Chapter 675: Clan Leader, Dragon Overlord!

Luo Mu shot to his feet with a "swish," his drowsy mind instantly clearing.

Beside him, the Dragonite, the Messenger Bird, Victini, and Terapagos all turned to look in the direction where the explosion had sounded.

"What's going on?"

Luo Mu frowned, various guesses flashing through his mind.

An invasion by external enemies?

Or an attack by poachers?

But compared to the cause of the explosion, at least for now, Luo Mu was more puzzled by the reaction of the surrounding Dragonite clan.

Leaving the Dragonites aside for the moment, the Dragonairs still drifted leisurely on the lake, and even the Dratinis, who ought to have timid personalities by rights, showed no intention of diving into the water.

—It was as if they were already so accustomed to such sounds that they didn't even bother to raise an eyebrow.

Viewed this way, the cause of the explosion became somewhat intriguing.

Nevertheless, Luo Mu still intended to go take a look at the site of the explosion.

Never mind his friendship with the giant Dragonite; even on a personal level, he could not bear to see any mishap befall this paradise belonging to the Dragonites.

The location of the explosion was not far from the lakeside dwelling of the Dragonite clan.

Calling upon his three little Pokémon and mounting his Dragonite, Luo Mu soon arrived in that area.

Because Luo Mu and his group had arrived so quickly, thick smoke from the earlier explosion was still churning here, making it impossible to see clearly what had happened below.

Just as Luo Mu was about to order his Dragonite to descend and check the situation,

a fierce wind suddenly surged up from below, scattering the thick smoke in an instant.

Luo Mu and his Dragonite were also within the range of this gale; had any other flying Pokémon suddenly encountered such a wind, they would likely have lost their flight balance immediately, risking a fall.

Without appearing to do anything, a current of air blew past the Dragonite, perfectly offsetting the gale that would have disrupted its flight balance.

Thanks to this, Luo Mu could now see the situation below clearly.

—However, the facts visible to the naked eye differed vastly from his guesses.

"Hmm?"

Emitting a short, nasal sound of confusion, Luo Mu had not expected things to turn out this way.

Below, on a patch of solid rocky soil devoid of any vegetation, about ten Dragonites had gathered.

Looking closely, the shiny Dragonite who called himself "Clan Grass" and had been eyeing his own "little cabbage" was also in the ranks.

And in the center of the circle formed by these Dragonites, a Dragonite with an imposing aura and a physique revealing the signs of old age stood with its hands behind its back.

That was likely the chief of the Dragonite clan inhabiting this Dragonite Island, the very Dragonite chief who had extended an invitation to his own Dragonite.

As for traces of outsiders, Luo Mu truly saw none.

But judging by the setup, it was obvious that these ten Dragonites had surrounded the Dragonite chief, and the earlier explosion had likely been caused by them.

Could it be that they were dissatisfied with the Dragonite chief handing over the qualification to compete for the chieftainship to his own Dragonite, and thus chose to rebel?

A slightly unreliable speculation floated through Luo Mu's mind, but he quickly dismissed it.

—Because it didn't look like it.

Below, the Dragonites rapidly organized an offensive; ten beams of shining blue, purple, and red light transformed into towering energy dragons, charging together at the Dragonite chief.

Judging by their stance, they showed no sign of holding back; rather, they truly intended to inflict heavy injuries on the Dragonite chief.

Yet facing the impending combined attack, the Dragonite chief remained unhurried; after slightly lifting its dragon head, a terrifying roar that shook the entire island's forest rang out.

"Roaaar—!"

Under the influence of the intense sound waves, these grand dragon pulses shattered like fragile glass upon contact, becoming utterly routed.

The ten Dragonites surrounding the chief were forced to retreat several steps, attempting to offset the impact of the sound waves roared out by the Dragonite chief.

Even from a considerable distance above, Luo Mu and his Dragonites felt a slight effect.

But at this moment, they paid no heed to the influence of the sound waves, focusing instead on careful observation.

Soon, Luo Mu made a discovery.

"It's not merely sound wave intimidation; mixed within is also an invisible gale—"

Feeling the cool sensation brushing past his fingertips, Luo Mu analyzed thoughtfully.

However, this Dragonite chief was indeed formidable.

What talk of aging, of being old and planning to abdicate?

Judging by the performance of that single roar, it was likely far superior to those young Dragonites, without comparison.

Directly shattering a multitude of moves attacking it was truly absurd to the extreme.

Not long ago, Luo Mu had seen a similar scene; that was during a vacation in the Alola region.

—There were only slight differences in form.

Those Totem Pokémon were not only surrounded by a visible glowing aura but also possessed bodies nearly one size larger, or even several times larger, than others of their kind.

More importantly, when they emitted sound waves like the Dragonite chief, it was to summon their kin, not like the Dragonite chief, who used it purely for intimidation, something closer to those ethereal concepts of "pressure" or "dragon aura."

Therefore, under conditions that did not match at all, Luo Mu found it difficult to conclude that the Dragonite chief was a Totem Pokémon.

Not to mention that this place was near the Galar seas, quite a distance from the tropical Alola seas.

Totem Pokémon, as Alola's "specialty," could not appear here.

At this moment, the Dragonite chief's roar below had completely ceased.

Aside from a few Dragonites still stunned in place by the intimidation, the others briefly adapted to the dizziness in their heads, shook themselves, and then charged at the Dragonite chief once more.

This time, they opted for close-quarters combat!

And among them, an extremely conspicuous dark green figure almost took the lead, arriving right before the Dragonite chief.

A Dragon Claw, charged for a long time, sliced through the air, striking straight at the Dragonite chief!

In response, the Dragonite chief merely glanced at it, twisted its body, and its tail, like a long whip carrying a piercing sound of breaking air, whipped the shiny Dragonite away!

The other attacking Dragonites met similar fates, either crushed by absolute power or subjected to a dimensional strike in terms of technique.

Within moments, the ground was covered with plump Dragonites lying on their round bellies, and even those Dragonites that had recovered from dizziness took a severe hit.

"Hiss."

Witnessing this scene firsthand, Luo Mu couldn't help but gasp in shock.

This Dragonite Chief really has something!

First, there was a combination of sound waves and air currents, similar to an "Alpha Aura" or "Conqueror's Haki."

In terms of physical attributes and combat skills, it delivered a dimensional-level strike against these Dragonites.

You are so vigorous despite your age; why are you even talking about retiring?

Luo Mu felt deeply puzzled by this.

After having his Dragonite land, finally standing on solid ground, Luo Mu first looked around at the wild Dragonites lying on the ground, emitting somewhat undignified whimpers of pain.

Subsequently, his gaze fell upon the Dragonite Chief, who did not seem surprised by their arrival.

"Aowu—" (This is practical training that must be done every day—)

The Dragonite Chief let out a cry, attempting to explain things to Luo Mu.

Regrettably, Luo Mu could not understand its words.

Fortunately, Luo Mu could roughly guess what the Dragonite Chief was doing, so not understanding didn't matter.

Considering that it accepted the siege of wild Dragonites alone, and seeing that it did not deliver finishing blows after knocking them down.

It was either testing and training them, or conducting some sort of selection for the next Dragonite Chief.

Furthermore, considering the commonplace demeanor of the Dragonites, Dragonairs, and Dratinis back at the lake dwelling, who showed not a trace of fright.

Luo Mu leaned even more toward the answer being the former.

The facts were not too different from Luo Mu's guess; the Dragonite Chief was indeed acting as a "coach," training these warlike Dragonites who wished to compete for the position of chief.

The first requirement to become chief is the ability to command sufficient respect from the masses.

Leaving aside personality and wisdom, at the very least, one's Wu Li value should ideally be the strongest within the clan.

It hoped that one day, a Dragonite capable of defeating it would emerge from among these clansmen to inherit the position of chief.

"Relax a bit; you'll be healed soon."

After completing the basic treatment, Luo Mu cast a glance to his side.

"Flowering Huanhuan~"

Comfey let out a cute cry; its Floral Healing and Aromatherapy, already mastered to the extreme, worked in tandem to rapidly heal the wild Dragonite before them.

To be honest, this kind of treatment really feels great.

The only thing this wild Dragonite found regrettable was that during Comfey's move execution and throughout the process, that faint, elusive sensation prevented it from relaxing completely, making it feel slightly awkward.

—After all, "Floral Healing" is a Fairy-type healing move.

This wild Dragonite soon became lively and energetic again, and Luo Mu moved to the next Dragonite.

The moment their eyes met, the smile on Luo Mu's face faded slightly, but his actions remained far from perfunctory.

"Sit still, don't move."

After this one "warning," Luo Mu raised his hand and began pressing on the Shiny Dragonite, which truly dared not move.

Of course, he was not giving the Shiny Dragonite a massage; he was simply confirming the locations of those inconspicuous "internal injuries" on its body.

This way, Comfey could perform the treatment more precisely and with less effort.

After all, there were ten adult Dragonites in their prime, so the pressure of treating them was quite significant.

But the more he pressed, the stranger Luo Mu's expression became.

He lifted his head, looking at the Shiny Dragonite which seemed to have completely stiffened, and asked with a frown, "What are you nervous about?"

The belly of the Dragonite, which should have been soft, was now as hard as a block of iron.

Yet just now, the Dragonite Chief had fiercely whipped this area with its tail; to determine if there were internal injuries, the Shiny Dragonite tensing its belly and stiffening its body like this was definitely not acceptable.

Shiny Dragonite: "."

Why do you think I'm nervous!

It first glanced at Luo Mu's Dragonite, whose presence caused it to refuse showing vulnerability and choose to endure the pain while sitting up, and then looked at the Dragonite Chief silently observing behind Luo Mu.

The Shiny Dragonite couldn't even pull a sour face at Luo Mu if it wanted to.

The Shiny Dragonite considered itself a strong male Dragonite and absolutely could not lose face in front of the delicate little female Dragonite it admired.

But it couldn't refuse the treatment from Luo Mu and Comfey, yet it had to maintain its dignity; it was nearly suffocating from frustration!

Fortunately, as time passed, Luo Mu, relying on his Gao Chao (probably) medical skills, roughly determined which areas Comfey needed to Yao Zhu Zhong in its treatment.

As the light particles of Floral Healing sprinkled onto the Shiny Dragonite, its injuries began to recover.

Watching this scene, the Dragonite Chief nodded in satisfaction.

Although usually after "group training," it would let these thick-skinned little ones lie around for a while until they slowly regained their mobility, and after replenishing some energy, they would return to perfect condition.

But it had to be said, this was truly nice.

With Comfey's treatment accelerating recovery, at this rate, beating them up—oh no, training them once more today would be no problem at all.

The Dragonite Chief thought with considerable satisfaction.

Meanwhile, the wild Dragonites, who had just recovered not long ago, all felt a chill run down their spines at this moment.

Soon, this bad premonition came true.

Right in front of Luo Mu and the Dragonites, these recovered wild Dragonites received another thorough beating and lay on the ground again, emitting half-dead wails.

Luo Mu & Comfey: "."

So what did all our previous efforts amount to? Was it all in vain?

However, the gains were not nonexistent.

Because he was observing the battle from close range, Luo Mu, standing at a distance that allowed for clearer observation through their actual combat, discovered what made the Dragonite chieftain different.

—It was simply like a holder of a "Dominant Aura" that was a low-spec version... no, rather, one specialized specifically for combat.

Its overwhelming physical capabilities gave no indication that it had already entered a period of decline; these young Dragonites were being thoroughly dominated by it in a one-sided beating.

To put it plainly, for a wild Pokémon that had not undergone systematic training, the Dragonite chieftain was impossibly strong.

Moreover, judging by its appearance, it seemed to have lived on this Dragonite Island for a long time; without ever leaving its home or venturing out, merely engaging in sparring matches with its own kind that stopped short of serious harm, the Dragonite chieftain's strength logically should not have been this formidable.

Most chieftains of Pokémon groups, even if capable of handling young challengers, would not go so far as to fight ten opponents alone like this Dragonite chieftain.

Could it be that this strength possessed by the Dragonite chieftain was related to the mysterious power on this island mentioned by the giant Dragonite?

It was precisely to obtain the answer to this question that Luo Mu accepted the Dragonite chieftain's request and, together with Comfey, treated the wild Dragonites that had been beaten to the ground.

It said that in this way, it would tell him the answer.

Otherwise, Luo Mu could also have his Dragonite participate in the chieftain election, and upon victory, he would still obtain the answer.

Since Luo Mu had originally never intended to have his Dragonite run for chieftain, he naturally chose the option of helping to treat the wild Dragonites.

The second round of treatment actually placed a certain amount of pressure on Comfey.

Fortunately, the little fellow Victini had rested enough by now; with its assistance, Comfey's treatment speed increased by quite a margin compared to before.

Soon, ten lively and energetic wild Dragonites were presented fresh and vibrant before the Dragonite chieftain.

Seeing this.

The Dragonite chieftain had no intention of beating them in a third round, but instead turned its head to look at Luo Mu.

Luo Mu immediately knew what it intended to do and instantly called Moltres over.

The Dragonite chieftain emitted a series of low roars, while Moltres simultaneously relayed them to Luo Mu.

This was how the Dragonite chieftain explained it.

—As long as one runs for election and becomes the chieftain of this Dragonite group, becoming the group leader, the Dragon Dominator!

One will then gain the qualification to go to that place and make contact with the mysterious power.

In that case, Luo Mu's Dragonite would at the very least receive the same kind of power enhancement as itself.

If luck was good, perhaps it might even obtain even more mysterious power and benefits, who could say.

(End of Chapter)