“Here, I’ll return the Dragon Orb to you. From now on, you don’t have to return to the Poké Ball. Stay in the backpack and try to fully convert the Dragon Orb into your own possession as quickly as possible.”
“Only by converting the energy into your own can the Dragon Orb be considered yours forever,” added Terrance.
“Castformmm~~~” Castform nodded solemnly, observing the small amount of energy. It understood the importance of this energy for itself. This was the final opportunity for strengthening itself. If this energy dissipated, progressing again would be difficult.
“Also… although absorbing the energy within the Dragon Orb is your current priority, I will also guide your training in moves like ‘Hydro Pump’ from now on.”
“While its destructive power is sufficient, there are still some adjustments that can be made to better suit yourself.”
Terrance then proceeded to analyze Castform’s situation. Due to the nature of its species, Castform, like Beautifly, finds it challenging to achieve significant improvement solely through self-training. This was a frustrating reality.
While Beautifly has put in great effort to hone its mastery of its moves, with the growth of Altaria and Mismagius, Terrance had started to worry that Beautifly may not be able to keep pace with their rate of growth.
For Castform, there were two paths to further enhancing its strength. One was to continue strengthening its proficiency in rainy day, training Castform solely as a Water Type Pokémon. However, Terrance disliked this approach.
The second path involved helping Castform in its control of Hail and Sunny Day, ensuring its proficiency was not inferior to rainy day. If successful, Castform would undoubtedly be able to handle most situations and stand out on its own.
Terrance leaned towards the second path, despite its significant obstacles. Firstly, controlling rainy day relied on the Dragon Orb’s energy from Dragonair, which was an extraordinary opportunity in itself. Replicating this in Sunny Day and Hail…..is quite difficult.
Secondly, solely controlling rainy day will deplete Castform’s stamina entirely. If it wants to become adept at transitioning between three weather conditions, it would undoubtedly further increase the burden on Castform.
Although Castform appears to be impressive, it conceals a multitude of troubles behind the scenes. Addressing each issue one by one falls to Terrance, the Trainer, but the process will definitely not be easy.
“While resources are essential for nurturing Pokémon like Altaria, Mismagius, and Growlithe, time and accumulated training is even more crucial. However, Beautifly and Castform rely solely on resource accumulation.”
“Fortunately, Castform’s proficiency in rainy day is nearly complete. Now, I just need to fully develop its rainy day abilities and consider other aspects gradually.”
After a leisurely journey, Terrance finally reached Fortree City. Just as he entered the Pokémon Center and rested for a brief moment, he received a message from Steven.
The message roughly stated that Terrance was too slow. Steven had already finished his work, but Terrance had not reached the Weather Institute yet.
Seeing the message, Terrance chuckled. It’s good to know he didn’t arrive before Steven.
“Is that you, Steven? I’ve arrived at Fortree City. Faced a bit of trouble on the way, but everything went smoothly,” Terrance replied.
After stretching, Terrance rested for a while before setting off towards the Weather Institute with his Pokémon.
Terrance remembered the Weather Institute well; it seemed to be the headquarters for all weather stations and climate monitoring facilities in the Hoenn region, responsible for major research on the weather of the Hoenn region. Additionally, with this as the foundation, it conducts research on machines capable of controlling weather.
In the Hoenn region, with its many islands, frequent rainfall, and occasional droughts, residents often faced weather-related challenges. The Weather Institute was established as a research base to address these natural disasters.
Even before reaching the Laboratory, Terrance spotted Steven from a distance. It seemed Steven couldn’t wait and had come to meet Terrance in advance.
“It’s been a while,” greeted Terrance.
“It indeed has been a while,” replied Steven with a wry smile. “Did you bring the meteorite? Let’s hurry over.”
Terrance’s mouth twitched as the first thing Steven mentioned was the meteorite.
“Alright, let’s go,” Terrance shrugged helplessly. Based on their previous interactions, if the conversation didn’t involve stones, Steven would maintain a humble gentlemanly demeanor. However, the moment it was related to stones, he would transform into a different person. Though he never lost his manners, there was always a strange feeling about it.
“Oh, by the way, why did I have to come to the Weather Institute for the research on the meteorite? Is there any connection?” Terrance inquired.
Steven explained, “Yes, remember the legend I told you about last time? Hoenn’s formation is related to Groudon and Kyogre, so the region’s weather is not stable. To change this situation, the Weather Institute has collected a lot of information about Super-ancient Pokémon.”
“Although most of it pertains to Groudon and Kyogre, due to the connection between Rayquaza and these two Pokémon, there are also quite a few records.”
“If there’s anywhere in Hoenn that records the most about Rayquaza…..I think, besides the museum in Sootopolis City, it should be the Weather Institute.”
“Most importantly, our family’s company holds shares here, and one of my elders is also here… and coupled with numerous research facilities, this place should be the best choice,” Steven added with a bitter smile.
As Steven and Terrance approached the Weather Institute, the temperature around them suddenly dropped, leaving Terrance bewildered as he looked up to see snowflakes drifting down from the sky.
“What’s happening?” Terrance was puzzled. It wasn’t winter in Hoenn right now, was it?
“It’s artificial snow,” Steven explained. “We’ve arrived. It seems the researchers at the Weather Institute are testing their machine again.”
“Machine?” Terrance queried.
“Yes, a machine that can artificially change the climate… They’re probably recording data, something they do almost every day. That’s why the Laboratory is located outside the city. Constant weather changes would upset the residents,” Steven clarified.
“I see,” Terrance nodded.
Upon Steven and Terrance’s arrival, they caught the attention of the researchers in white lab coats at the Laboratory. One of them hurried over upon seeing them. “Mr. Steven, you’re back.”
“Mr. Bart, sorry to interrupt your experiment. Is Professor Lucci around?” Steven inquired.
“I barely managed to keep him here. If it weren’t for hearing that you had something to discuss, Professor might have left already…” Bart smiled wryly.
Terrance stood aside, observing. This Professor Lucci should be the elder mentioned by Steven. It seemed he held quite a status among the researchers, which explained why Steven brought him here.
“Ah… and who is this?” Bart looked at Terrance.
Terrance smiled and exchanged greetings. After introducing themselves to each other, they headed towards the Laboratory.
As they entered the Laboratory, Steven didn’t forget to tell Terrance a little about it: “This Laboratory is managed by two Hoenn professors and a dozen or so main researchers. In addition to them, there are several assistants. While there are not many people, each person possesses a high level of expertise in their respective fields.”
“What are these fields?” Terrance asked. He had mostly encountered researchers related to Pokémon fields, so encountering those researching technology was a first for him.
“There’s quite a variety,” Steven began to explain.
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