Chapter 597: Conquering the Northern Region
Floette vigorously waved the Eternal Flower in her hands, and countless black petals drifted down.
In the sky, Kazuya nodded slightly.
He raised both arms.
Red circles appeared on the ground below, looking exactly like volcanic craters on the verge of erupting.
The next moment.
Boom!
Those circles acted like real volcanic craters, erupting with columns of scorching fire.
The giant pillars of flame combined with the falling flowers from the sky, instantly turning the space inside the rock pillar wall into a world of fire.
Fire Pledge.
In the games, this move had to be combined with Water Pledge or Grass Pledge to change the field and trigger additional effects.
But reality was different.
As long as it was a Water-type or Fire-type move, it could more or less trigger some effects.
Just like right now.
Floette's Petal Blizzard had expanded both the power and range of Kazuya's Fire Pledge.
"Gu!"
"Gao!"
"Cha..."
The anguished wails of countless Pokémon echoed within the sea of fire.
Apart from Charizard (brother-kun), who could tolerate it slightly better, the other Poison-type Pokémon endured immense suffering.
It was like purgatory.
Two ripples of water materialized out of thin air beneath Kazuya's feet, allowing him to stand quietly in the sky.
With his arms crossed, he indifferently watched the Pokémon below gradually being roasted alive by his flames, his expression completely unchanged.
Charizard, Kommo-o, and the Rampardos brothers.
Their battles basically ended within five minutes.
As they began charging into the battlefield, reaping the 'lucky ones' who managed to squeeze through the gaps in the rock pillars...
This grassland became even bloodier and more brutal, the metallic stench of blood in the air feeling dense enough to condense into droplets.
A large number of wild Pokémon living in the Dragon Clan's territory were quietly hiding and watching this scene.
Some were absolutely terrified, worrying that they would be next, and fearing that the Dragon Clan might go mad with hunger and eat them.
Some had looks of deep satisfaction in their eyes, wishing they could join this crusade against the Poison-type Pokémon to avenge their kin who had been preyed upon.
And some had eyes filled with numbness.
As if they had seen scenes even more horrifying and cruel, rendering them able to turn a blind eye to the current spectacle.
Half an hour later.
Kazuya used Air Slash to shatter the rock pillars.
The Dragon Clan's pasture was completely destroyed.
But.
The Poison-type Pokémon that had invaded the Dragon Clan's pasture were also left here forever.
"Pile the corpses up first. We'll use them as food for the upcoming period."
Kazuya scanned the area.
The corpses of Toxicroak and Croagunk couldn't be eaten; they were filled with toxins inside.
The other Poison-type Pokémon, once the poison sacs were removed, could basically be eaten.
As for the meat quality, they would only know after tasting it.
Regardless, he had never eaten it before.
With so much Pokémon meat.
Even if they called the omnivorous Hakamo-o clan to eat together, they wouldn't be able to finish it all before it spoiled.
It would truly be a pity to waste it.
Kazuya's gaze drifted into the distance, a flash of inspiration hitting him, and he came up with a pretty good idea.
"Flo-ette..."
At this moment, Floette flew over dejectedly and sat dispiritedly on Kazuya's mouth.
"It's fine, we'll just rebuild it. As long as there were no casualties among our clansmen, it's all good."
Kazuya didn't really mind this.
"Besides, they've been bored for a long time. It's time to stretch their limbs a bit."
His gaze landed on the Rampardos and Hakamo-o nearby.
Compared to the peace-loving Bastiodon clan.
These two species were rather combative.
They frequently sparred within the clan on regular days to vent their energy.
But not seeing blood for a long time had left them somewhat mentally sluggish.
After today's battle.
The Rampardos and Hakamo-o had all become radiant, with quite a bit of lingering excitement in their eyes.
Perfect.
Kazuya could use this momentum to clean up the environment in the northern part of the grassland.
To prevent a situation like today from happening again.
"Flo-ette?"
Floette didn't know what Kazuya planned to do and asked in confusion.
"You'll know soon enough."
Kazuya grinned, not telling her directly.
However.
Three days later.
Basically, the entire northern half of the grassland knew of the Dragon Clan's movements.
The Rampardos and Hakamo-o of the Dragon Clan were like mad dogs, constantly rampaging through the northern grassland.
Those carnivorous Poison-type Pokémon that had come from the swamp.
Had to either wait to be hunted down by the Dragon Clan.
Or obediently scram back to the swamp themselves.
However.
The grassland was incredibly vast.
The number of Rampardos and Hakamo-o was only so many, and occasionally encountering a powerful Alpha Poison-type Pokémon meant they had to engage in a tough battle.
So the Dragon Clan had to fight a protracted war.
But this was exactly what Kazuya wanted.
Not only could the Rampardos and Hakamo-o burn off their energy, but their strength would also significantly improve through constant battles.
At the same time.
To fill the patrol vacancies left by the Rampardos and Hakamo-o.
The defense forces on the Dragon Clan's side would also be adjusted.
The Bastiodons, with their slow movement, were not suited for patrols.
They continued to guard the base camp, protecting the young dragon cubs at home; this point was absolutely immovable.
The Cranidos and Jangmo-o who had reached Lv. 30 or above were responsible for patrolling within the Dragon Clan's territory.
However, the patrol range was reduced to increase the safety factor.
The Shieldons were still responsible for guarding the pasture.
It seemed like the changes weren't significant.
But that wasn't the case.
The biggest variable in the Dragon Clan's defense forces was the wild Pokémon that had accepted the Dragon Clan's protection.
Especially those carnivorous, omnivorous, and more aggressive Pokémon.
Some of them hovered around the Dragon Clan's pasture.
Some wandered everywhere within the 'Safe Zone'.
They.
Were the Dragon Clan's [Mercenaries].
Kazuya used the meat of the Poison-type Pokémon they couldn't finish to exchange for the temporary service of the powerful carnivorous and omnivorous Pokémon in the Safe Zone.
According to the rules Kazuya set in the Safe Zone.
Omnivores were easy to deal with.
They just had to switch to a vegetarian diet.
But carnivorous Pokémon found it very hard to survive here.
They could only leave the Safe Zone during the day to hunt and come back at night to get a peaceful sleep.
Anyway, if they wanted to stay in the Safe Zone, they couldn't touch the creatures within the Dragon Clan's territory.
But that was a very difficult task.
Almost all the animals near the Dragon Clan had been caught by the Dragon Clan.
And the weak Pokémon had either migrated south or hid in the Safe Zone.
This.
Consequently led to a very high difficulty of survival for carnivorous Pokémon within the Safe Zone.
Many carnivorous Pokémon had already moved south for this reason.
There weren't many carnivorous Pokémon left in the 'Safe Zone'.
So.
When Kazuya proposed that he was willing to trade meat for labor.
These nearly despairing carnivorous Pokémon felt as if they had ushered in the hope of life!
They didn't need to laboriously search for prey and fight every day.
They just needed to patrol daily and protect the pasture to get ample food.
What else was there to say?
Do it!
Must do it!
If I don't do it, there are plenty of Pokémon who will; how could I not do it?!
Therefore.
Even though the Rampardos and Hakamo-o had left, the defense forces within the Dragon Clan's territory didn't decrease much.
Plus, every time the Rampardos and Hakamo-o returned from an outing, they would bring back some Poison-type Pokémon corpses.
So Kazuya wasn't worried at all about not being able to afford to hire this group of Pokémon.
Speaking of which.
Looking at it now.
Kazuya really had to thank these Poison-type Pokémon from the swamp.
Thanks to them.
In the zone from the northernmost part of the grassland southward for about a quarter of the area, the original inhabitants had almost entirely migrated south.
And this also meant.
Once the Dragon Clan wiped out or drove away these Poison-type Pokémon.
Then this quarter of the region in the northern grassland would basically be an unowned land with no species stationed there.
At that time.
The Dragon Clan could logically and naturally claim all these lands as their own.
All the animals within the territory and even the surrounding areas would become livestock in their pasture.
When that time comes.
The Dragon Clan would no longer need to worry about food.
As for who would guard such a massive territory?
At that time, they definitely wouldn't be able to finish eating all the food, and they couldn't just let the animals breed unchecked.
The best method would still be hiring.
Hiring those solitary Pokémon willing to live in the Safe Zone.
Apart from clan affairs.
Kazuya, as the Big Brother of the Dragon Clan, also spent no small amount of effort caring for the growth of the problem children in the clan.
The most obvious change was undoubtedly Goomy.
The previously closed-off, autistic-like child had now recovered the inherent nature of the vast majority of Goomy—friendly and kind.
Of course.
It couldn't be ruled out that Goomy might have been influenced by Floette, thus gradually developing this personality.
At the edge of the clan's territory.
"Shiel..."
A Shieldon baby looked at the berries in front of him, looking somewhat distressed, his face drooping.
He was a bit of a picky eater.
He only ate yellow fruits and purple berries, but wouldn't eat the red berries, which didn't taste very delicious but were richer in nutrients.
If his mom and dad found out about this.
They would definitely beat him up.
"Nene~"
Seeing this, Goomy walked over.
He chewed his purple berries and red berries together, mashed them into a ball, and then fed them into the Shieldon's mouth.
The Shieldon ate it with great relish.
His eyes even narrowed in delight.
"Nene~"
Goomy smiled and nodded.
Not being a picky eater makes a good baby.
Even though he was a baby himself.
"Goomy."
The Big Brother's voice came from the side.
Goomy knew that was his name.
Many people in the clan shared the same name.
But he had an individual name.
This made Goomy secretly delighted in his heart.
"Nene?"
Goomy squirmed over and looked up at Kazuya.
"You have to eat well too."
Kazuya reached out and poked the little guy.
The soft, squishy Goomy was like a gummy candy; pressing down on it would make it bounce back without hurting the little guy at all.
"Nene."
Goomy nodded.
He turned and went back to his spot.
But in a place where no one could see, his expression gradually turned downcast.
Recently, there were some Pokémon in the territory seeking asylum from the swamp.
From their mouths.
Goomy learned that clans in the swamp with some strength and scale were all being hunted down by the Arbok clan.
Goomy was somewhat worried about his own clansmen.
Even though.
He joined the Dragon Clan not long after he was born.
But he knew.
He was a child with a mom and dad.
This matter...
Should I tell Big Brother?
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