Compared to visiting directly in his capacity as an Elite Four and stating his purpose, Terrance felt that using an intermediary would be a more prudent approach.
Unfortunately, although they were all Dojos of Seven Stars City, relations between the individual Dojos were not particularly harmonious. Most of them were competitors, and they would only unite when they needed to fight for shared interests.
“Rock Style Dojo… I remember they love collecting all sorts of strange stones. Is that what you’re after?” Jillian asked.
Stones?
Before Terrance could nod, Lisia’s eyes suddenly lit up as she thought of one of her Uncle Wallace’s good friends.
“That’s right. I’m planning to visit them next. I just don’t know what kind of personality the leader of Rock Style Dojo has,” Terrance said.
“Rock Style Dojo…” Jillian held her breath, unsure how to answer. After organizing her thoughts, she said helplessly, “Their leader is even older than Uncle Lucky, and his health isn’t very good. Even if you go, you might not get to meet him. Someone else will probably receive you. As for his personality, he’s like a rock—rather stubborn. If he’s unwilling to make an exchange, normal methods probably won’t work. Ahem, of course, this is all what my father told me.”
Jillian hurriedly explained.
“Master Terrance, why don’t we… just challenge their Dojo?”
“There was once a Dojo that took a fancy to a top-quality Water Stone in Rock Style Dojo’s collection. They tried to buy it but failed, so the two Dojos set up an arena and settled the matter through a battle. I think that method is probably more reliable.”
“Mm-hmm…” Lisia nodded.
Just how badly do you two want me to challenge their Dojo?
Terrance’s forehead filled with black lines. It would have been one thing before he became an Elite Four, but now that his status was special, challenging a Dojo over a single stone would be utterly beneath him.
He would just take things one step at a time…
With that thought, Terrance firmly rejected Jillian and Lisia’s instigation.
…
…
Inside Rock Style Dojo, in a training room piled high with rocks, a gray-haired old man sat atop a massive boulder. Around him, numerous pebbles floated in the air, creating a rather magical sight.
Standing before him was a young man. Holding a phone, the man asked with a puzzled expression,
“Teacher, the visitor is an Elite Four from the Hoenn region. It seems his reason for visiting concerns the lunar stone. How should we handle this?”
“Cough… cough… A visitor from afar is still a guest, so we must not neglect him. However, the lunar stone may be the only one left on this planet. We cannot trade it away. It holds extraordinary significance to our Rock Style Dojo. Aside from this, entertain him properly. Do not allow him to find even the slightest fault with our dojo’s hospitality.”
“What if he challenges us to a battle, like those people from Waterfall Style Dojo did back then? Are we supposed to avoid the challenge?”
“He is an Elite Four, so he should be mindful of his status. But if things do reach that point, we will have to make a concession, though there must be certain conditions. Come here… I’ll explain everything clearly.”
After a long silence, the gray-haired old man spoke.
Rock Style Dojo had not yet fallen to the point where it needed to curry favor with a Elite Four. The Seven Stars City’s Dojo Alliance had now become one of the upper-ranking factions within the Indigo League, and its status was likewise considerable.
The Dojo Alliance had been formed under the leadership of five top-tier Dojos in Seven Stars City, and Rock Style Dojo was one of those five.
The Indigo League governed both the Kanto and Johto region. As the headquarters of the Pokémon League, its significance was extraordinary. The fact that the Dojo Alliance could secure a place within it was itself a symbol of its strength.
In truth, if Terrance’s objective had been the same as Waterfall Style Dojo’s back then—an evolutionary stone—Rock Style Dojo would not have cared, no matter how high the stone’s quality was, because such evolutionary stones were not unique. However, a stone brought back from the moon and containing abundant energy might currently be the only one of its kind on this entire planet.
Aside from those two fortunate moon landings, humanity had not successfully landed on the moon again in nearly a decade. Even if another landing succeeded, something like a lunar stone would never end up in the hands of a single Dojo.
Therefore, the leader of Rock Style Dojo was unwilling to let it go. However, nothing was absolute. The prerequisite was sufficient benefit and a situation in which refusal was impossible. An Elite Four had the ability to create such a situation, and the leader understood this very clearly. Thus, after explaining everything to his disciple, the leader of Rock Style Dojo entrusted the entire matter to him.
After leaving Wind Fist Style Dojo, Terrance and Lisia headed to Rock Style Dojo.
Of course, before that, Terrance had already sent a letter requesting a visit and briefly stated that he wished to see the lunar stone.
From this information, it was not difficult for the other party to infer his true objective.
“Lunar stone?”
“What is that?”
In response to Lisia’s questions, Terrance repeated the explanation Steven had given him.
Since she had previously heard from Terrance about the origins of Fairy energy, Lisia immediately made the connection and also believed that this object held great significance for research into Fairy energy.
Rock Style Dojo was quite far from Wind Fist Style Dojo, and the two of them walked for a long time before finally arriving. Because of the letter sent beforehand, before they could even identify themselves, they were recognized by the reception staff who had been waiting outside Rock Style Dojo for quite some time.
“Elite Four Terrance, welcome. I am Ishitaro, the successor of Rock Style Dojo.”
“Hello. I’m very pleased to be here.”
Terrance smiled and shook hands with him. Under Ishitaro’s guidance, Terrance quickly entered Rock Style Dojo. It was larger than Wind Fist Style Dojo, but also much quieter. Seemingly noticing Terrance’s confusion, Ishitaro smiled and said, “Every apprentice in our Dojo has a private training room, so we rarely gather together to train.”
“I see.”
As they spoke, Ishitaro took them directly to the collection room at Terrance’s request. The ceiling of the room was unusual—it was transparent. Inside the collection room, Terrance saw the lunar stone. Sure enough, it looked no different from the photograph. It appeared completely ordinary.
“May I take a picture of it?” Terrance asked.
“As long as it isn’t circulated outside,” Ishitaro replied with a nod.
Once they had agreed, Terrance immediately had the Rotom Pokédex fly out and take a photograph of the lunar stone. Yet this was not merely a simple photograph. Even through the transparent protective case, the Rotom Pokédex rapidly analyzed some of the lunar stone’s composition.
“Mr. Ishitaro…” After the picture was taken, Terrance suddenly changed the subject.
Hearing this, Ishitaro’s heart skipped a beat. He knew the other party was about to reveal his true purpose.
After listening, Ishitaro gave a bitter smile. “How about this, Elite Four Terrance? There’s no need to probe any further. This lunar stone is very important to our Rock Style Dojo. The main issue is that my teacher is unwilling to part with it. It is not impossible for you to obtain it, however. My teacher is very traditional, so the matter can simply be settled through a battle. Of course, even if we lose, Elite Four Terrance, you will still need to pay a certain price before taking the lunar stone away.”
The lunar stone was rare, but Ishitaro knew that Rock Style Dojo had yet to discover any use for it. Although his teacher was unwilling to let it go, Ishitaro himself did not care much. He believed that exchanging an object whose value they could not uncover for tangible benefits would be more advantageous to the Dojo’s development.
Terrance nodded in understanding. By winning the battle, he would earn an opportunity for a fair trade.
“Will I be battling you, or…” Terrance asked.
“No, no, no…” Ishitaro hurriedly shook his head. “Elite Four Terrance, please don’t joke. How could I possibly be your opponent? My teacher is also advanced in age and is almost certainly unable to battle. What we mean is to let the younger generation settle it. I will send out my second disciple. He is currently the most outstanding apprentice in the Dojo and is thirteen years old. On your side, you may have your own disciple or one of Fallarbor Gym’s apprentices accept the challenge, as long as they are no older than fourteen.”
A disciple? A Gym apprentice?
Terrance froze upon hearing this. He did not have anything like that. The only Gym apprentice, Troy, was still too weak. Sending him would simply be delivering a free victory…
This method had been devised by the elderly Dojo leader, who was unwilling to hand over the lunar stone. Since they could not defeat Terrance himself, they would let the younger generation settle the matter instead. Rock Style Dojo was extremely confident in the strength of its apprentices.
No older than fourteen…
Terrance racked his brains, but when he saw Lisia beside him, he suddenly smiled.
“Agreed.”
With that, he pulled Lisia over and said, “Then I’ll leave it to my disciple. Lisia, your Uncle Steven also likes this stone very much, so do your best.”
Lisia: “???”
Lisia possessed strength that overwhelmed Top Coordinators, was the niece of Contest Master Wallace, and was a genius who had mastered Mega Evolution. Let’s see what Rock Style Dojo could possibly use to turn the tables.
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