As the Ever Grande Conference approached, Contestants gathered in Ever Grande City, waiting for the conference to begin.
Compared to the Elite Four succession battle, this kind of competition was much more “people-friendly.” People from basically every social class could understand what they were watching, so the atmosphere was far livelier. More importantly, the Ever Grande Conference lasted much longer, which was the main reason its popularity could be maintained.
“There probably won’t be any suspense about this year’s Champion, right?”
In an office at Ever Grande Stadium, after looking through the list of seeded contestants, Terrance spoke with little interest.
With Albus participating, just sending out either Darkrai or Lucario alone would be enough to sweep through every opponent.
The strength of those two Pokémon was top-tier even within the Champion League. Using them against contestants participating in the Ever Grande Conference was basically bullying children.
“Say, the contestant randomly selected for the exhibition match won’t be him, right? What if I lose?”
Terrance suddenly spoke up. He was already planning to send Togepi into battle, and if his opponent turned out to be Albus and he pulled out Darkrai, Terrance really would have nowhere to complain.
“It won’t happen. Mr. Albus is a candidate for Champion, the competition organizers would never arrange for a contestant like him to fight you in an exhibition battle.” Assistant Sharan smiled slightly.
“That’s good then. Though even if it were him, it wouldn’t matter. As long as I’m informed beforehand, I’d just need to switch Pokémon.” Terrance thought for a moment before speaking. “I’ll go see him. Since there’s no work right now, it’s the perfect chance to catch up.”
The last time he saw Albus had been half a year ago. After six months, his health should have recovered even further…
Contestant Village, Ever Grande City.
After disguising himself, Terrance came here alone, then directly searched according to the room number Sharan provided. What surprised Terrance, however, was that not only was Albus not properly resting, he also wasn’t training overtime; instead, he was chatting and bragging with a stranger.
“A loss is a loss, you’ve gotta accept it hahaha.” Albus laughed loudly as he patted the opposing Trainer on the shoulder.
Clearly, he had just battled the other party.
“I… I’ll definitely win in the upcoming matches.”
The young Trainer gritted his teeth, especially after seeing Albus’s punchable expression, which only worsened his mood.
“Impossible. In this world, no one who’s been defeated by me has ever gone on to beat me.” Albus said confidently.
“What a braggart.”
“That’s not bragging. But if I really had to say… there is one person. Though that was because of some special circumstances. Sooner or later, I’ll win back.” Albus thought for a moment and decided to be a bit more low-key, but the opposing Trainer still looked at him like he was staring at a patient.
Listening to the childish conversation between the two, Terrance even started doubting Albus’s mental age. Sure enough, a leopard can’t change its spots. Despite being a veteran Trainer and an Aura user, he was still this childish. Seriously, what was wrong with him?
“I’ll wait for you to win back.”
Interrupting directly, Terrance walked out from the shadows. His sudden appearance instantly startled the two, especially Albus, who looked as though he’d seen a ghost.
Even though he hadn’t used Aura power, his perception was still first-rate. For Terrance to appear so silently and without warning really challenged his nerves.
After arriving in front of Albus, Terrance directly removed his mask and hat, then slowly said, “Your perception has regressed?”
Another stab to the heart.
“You…you…” Albus raised his hand and incredulously sensed the psychic power on Terrance’s body, somewhat stunned by the extent of Terrance’s psychic power growth.
In just a few short years, he had gone from a rookie to a true Psychic. What kind of monstrous genius was this?
If Albus was merely shocked, then the Trainer beside him was practically staring with his eyes bulging out. Ever since Terrance ascended to the position of Elite Four, information about him had spread across the Hoenn region in overwhelming fashion through all kinds of media. Very few Trainers in their own region failed to recognize their Elite Four, and this Trainer clearly recognized Terrance. Excited, he carefully walked over and asked:
“Could it be that you’re Elite Four Terrance?”
“Shh… keep your voice down.” Terrance replied softly.
…
…
After spending some time dealing with the outsider, Terrance and Albus found a quiet place to talk.
“Where’s Fujiki?”
Seeing nobody beside Albus, Terrance asked curiously.
“Uh… we had an argument. Right now, she’s probably somewhere else in Ever Grande City.” Albus helplessly waved his hand and said, “But speaking of which, when did you become capable of materializing psychic power? You used that method to conceal your presence just now, didn’t you?”
“Compared to that…” Terrance glanced at Albus’s hand.
It was a white glove embedded with a strange ore. Though it looked rather odd on the surface, most people normally wouldn’t think much of it. However, Terrance had clearly sensed a special fluctuation from it just now.
That fluctuation… was Aura power.
“Compared to my psychic power, shouldn’t you explain why you’ve started using Aura power again?” Terrance said scrutinizingly. Given Albus’s physical condition, even the doctors had concluded that he could no longer use Aura power. Yet now Albus had regained Aura… putting aside how he regained it, what Terrance was confused about was his physical condition.
“It’s fine, I’m not abusing it. Besides, sensing Aura power is as indispensable to me as breathing. Suddenly losing my perception of it would make me feel terrible, so don’t worry.” Albus smiled. “So, what do you think? I came up with this while traveling through Cameran Palace and seeing certain things there. As long as this ore is used as a medium, anyone can sense Aura. Of course, the effects vary depending on the amount of Aura and one’s talent.”
Taking off the glove, Albus handed it to Terrance and grinned. “I collected enough of this ore to make three sets. Want to give it a try?”
“I don’t think I possess Aura talent.” Terrance shook his head after hearing that.
“That’s not necessarily true. Even without talent, Aura power can still subtly strengthen your physique and psychic power over time. Otherwise I wouldn’t keep wearing this thing all the time. I’m telling you now, if you don’t want it, I’ll give it to someone else.”
“I want it.” Terrance’s eyelid twitched. Wasn’t he just being polite? Why did it turn into a threat?
“But speaking of which, I thought you already knew I had regained Aura…” Albus suddenly said.
“Why do you say that?”
“These gloves may seem pretty good, but their use is actually pretty limited. Even so, this kind of ore is extremely rare. Even after searching with all my strength, I only managed to make three gloves… Aren’t you curious where the third glove went?” Albus said.
Since Terrance hadn’t known beforehand that he had regained Aura power, then he probably also didn’t know that he had gifted an Aura glove to Ash…
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