be affected by Intimidate, the situation didn't change much.
And in reality.
This Ability was even more unbearable.
Affected by the Rattled Ability, the inherently baby-like Toxel became even more timid.
This made the already combat-incapable Toxel even more afraid to utilize its meager means of self-preservation. Upon seeing an enemy, regardless of whether it could win or not, it would just turn and flee directly.
What was even more fatal...
Their speed wasn't even fast.
Just like right now.
The three Sneasels only needed to exert a bit more effort, and they would immediately catch up to Toxel.
However, at a certain moment.
Toxel stepped past a line of black flowerbeds.
The three Sneasels stopped their steps simultaneously, slamming on the brakes outside the black flower border.
Toxel turned his head and glanced back.
He saw the three Sneasels standing motionlessly in place, profusely sweating from their foreheads.
"Dudu?"
Doubt and confusion appeared in Toxel's eyes.
Suddenly.
He stopped in his tracks, his entire body becoming incredibly stiff.
Reflected in the pupils of the three Sneasels, Toxel saw an incomparably gigantic figure.
He slowly turned his head.
He saw a massive orange foot right in front of him.
The scorching breath washing over his face made Toxel unable to even open his eyes properly.
He tried hard to lift his head, but he couldn't see the true appearance of this gigantic figure at all.
However, he could hear the voice.
"You guys know whose turf this is, right?"
An indifferent and domineering voice sounded overhead.
"Snea..." x3
The three Sneasels stood in place, not daring to move an inch, only nodding blankly.
"You're also clear on the rules of this turf, right?"
"Snea..." x3
"Scram."
"Snea!" x3
The three Sneasels immediately acted as if granted a general amnesty, turning around and scrambling away in a panic.
Kazuya quietly watched them disappear, then looked down at this little thing trying hard to hide himself on the ground.
"The area within the black flowers is the Dragon Clan's territory, a safe zone on this grassland. You can live here with peace of mind, without worrying about being attacked. But you must abide by the rules here—do not harm other creatures within the safe zone. If you can't do that, scram on your own."
After leaving this sentence, Kazuya turned and left.
He had never seen a Pokémon like Toxel, nor did he even know its name.
But Kazuya wasn't interested either.
Just following the rules was enough.
As for those Sneasels.
He also held a "live and let live" attitude towards them.
After all.
Firstly, the Sneasels didn't break the Dragon Clan's rules.
Secondly, they could also restrict the Poison-type Pokémon coming from the swamp.
There was no need to stop them.
Now.
Across the entire northern region of the grassland.
Many Pokémon knew there was a magical zone in the northern grassland.
It was an area surrounded by a ring of black flowers.
As long as you entered it and abided by the rules set by the boss there.
You wouldn't have to worry about being attacked by other Pokémon anymore.
Everyone called that place the 'Safe Zone'.
And in the center of this safe zone.
Beside the only lake within the Dragon Clan's territory.
Kazuya was lying flat on the ground, leisurely sunbathing.
A few Cranidos nearby were headbutting him.
Not only did Kazuya not feel pain, but he actually felt very comfortable, and the quality of his afternoon nap was even improving.
Since Kazuya arrived in this era.
Half a year had passed.
Half a year.
From just being born to becoming a Lv. 47 Alpha.
This speed could be considered quite terrifying, much faster than Kazuya's leveling speed as a Riolu in his previous life.
Of course.
The dangers faced during this time were also incomparable.
When he was a Riolu.
He was the young master of the wolf clan, protected by countless Mightyena, and completely hadn't faced many dangers or powerful Pokémon.
But in this life.
In just six short months, the number of Pokémon Kazuya defeated was easily in the hundreds.
Among them, five or six were Alphas over ten meters tall.
In this kind of situation, it would be hard not to level up.
However.
That was before.
Now.
The Dragon Clan was thriving.
Just the combined number of members from the three dragon clans had already exceeded 120.
Just looking at the numbers alone.
The Dragon Clan had already become one of the most massive clans on this grassland.
This didn't even count those other Pokémon who accepted the Dragon Clan's protection, lived peacefully in a corner of the 'Safe Zone', and would even actively defend this area.
In short.
The Dragon Clan hadn't encountered any threats for a long time.
Such a comfortable life naturally caused the motivation to level up to diminish.
Including Kazuya, the leveling speed of the other members of the Dragon Clan had also slowed down.
This wasn't a bad thing.
If they could level up safely and steadily, then being a bit slower was just being a bit slower.
There was no need to force themselves to go to those dangerous places and experience dangerous battles.
The leveling speed that way was indeed fast.
But the probability of death was also extremely high.
In the Ancient Era, there were no Pokémon Centers to save a dying Pokémon in a short amount of time.
The consequence of falling into a near-death state in the wild was basically being eaten.
In these past few months.
It wasn't that there weren't Dragon Clan members who died outside due to eagerness for quick success.
Or returned heavily injured, only for herbs to be unable to save them in time, resulting in them eventually succumbing to their wounds.
Losing one's life to level up quickly.
Wasn't worth it.
Therefore.
Kazuya wouldn't feel anxious because the leveling speed slowed down; instead, he let nature take its course and enjoyed this peaceful life.
"Flo-ette~"
Floette's voice sounded from nearby.
Kazuya turned his head to look, and saw her riding slowly on Ivysaur's back.
Ivysaur was not a member of the Dragon Clan.
She rarely appeared in the areas where Dragon Clan members were active on a daily basis.
Ivysaur's nature was more like a wage earner.
Working for the Dragon Clan's farm.
Other than that.
She was no different from those other wild Pokémon who accepted the Dragon Clan's protection and lived peacefully in the safe zone.
At most.
She just had a very good personal relationship with Floette.
She could even be called Floette's exclusive mount.
"What is it?"
Kazuya stretched and swayed his tail, but didn't get up.
"Flo-ette, flo-ette."
Floette pointed to the west, and then pointed to the south.
The meaning was very simple.
That another Pokémon clan in the west had migrated south.
That's right.
It was another.
As more and more Poison-type Pokémon came south from the swamp.
The living space of the weak Pokémon clans in the northern part of the grassland was constantly being squeezed.
On this grassland.
Water-type and Fairy-type were the majority, followed by Grass-type.
The Water-types were basically strictly distributed in the eastern lakeside area.
The west, for instance, consisted mostly of Fairy and Grass-type clans.
And Poison-type is super effective against Fairy and Grass-types.
So the vast majority of the grassland's original inhabitants couldn't defeat the Poison-type clans migrating south from the swamp.
Then.
Only two paths were left for them.
Path one.
Accept the Dragon Clan's protection and join the Dragon Clan's safe zone.
But many Pokémon didn't trust the Dragon Clan.
Because the Charizard clan and the Rampardos clan didn't have a good reputation on this grassland.
The moment they saw Kazuya and the Rampardos, many Pokémon clans gave up the idea of becoming vassals of the Dragon Clan.
The other path.
Was to migrate south.
Migrate southward and occupy those unowned lands.
Or perhaps.
Go to war with other grassland original inhabitants and snatch a portion of territory from their hands.
Of course.
It wasn't that no clans went to war with those Poison-type Pokémon.
But as mentioned before.
They couldn't win.
The ones pushed to the northernmost part of the grassland weren't any powerful Pokémon clans to begin with.
Coupled with the disadvantage in attributes.
They basically wouldn't be the opponents of the Poison-type Pokémon.
The ultimate outcome was basically the annihilation of the entire army.
"Yawn~ As long as it doesn't affect us, let's ignore it for now."
Kazuya yawned and rolled over.
He actually had the intention to protect those poor Pokémon.
But the problem was.
He was willing to step in.
But they weren't willing to trust him.
Since that was the case, what else was there to say?
Kazuya wasn't the kind of cheapskate who liked to press a hot face against a cold butt.
If you want to survive, come to the Dragon Clan's territory yourself.
If you don't come, you either migrate south or die.
Anyway, he wasn't going to beg that group of Pokémon to come over.
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