Cutiefly were indeed among the options. After raising 36 Ribombee, Terrance had also begun bringing in Cutiefly again. However, this time, the Cutiefly Terrance brought in were not ones specifically bred to inherit the move Baton Pass. They were all wild.
After becoming an Elite Four, he had established a cooperative relationship with the Aether Foundation over in Alola. The Cutiefly handed over to Terrance were all Cutiefly that had lost their parents, been ostracized, or had some kind of congenital or acquired illness. These Cutiefly were a Pokémon group mainly cared for by the Aether Foundation. Now that Terrance had proposed this cooperation that benefited both sides, Aether naturally would not refuse.
However, such Cutiefly were still a minority. At present, there were only 13 on the Fallarbor Town side.
If those whose personalities or bodies were unsuitable to be entrusted to a Trainer for raising were excluded, only 4 or 5 were left.
Generally speaking, Terrance naturally would not casually give Cutiefly away, because no matter what their bodies or talents were like, with Fairy Aura, they all had limitless potential and were worth raising himself. But Ash and the others were not outsiders, so Terrance just followed his mood.
“If I could lure over that Totem Ribombee from Poni Island and its group, that would be great.” While preparing the Gym Battle for the two of them, Terrance smiled to himself. When Altaria had been doing special training with Poni Island’s guardian deity Tapu Fini, it had summoned over a hundred Cutiefly and Ribombee, and one Totem Ribombee among them was their leader. For such a large Ribombee army, who knew how much time Fallarbor Town would have to spend to raise one.
……
……
“Ash, let’s make the battle 2v2.”
“No problem with me!”
With a hot-blooded guy like Ash around, Terrance had no intention of resting. Before long, the two were about to begin their Gym match.
May was scheduled to have her Gym match after Ash, with Ash taking the lead. This time, Terrance had no intention of going easy. He brought out the standard he would use to treat a League Conference Champion to face Ash. If Ash dared to bring out Pokémon he had newly caught in the Hoenn region to battle, Terrance would absolutely beat him until he could not even recognize Pikachu.
Ever since Terrance became an Elite Four, Fallarbor Gym had also been remodeled. Even if it was not the most luxurious Gym among the various Gyms at present, it was still a relatively extravagant Gym. Whether in facilities or decoration, no small amount had been invested. Just the different battlefields alone numbered a full five types.
They were Grassy field, Sky field, Standard field, Water field, and Rocky field.
Different fields could be swapped out to face challengers of different styles. At the same time, having multiple backup fields also allowed a substitute field to be used for the match if one field was destroyed in an intense battle. Now, in the battle against Ash, the randomly selected field was Grassy field.
Some areas of the grassland were dark green, while others carried a slight dark yellow tint. From afar, the field looked as though it had been covered with a green carpet. Seeing that this field had been chosen at random, Terrance shrugged. If Ash sent out a Fire Type Pokémon, then this field would be done for. However, this Grassy field had been due for replacement anyway. Even if it was not burned down, in a few days, all the grass would turn dark yellow and lose its color.
“Then let the battle begin.”
This battle was not only being watched from the side by May, Brock, and Max. Even Kotoko had come over to watch, wanting to see just how much Ash was really capable of.
As Terrance and Ash threw out their Poké Balls, a Pidgeot and a Ribombee appeared on the field, both Pokémon flapping their wings as they sized each other up.
“Huh… when did Ash transfer Pidgeot over?” Ash’s choice made Brock pause, somewhat surprised.
In terms of type… he had the advantage! Ash had gotten smarter.
“Pidgeot, huh…” But after seeing the Pokémon Ash sent out, Terrance’s reaction was rather calm. This Ribombee was one of the first Ribombee Terrance had raised. It had evolved under Altaria’s Fairy Aura, and its strength even surpassed the Bug Type Pokémon in the Gym that he had personally raised. This Pidgeot might not necessarily be its match.
As the two looked at each other, Terrance gave Ash no chance to check the Pokédex. Ribombee immediately began dancing within a Silver Wind. Seeing this technique, May was instantly shocked and loudly reminded him, “Ash, stop it quickly!”
The technique Ribombee was now using had been taught by Beautifly. Its effect was somewhere between “Violent air currents: Quiver Dance” and “Wind Domain.” It was more refined than the former, yet it still could not be compared to the “Wind Domain” technique. However, this reduction in power also has its advantages: Ribombee’s body would not be injured, so it does not matter even without the “Source of Stamina” technique.
Under Silver Wind, the efficiency of Quiver Dance was greatly increased. Ribombee’s attack, defense, special attack, special defense, and speed would all increase substantially next. The situation in battle changed in an instant. Terrance gave Ash neither enough time to think nor a chance to check the Pokédex precisely because he wanted to put even greater pressure on him.
Although Ash did not know Ribombee’s current state, May was very familiar with this technique and immediately reminded him in concern.
This was Terrance’s famous technique, the technique that had established his position as a Top Coordinator. How could May possibly not be familiar with it?
Hearing May’s warning, Ash had no time to care about anything else and immediately had Pidgeot flap its wings, stirring up a fierce wind to interfere with and attack Ribombee. However, what Ash had not expected was that Ribombee’s tiny body could actually ignore the fierce wind Pidgeot whipped up, without being affected in the slightest.
“This is bad. When it comes to the use of ‘wind,’ Ash’s Pidgeot is completely inferior to that Ribombee,” Brock said, his expression changing.
At this moment, Ash on the battlefield had fallen into a tough fight. In Pidgeot’s subsequent attacks, it still could not find a chance to hit Ribombee.
Pidgeot was also very fast under Agility, but it was merely fast. As Pidgeot tore out with its sharp claws, the tiny Ribombee could always turn sideways and dodge even more nimbly. In the end, even when the furious Pidgeot used both its claws and wings together to launch attacks, the result still proved one thing.
That was the gap in coordination ability.
“This Pidgeot is certainly well raised, but its coordination of body and speed is an utter mess. It doesn’t know how to control itself…” Kotoko said.
At this level… it would be impossible to pass Fallarbor Gym’s assessment.
Terrance also saw Ash’s urgency and said with a smile, “Ash, if that’s all there is, then it’s my turn to counterattack next.”
This guy Ash… counting on him to train seriously was impossible. What Terrance needed to do was make him expose as many problems as possible in this battle. Only then would Ash carry out targeted special training, and then launch a revenge match against him. Looking back over Ash’s growth, it had almost always followed this pattern.
“Baton Pass!” As soon as he finished speaking, Terrance became serious. Ribombee’s figure flashed within the Silver Wind, and a deep yellow Pokémon took its place, appearing on the field.
The speed of Baton Pass was incomparably fast. Kotoko and the others’ eyes could not even keep up with Ribombee’s relay speed just now. After all, Terrance had already trained Ribombee’s relay technique to perfection. This technique was the core move of these Ribombee!
Ribombee, with their techniques of rapid boosting and rapid relay, would be able to raise the strength of the Fairy Army’s main combat forces by an entire level!
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