Now, Altaria’s strength has greatly increased thanks to its ability to draw upon natural energy!
The 20% boost is calculated on the standard of a Champion’s ace-level strength.
Altaria originally already possessed power comparable to a Champion’s ace Pokémon. If it can now draw on natural energy during battle, one can imagine just how great the advantage would be.
Even against opponents of the same level, if they lack the same foundation, they would absolutely be no match for the current Mega Altaria.
At this moment, Mega Altaria already carried the signs of a Legendary.
“There’s still one issue now, the concentration of natural energy!”
Terrance glanced at the Kee Berry tree beside him and spoke thoughtfully.
These were all created by Tapu Bulu using Grassy Terrain, and they contained extremely dense Fairy energy and life energy. So at present, Altaria was essentially enhancing itself by drawing upon natural energy in an environment where such energy was highly concentrated.
Under these conditions, it could gain a 20% boost in strength, but what if it were in a place where natural energy was scarce?
For example… Ever Grande Stadium.
Would it still have the same level of power then?
Terrance recalled that at Mt. Chimney, the area where Xerneas fought, did not have such dense Fairy or life energy. Yet the natural energy Xerneas drew upon was immensely vast, completely on a different level from Altaria’s current fledgling attempts.
“We’ll need to test it after we return, but my preliminary guess is that the density of the energy in an environment will definitely affect Altaria’s performance,” Terrance said with a troubled expression.
If his guess was correct, then the disadvantage lay in Altaria’s current level of mastery over this technique.
“Back then, Xerneas definitely didn’t display its full strength. Compared like this, Altaria has only just begun in this area.”
But that was normal. Whether it was Xerneas or the guardian deities of Alola’s four islands, each had lived for countless years. Their mastery of their abilities had been honed over long ages. There was no way Altaria could catch up to them overnight.
After seeing Altaria’s performance, Terrance tentatively set a small goal: to enable Altaria to draw upon natural energy and achieve a 20% boost in strength in any environment.
“Tapu Bulu, thank you for today.”
When parting, Terrance and Altaria expressed their gratitude to Tapu Bulu.
That red herb had been the key to helping Altaria take its first step in mastering the technique of “enhancing strength through natural energy.” It had opened a door for Altaria. From here on, Terrance and Altaria only needed to step through that door and continue forward. Moreover, Terrance had already formed some ideas about Altaria’s future improvement methods. As for how far Altaria could go, that would depend on their efforts.
“Bu-lu.”
After glancing at Terrance and the others, Tapu Bulu nodded, then returned to its original spot and dozed off again… leaving Terrance and Altaria at a loss for words.
“Let’s head back. It’s already very late,” Terrance said.
By now, the moonlight had faded, and the night once again blanketed the mountain, accompanied only by faint starlight.
…
Although it was already very late, neither Terrance nor Altaria went to rest immediately.
Missing a few hours of rest, or even not resting for a day or two, had little impact on the now Psychic Terrance or Altaria, who had mastered life energy.
After returning, they continued to study this new ability.
Terrance still had several ideas he hadn’t tried yet, so there was no way he could fall asleep.
Altaria first confirmed Terrance’s initial guess. It tried drawing on natural energy in an ordinary environment, and as expected, the effect was minimal.
Although Fairy energy and life energy exist in every corner of the world, drawing upon natural energy in different environments yields vastly different results, limited by Altaria’s mastery of the technique. This time, Altaria’s strength increased by less than 5% percent…
If this had been before Altaria consumed the red herb, in this environment… it would probably only be able to draw upon a mere trace of natural energy.
“So that’s it! There’s no way Altaria could have gained a method to increase its strength by 20% in just three days… turns out that in a normal environment, Altaria is only at the beginner stage,” Terrance smiled, not too disappointed, because he still had another idea he hadn’t tried yet.
At that moment, the Rotom Pokédex suddenly flew over. Following Terrance’s instructions, it searched for plants similar to the red herb given by Tapu Bulu.
“I suspect that might be a Power Herb, Roto.”
Rotom Pokédex projected a holographic image, displaying the appearance of a Power Herb to Terrance.
Power Herb?
Terrance was slightly taken aback and examined it carefully. Indeed, whether in color or pattern, the red herb given by Tapu Bulu was very similar to a Power Herb. But if there was any difference… it was that the red herb from Tapu Bulu was far more vivid, an almost bewitching shade of red!
“Power Herb has a special enhancement effect on powerful moves that require charging. It can accelerate the charging process for Pokémon, making it a very rare plant, Roto! However, this plant isn’t omnipotent, its effect diminishes over time. Most Power Herbs can only support a Pokémon in using one or two moves. Only some aged Power Herbs can support multiple uses, Roto.”
Rotom Pokédex immediately explained about the Power Herb to Terrance. After hearing this, Terrance said in surprise, “So you’re saying the red herb given by Tapu Bulu is a Power Herb?”
“That’s very possible. The older a Power Herb is, the better its effect, and its color becomes more vivid with age. However, compared to the herb’s images I checked, there hasn’t been any Power Herb older than the one given by Tapu Bulu, Roto.”
“Then it’s possible Tapu Bulu used its ability to accelerate the growth of the Power Herb, causing it to undergo some incredible changes,” Terrance speculated.
Terrance fell into thought. A Power Herb, huh… that was indeed a possibility.
Moves like Solar Beam and Solar Blade require time to gather the power of sunlight before being unleashed. In a sense, they rely on natural energy. Since Power Herb can accelerate the accumulation process, it’s not hard to understand how it could help Altaria draw upon natural energy as well, but…
“I wonder if an ordinary Power Herb could help Altaria… make it easier for it to draw upon natural energy!” Terrance pondered, feeling it might be a bit unreliable.
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