Fallarbor Town.
When Terrance returned here, Assistant Sharan hurried over to his side. With the Elite Four Challenge Competition, such an important match, about to take place, Terrance had suddenly disappeared a few days earlier after getting caught up in an unknown incident, nearly scaring her out of her wits.
“Mr. Terrance, the day after tomorrow is your battle against Elite Four Sidney. Do you need to make any preparations?”
“No need.”
After returning to Fallarbor Town, Terrance immediately began working on granting Beautifly a totem aura. Aside from that, he devoted the rest of his attention to Diancie.
Back at Mt. Chimney, after its mutation, it had single-handedly fought against four Pokémon. Although Gardevoir and the others had only intended to stop Diancie at the time, that performance… was enough to prove Diancie’s extraordinary strength.
It could even be described as a carp leaping through the dragon gate and transforming into a dragon.
And now, having inherited the power of the Diamond Domain, its strength after Mega Evolution far exceeded Terrance’s expectations, something worth thoroughly exploring alongside the Rotom Pokédex.
Unlike the Champion League’s regular season, the Elite Four Challenge Competition attracted massive attention.
As expected, in this year’s Elite Four Challenge Competition, two Trainers successfully advanced: Norman and Terrance.
Mr. Norman of Petalburg Gym remained the same as always, with no intention of challenging for an Elite Four position. That meant the only challenger was Terrance.
As a Trainer who had risen to prominence over the past year, Terrance first gained support from the Pokémon Contest faction, becoming the second Contest Master of the era. Then, under the name of Fallarbor Gym, he established the Fallarbor Scenic Area, making the gym famous throughout the Hoenn region. These achievements had already made Terrance a household name in Hoenn. Especially after defeating Mr. Norman, he was widely regarded as the strongest contender for an Elite Four position.
“Terrance…”
“Brother Terrance…”
“Brother Terrance!”
As Terrance was preparing to leave Fallarbor Town and head to Ever Grande City, Grandma Arlan, who was already quite old and rarely went out, wanted to personally go to Ever Grande City to cheer for him, but Terrance promptly stopped her.
Looking at the children gathered around him, Rina, Ayan, Taiga, Chisana, Scarlet, and Myu, Terrance smiled and shook his head. “Grandma Arlan isn’t in good enough health for long-distance travel right now, so you shouldn’t go either. Stay with her. The Elite Four Challenge Competition will be broadcast live or rebroadcast on various channels. You can watch my match on TV just the same.”
Though reluctant, the children understood Terrance’s reasoning and obediently chose to stay by Grandma Arlan’s side, watching Terrance’s battle from the Old Green House.
“Don’t be so nervous. I’ve already made it past Mr. Norman. In my view, the Elite Four Challenge Competition isn’t fundamentally different from the Champion League.” Terrance laughed, rubbing Taiga’s head. “In that case, I’ll be off.”
“Brother Terrance, you have to become an Elite Four member!”
The children quickly called out.
“Don’t worry.” Terrance waved his hand. At the same time, assistant Sharan took the backpack from him, and the two of them got into a car and headed for Mauville Airport.
At this moment, there were still two people who hadn’t come out to see Terrance off. Kotoko leaned against a wall, and after watching Terrance’s departing figure, she let out a sigh.
Thinking back to the Terrance who had just become a Gym Leader and helped her resolve the knot in her heart, and then comparing him to Terrance who was about to obtain the highest honor for a Trainer, Kotoko felt a surge of emotion. Time really had passed quickly…
“Teacher Kotoko, aren’t you going to watch in person? You can leave the Gym to me.” Just as Kotoko silently watched Terrance leave, Troy, the apprentice at Fallarbor Gym, appeared from somewhere.
“I’m not going. I’ll just wait for the result,” Kotoko replied casually.
At this point, Terrance’s accumulated points in the Champion League were on par with the Elite Four group. And judging from the strength he displayed in his battle with Norman…
“Gym Leader Terrance will win, right?”
“Maybe. He’s always neglecting the Gym to study Fairy Types. Who knows if it was all for today.” Kotoko rolled her eyes. With one Dark-type Elite Four and one Dragon-type Elite Four in Hoenn, she was starting to suspect that Terrance’s shift in focus had been planned all along.
“Uh…” Troy was stunned.
“Then I won’t go either. Ayan and the others aren’t going, and it’d be boring to go alone…”
Meanwhile, on the way to the airport, Terrance sneezed several times in a row, making Sharan immediately ask worriedly, “Mr. Terrance, should you take some cold medicine…?”
“N-No need.” Terrance replied quickly. He suddenly realized that if everyone from the Old Green House wasn’t going to watch in person, then he probably wouldn’t have a support group.
Then again…
“There should still be supporters, though they’ll probably all be strangers… hmm.”
“But that’s better than nothing.” Terrance closed his eyes, intending to rest for a while.
…
…
“Mr. Terrance, Mr. Terrance, something’s wrong.”
While in a meditative state, Terrance heard Sharan’s voice and immediately opened his eyes. “What is it? Why are you so flustered?”
“I received a message from Mr. Raoul Contesta. He asked you to look at this.”
Terrance took the laptop Sharan handed over. The moment he saw the news on the page, his gaze sharpened.
Elite Four Drake retires…
“Elite Four Drake… he…” Terrance clearly hadn’t recovered from the shock. If Drake retired, wouldn’t that mean he could directly advance to an Elite Four position?
The news had been released just two minutes ago, and very few people had seen it yet. After seeing it, Terrance didn’t immediately head to Ever Grande City. Instead, he stopped in Mauville City and contacted Mr. Raoul Contesta.
“Mr. Raoul Contesta, what’s going on?”
“This is the result of a three-way power struggle. In any case, there will be changes to the upcoming Elite Four Challenge Competition. Keep an eye on it, and I’ll inform you as soon as I have more news.”
“I understand.” Terrance sighed softly. It seemed far more complicated than it appeared. After ending the call with Raoul Contesta, he continued reading the news about Elite Four Drake’s retirement.
“Age, huh…”
According to the report, the primary reason given for Drake’s retirement was his age. 58 years old, which was indeed considered elderly in the Trainer world. As the most senior member among the current Elite Four and one of the strongest, his retirement puzzled many but was also understandable to quite a few.
After all, across every region with a Pokémon League, the Elite Four groups were becoming increasingly younger. Older Trainers, due to declining condition, were gradually stepping back from the front lines.
“For me, is this good news?” Terrance pondered.
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