Chapter 610: The Leader's Concerns
Seeing their companion get beaten up, the other Charizards pounced forward without a word, ready to fight Kazuya.
But the members of the Dragon Clan had been eager for action for a long time.
The moment Kazuya made his move.
It was the bugle call signaling the start of the war.
The Rampardos brothers charged out like heavy-duty dump trucks.
They each sent a Charizard flying, then stepped on them, pinning them to the ground, unable to move.
Speaking of being uncivilized.
The Rampardos back then were even more beast-like than the Charizard clan.
Weren't they still subdued by Big Brother?
Nearby, the Kommo-o utilized superb combat techniques to effortlessly topple a relatively strong target.
That crude fighting style.
Made Kommo-o feel as if he was looking at his past self.
Childish.
The Cyclizar's level wasn't very high, making the fight slightly strenuous.
But their clan was fast.
And they had learned a formulaic fighting style from Kazuya, specifically designed for fast Pokémon.
Relying on this fighting style that summarized Kazuya's five lifetimes of experience.
The Cyclizar ultimately succeeded in handling a Charizard of a similar level.
As for his brother-kun.
He had bad luck just now, facing a Charizard significantly stronger than him, was humiliated, and had a lot of pent-up anger.
Fortunately, his luck was good this time.
He faced two Charizards whose levels were slightly lower than his.
It was the perfect chance to vent his anger. Fighting two against one without falling behind, he reclaimed his honor on the spot.
If other members couldn't win one-on-one, they could use numbers to gang up on them.
In a short while, all the dozen or so Charizards were pinned to the ground.
The only slightly stronger Charizard, who possessed Gym Leader-level strength.
Did not participate in the battle.
Instead, he had been standing in the back, frowning as he observed the Kazuya brothers, seeming to be pondering something.
A few minutes passed.
This Charizard finally realized in hindsight that all his companions were down.
If he still didn't act, it would be somewhat unjustifiable.
Moreover.
"Roar..."
The Charizard looked at Kazuya and brother-kun, beckoning to them.
He wanted to bring these two brothers back to the volcano, to let their boss take a look and see if he found them familiar.
"Rua!"
Brother-kun's response was also very simple and brutal.
Scram.
He currently had zero goodwill towards these volcano Charizards; just seeing them made him angry.
"Roar roar."
A bunch of things born as dragons but lacking dragon upbringing.
Brother-kun cursed and swore, causing Kazuya's cheek to twitch incessantly.
Who is he cursing here?
"Roar."
The Charizard narrowed his eyes, planning to use force.
He pushed off the ground and charged toward Kazuya at an extremely fast speed.
He could tell.
Kazuya was the boss of this group of Pokémon.
Then he would fight him.
"Tch."
Kazuya clicked his tongue.
By observing this Charizard's Aura signature and speed.
This Charizard's level was likely even higher than the former Overlord Arbok; he was probably not an opponent Kazuya could defeat.
Fortunately, they had numbers on their side.
Hundreds of Pokémon definitely couldn't be defeated by a single Gym Leader-level Charizard.
Just as Kazuya was preparing to call everyone to attack together.
Feraligatr, who had been quiet all along, suddenly roared at the sky:
"Gatr!"
Water currents wrapped around his entire body, and then he soared into the sky before crashing down heavily.
That Charizard.
Was unexpectedly knocked unconscious on the spot by a single Liquidation.
"Roar."
Kazuya blinked twice; he had somewhat underestimated this Feraligatr.
Even though this big lug looked like he wasn't very bright.
His strength was solid.
He was at least at the mid-tier Elite Four level.
Among this group of grassland Alphas, he should be considered one of the fiercer ones.
"Gatr!"
We're all brothers.
Feraligatr thought Kazuya was thanking him and waved at him with a smile.
Now he believed it.
Kazuya.
Was absolutely a good guy.
The ground full of beaten Charizards was proof.
From now on, this northern Dragon Clan was his bro.
Kazuya was somewhat speechless.
As if the one clamoring to fight him just now wasn't this Feraligatr.
However.
The past is the past.
The present is the present.
You can't always hold onto the past in the present.
So Kazuya still waved at him:
"Help me pass a message to Arcanine: when dealing with them, count me in."
He pointed at the Charizards on the ground.
Originally, the volcano fire dragons and the grassland Dragon Clan had nothing to do with each other.
The former didn't even know of the latter's existence.
But today's situation was clearly different.
Whether it was the behavioral style of this Charizard clan or the events that transpired today, it was impossible for Kazuya to lead the Dragon Clan to stand on a unified front with them.
Yet reality lay before him.
Standing in opposition to the Charizard clan.
Their grassland Dragon Clan truly lacked that strength.
If the Charizard clan wanted to fight them, the pressure on the Dragon Clan would be even greater than facing the various grassland tribes.
Therefore.
To ensure the Dragon Clan's development.
Joining the grassland tribes' anti-Charizard alliance became a relatively better choice.
"Gatr!"
Feraligatr smiled and raised his hand.
Then he turned and swaggered away.
"Flo-ette?"
Floette floated over, looking at Kazuya, and then at the unconscious Charizards on the ground.
Kazuya frowned and thought for a moment.
Breaking rules in the Dragon Clan's territory generally resulted in one of three outcomes.
No pursuit (or even recruitment), expulsion, or annihilation.
Three outcomes.
Which one specifically depended on the severity of the rule-breaking.
Annihilation naturally didn't need much explanation.
Expulsion applied when they harmed members within the safe zone but didn't cause severe injuries or disability.
No pursuit or recruitment.
This required asking the victim's opinion.
If the victim was relatively magnanimous, they might not pursue the fault, and might even invite the other party to stay in the safe zone, provided they obeyed the rules.
Looking at the situation now.
It depended on Charizard's opinion.
It was up to brother-kun to decide what to do.
So.
Kazuya turned his head to look at Charizard beside him.
"Roar?"
Brother-kun tilted his head in confusion.
He wasn't confused about why his older brother was looking at him, but was asking Kazuya if he wanted to subjugate these Charizards.
"Them? We can't subjugate them, unless we defeat their boss."
Kazuya decisively shook his head.
Directly poaching members from a clan was a very difficult thing.
Because most Pokémon couldn't be certain whether their quality of life would worsen or if they would face life-threatening dangers after leaving their clan.
Therefore.
Even if they were bullied miserably within the clan.
Pokémon generally wouldn't leave their clan.
Unless the boss of that clan treated the members truly terribly, leaving them in deep suffering, which had already incited dissatisfaction among many members.
But judging from the overbearing manner of these few Charizards, that was clearly not the case.
These Charizards likely lived very comfortably within the clan and were certainly very loyal to their boss; subjugating them was basically impossible.
"Roar."
Charizard nodded, thus making a decision.
Since they couldn't be subjugated.
Then tell them to scram.
"Throw them further away."
Kazuya nodded and said to the Rampardos nearby.
In reality.
Releasing them would definitely lead to a series of troubles.
For example, other Charizards would definitely come knocking later, and highly likely to pick a fight.
With the Dragon Clan's current strength.
Facing the Charizard clan's targeting, they would inevitably suffer some hardships.
But this was also the reason why Kazuya had Feraligatr pass on the message just now.
The Dragon Clan dominated the northern grassland.
If the Charizard clan wanted to come, they would inevitably have to pass through the territories of Alphas like Arcanine.
By joining the grassland Alpha alliance.
Who knows, Arcanine might just intercept them halfway.
Perhaps wiping out these Charizards.
Could make the Charizard clan unable to realize the existence of the grassland Dragon Clan for a while, and they wouldn't be able to trace who did it.
But this matter would be exposed sooner or later.
Because present at this moment were not only Dragon Clan members but also countless wild Pokémon living in the safe zone.
Sooner or later, they would expose this matter to the Charizard clan.
At that time, it would be an ineradicable blood feud, an all-out war with no chance of redemption.
Moreover.
Directly killing them would be going a bit too far.
One was that the offense these Charizards committed wasn't severe enough to warrant killing them; a beating was about right.
Another was that Kazuya had designs on the Charizard clan.
He wanted to try recruiting and civilizing them in the future. Killing them now wouldn't be good; it might create a rift later.
All in all.
A combination of various reasons.
How to deal with these Charizards was a headache-inducing matter.
But as the leader of the Dragon Clan.
Kazuya had to consider this matter carefully from the perspective of the entire clan.
His brother's idea.
Coincided perfectly with his own.
It could be considered the best choice right now.
As for the possibility of frequently facing provocations from the Charizard clan...
It could actually be seen as a good thing.
Constantly maintaining a sense of crisis in the hearts of the Dragon Clan members, preventing them from becoming too slack and neglecting to improve their strength.
The so-called life springs from sorrow and calamity, death comes from ease and pleasure.
In the Ancient Era.
This principle needed to be magnified.
Prolonged peace and contentment would make the Dragon Clan members lose their motivation to become stronger. By the time they truly faced a formidable enemy, there would be no time left to continue growing stronger.
"Let's go back."
Kazuya's single sentence brought the curtain down completely on today's events.
By the time the Charizards woke up.
It was already the evening of that day.
They woke up with bewildered expressions, looked at each other, and then, under the order of the team leader, flew back to the volcanic mountain range.
And today's team leader.
That Gym Leader-level Charizard.
After returning to the volcanic mountain range, he didn't hesitate to fly towards the centermost volcano.
At the crater there.
A massive Charizard over fifty meters tall was coiled.
Moreover.
It was a Mega Charizard Y Overlord!
"Roar..."
The Overlord Charizard's casual breaths could spew sparks that made the magma boil and heat up.
He opened his eyes and looked at the subordinate flying before him, not moving an inch, merely staring at him quietly.
"Roar! Roar!"
The Gym Leader-level Charizard gestured while recounting what he saw and heard today.
When he mentioned that in the northern grassland, two young and unfamiliar Charizards had appeared.
This Overlord Charizard's eyes widened, and he sat up abruptly.
After thinking for a moment.
He lay back down, forcefully suppressing his inner emotions.
He had suffered some injuries a few days ago, and his current appearance wasn't very presentable.
He planned to heal his injuries properly first, and then pull a "Dragon King's Descent" with a domineering posture.
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