Chapter 806: Ten Years of Sharpening
Kazuya was finally jolted awake from his sleep.
He never expected that Mew giving him the Dread Plate back then would cause such a massive butterfly effect, leading to Darkrai being unable to attempt saving the world using this method.
However.
Kazuya wasn't filled with much regret.
After all, how could he have known so many things would happen later on?
Moreover, in the dream, Darkrai had stated directly that even with the Dread Plate, success wasn't guaranteed, as He lacked the confidence to fight all the gods alone.
Similarly.
Kazuya didn't have that confidence either.
But he wasn't fighting alone.
And he didn't need to wage war against all the gods at once.
"Master?"
"Lord Kazuya."
"Meow?"
Hearing the voices, Kazuya looked around and finally noticed his six companions gathered around him, their faces filled with concern.
He looked down at his chest.
The crescent-shaped stone had turned into an ordinary-looking rock.
Kazuya could no longer feel that homologous energy from it.
However.
Just to be safe.
Crack!
Kazuya crushed the stone with one hand, turning it into several small fragments that rolled onto the ground.
"It's nothing. My intuition tells me we shouldn't stay here long. We should get moving."
Kazuya stood up, dusted off his clothes, and walked forward.
The six Pokémon exchanged glances and hurriedly followed.
Lucario and Mewtwo fell a step behind.
The former possessed Aura, the latter psychic power.
They perceived the changes in Kazuya much more clearly than the other three Pokémon.
"I don't know if it's my imagination, but it feels like... Kazuya is even more confident than before."
Mewtwo stared at Kazuya's back, the corners of His mouth curving up slightly.
He didn't know where Kazuya's change came from.
But He was very happy to see such a change.
"He is Lord Kazuya, after all."
Lucario was looking at the same back, but the meaning in his eyes was completely different.
Only pure trust.
"Hmph, it seems your admiration for Kazuya is no less than Scizor's."
Mewtwo glanced at the dog beside Him and grinned.
"Admiration? I don't know, I think it's respect. Also, don't say that in front of that guy, or he'll get mad at me."
Lucario raised both hands and waved them, sneaking a glance at Scizor ahead.
"He's not getting mad at me."
Mewtwo flicked His tail, feeling a secret joy.
Then He left Lucario behind and caught up with the group.
"..."
Lucario watched his companions walk away, turned his head to look at the dried-up lake behind him, then clasped his hands together and silently murmured, "Thank you."
The group turned and left.
Not long after, they boarded Samiya and headed north.
Kazuya now had a plan in mind.
That was to increase his level as much as possible while gathering information about the Plates.
Their next destination was Kalos.
This required crossing half the globe, passing through six or seven regions like Fiore, Ferrum, Almia, Oblivia, etc.
In short, a long journey.
Given Samiya's movement speed and the time they would spend stopping to train in each region.
Arriving in the Kalos region would probably take a very long time.
Shortly after Kazuya and his party left Newmoon Island.
A small shadow arrived on the island.
The legendary Gloomdweller Pokémon, Marshadow.
Judging from those crimson eyes, this second-tier god, who had barely shown Its face to the world, couldn't escape the corruption of the shadow energy and had become a puppet of Shadow.
"Mar..."
Marshadow looked around.
It went to the center of the island, picked up the small fragments on the ground, and stared at them for a long, long time.
Fifteen minutes passed.
Marshadow came back to Its senses and tossed the fragments aside.
It turned to face north, gazed at the sky for a moment, and finally turned back into a shadow and left Newmoon Island.
It arrived a step too late.
Failing to slip into the target's shadow.
It just didn't know if there would be another chance in the future.
Time flies like an arrow, the sun and moon like a shuttle.
A long ten years passed by in a flash, like a white pony passing a crevice.
Carried by Samiya.
Kazuya and his group of seven Pokémon finally crossed half the globe and arrived in the Kalos region.
Fortunately.
Across the six or seven regions they passed through.
They didn't encounter any Legendary Pokémon they couldn't handle.
Perhaps because no powerful native gods were born in these regions.
In any case.
These ten years could be considered a close call but ultimately safe.
No matter how many times they endured the corruption of the shadow energy, they ultimately pushed through and made it to this point.
As the saying goes.
[What doesn't kill me makes me stronger].
Now, Kazuya and his party, after ten years of bloody battles and tempering, naturally had strength that couldn't be underestimated.
Just counting Master-level Pokémon alone.
They now had a full two.
One was Cofagrigus, who had only leveled up once in ten years.
However.
According to his own description of the past.
Cofagrigus had reached Lv. 90 as early as 70 years ago.
So he was actually stuck at Lv. 90 for a full seventy-plus years before making any progress.
Kazuya wasn't too surprised by this, after all, he was an expert who had personally reached this tier.
For a Champion-level to level up once, it was counted in years.
For a Master-level to make progress, it was normal to measure it in decades.
Just like Kazuya in his sixth life.
It took him more than half his life to just advance from Lv. 90 to Lv. 93.
And the Kazuya of that time was a Mega Charizard X, and an Alpha at that, with parents who were kings of the ancient era; his innate potential was even greater than that of an ordinary first-tier god.
And Cofagrigus's potential was probably only at the "Purple" level, so his progress naturally couldn't compare to Kazuya's.
Seventy years.
Was already considered the result of immense effort.
And the other Master-level.
Was Scizor, who had also been stuck at the upper-Champion tier for decades.
In a bloody battle just recently.
Scizor broke through the bottleneck of the Champion tier and became a Master.
For a long time to come, Scizor's level would likely be difficult to increase, and he would need to strengthen his combat abilities through other means.
Two Master-level Pokémon.
This was equivalent to the combat power of two first-tier gods.
Perhaps their combat power was far incomparable to the Creation Trio, but dealing with the Black and White Dragons would definitely not be a problem.
Coupled with Kazuya, Dragonite, and Lucario, who were also at the upper-Champion tier.
If they encountered a lone first-tier god now.
Especially the weaker ones like Ho-Oh or base form Groudon.
They wouldn't be the ones running away.
The Kalos region's southwestern coastal location, Ambrette Town.
Samiya slowly docked near the shore, allowing Kazuya and his party to walk on the waves and reach the sandy beach of Ambrette Town.
"The power of the Sea Crown is really convenient."
Skitty hopped down from the waves and rubbed her paw pads on the sand.
"It's alright. Ambrette Town, huh..."
Kazuya floated in mid-air nearby.
He looked up at the town built on the hilly terrain ahead, a look of nostalgia naturally appearing in his eyes.
He wasn't unfamiliar with this place.
It was exactly in this place that Kazuya and Cynthia formed a bond with Diancie during the League Era.
However.
That was a matter of the second world.
As for this Ambrette Town in the first world...
Kazuya truly wasn't very familiar with it; it could be said he had never been here.
"What is this?"
Scizor pointed at the building standing with its back to them.
"Ambrette Aquarium, the only place in this town that can attract outside tourists."
Mewtwo raised the "Global Travel Guide - League Calendar Year 237 Year-End Summary Edition" in His hand, and then pointed at the picture of the aquarium.
It had to be said.
Except for the fact that there was no vegetation in the world now.
The aquarium in front of them was basically no different from the one in the travel guide.
"Meow! Kazuya! Let's go play in the aquarium?"
Skitty tapped Kazuya with her tail, speaking with some excitement.
She remembered things from her childhood.
Back then, Granny Sora took the three of them to the aquarium in Ever Grande City.
"Alright, let's go play inside together, but we still have to train this afternoon after we're done."
Kazuya picked up the kitten and tapped her nose.
Among the seven of them.
Excluding Dragonite, who was too old and had exhausted her potential, the one who progressed the slowest was Skitty.
Yet even so.
Dragonite's level still increased by 1, reaching Lv. 88, which showed just how hard Dragonite worked.
One must know she had more than three wrinkles around her eyes now.
And what about Skitty?
This little cat only went from Lv. 80 to Lv. 83 in ten years.
Looking only at the speed of leveling up, this was simply the Skitty who used to train for three days and slack off for two.
However.
Kazuya also knew.
He couldn't blame the kitten for not working hard.
Her racial talent was right there; with mere "Green" potential, he couldn't expect her improvement speed to keep up with Kazuya and the others.
One must know that Kazuya and Mewtwo were "gods."
And Scizor and Lucario were characters who had achieved Primal Reversion.
But Skitty was just an ordinary little cat. In terms of talent, she wasn't even much better than an ordinary Caterpie. This was a racial defect.
She herself was clear about this, understanding where her weaknesses lay, so she sweat a lot more in private than her other companions.
Skitty truly worked very hard.
Besides Kazuya himself, she was the most hardworking among the six Pokémon.
With her aptitude, increasing three levels in ten years.
This speed wasn't much slower than Mewtwo's.
One must know that Mewtwo had only increased by 4 levels in ten years, and He hadn't even reached the upper-Champion tier yet.
Skitty.
Had truly achieved the feat of surpassing a genius with hard work.
The little cat had really given it her all to keep up with everyone's pace and to be of help to Kazuya.
Therefore.
When Skitty said she wanted to go play.
Kazuya would accompany her.
"Meow!"
Skitty let out a happy cry, then patted Kazuya's arm with her little paw, gesturing for him to hurry and enter the aquarium.
This little cat.
Just a little bit of sweetness could make her happy for a long time.
And also make her work hard for a long time.
Compared to the princess-syndrome Skitty of the past, she had truly grown a lot.
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