Terrance had come from Hoenn to Rota to discuss establishing Pokémon Contest here with Queen Ilene. Although it sounded like serious business, in reality it was merely a task Terrance had conveniently taken on in order to come here.
His main objective was to handle some personal matters—namely, helping Albus obtain more advanced methods of using Aura power, and something related to improving his constitution.
Now that this matter had temporarily found some direction, Terrance’s goal could be considered accomplished. All that remained was to wait for the results.
After becoming an Elite Four, he had spent quite some time investigating Team Magma and Team Aqua across various regions. This trip to Kanto could also be considered a rare vacation for Terrance, and there was still some time before this “vacation” ended.
“When I get back, I’ll have to thank Elite Four Glacia.”
If Glacia hadn’t been worried that the newly appointed Terrance might have trouble adapting to the Elite Four position, then Terrance might have had to wait a very long time before dealing with his personal matters. It was precisely because Glacia was helping cover things over there that Terrance finally had a chance to relax.
“Once the matter at Cinnabar Island is settled, I’ll return to Hoenn.”
After returning from the Tree of Beginning, Terrance received an invitation from Blaine. Back when he was helping Altaria train its Flame of Life, Terrance had stayed at the Cinnabar Gym for a long time, during which Blaine had provided considerable assistance. Before leaving, the two had made an agreement—once Blaine’s Moltres returned, Altaria would battle it using Flame of Life. Although a long time had passed, Terrance had not forgotten that promise.
Declining Queen Ilene’s attempt to persuade him to stay, Terrance had already decided to leave. Ash was the same. With the Silver Conference approaching, he also planned to depart from here.
The only ones remaining behind were the duo of Albus and Fujiki. Albus needed to research Sir Aaron’s staff and gloves, as well as the companion rock of the Time Flower, while Fujiki was staying to accompany him.
Naturally, Terrance didn’t have the time to wait here for Albus to finish his research. He only cared about the results. Once Albus obtained any findings, he would immediately send the Aura’s information to Terrance.
“Brother Terrance, you’re going to Cinnabar Island, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you tell me what you’re going there for?”
At the moment of parting, Ash suddenly asked.
“Sure. I previously made an agreement to battle Gym Leader Blaine. This time, I’m going to fulfill that promise,” Terrance thought for a moment before answering.
“Just as I thought!!”
Ash instantly clenched his fists and grinned. He had already felt that Terrance’s trip this time would definitely be interesting. Sure enough, just as expected…
“Brother Terrance, if you don’t mind, let us come with you. I also want to watch the battle.”
“Uh, I don’t mind.” Seeing the anticipation on Ash’s face, Terrance nodded.
However, at that moment, Brock angrily pulled out a notebook and roared at Ash, “Don’t tell me you decided to leave with Terrance just to avoid this training plan?”
The training schedule Brock pulled out was densely packed with training objectives for several days. Upon seeing it, Ash’s eyelids twitched.
“That’s not it.”
“And besides… being able to watch an Elite Four master battle is also a form of training.”
“Your words have zero credibility. After the last training session, who was it that said they’d never train again?” Brock’s face darkened. Clearly, it had been Ash who begged him to make a training schedule, yet after Brock carefully designed one according to Ash’s Pokémon situation, Ash hadn’t even persisted for three days. This truly infuriated Brock.
“Forget it, Brock, just stop worrying about this guy already. Anyway, if he loses at the Silver Conference, that’s his own problem,” Misty said helplessly.
Seeing the three goofballs, Terrance immediately burst into laughter. “A training schedule, huh? Ash, you’d better carry it out properly. Brock is an excellent Breeder, so don’t waste all the effort he put into it.”
“Of course I know that… but…” Ash scratched his cheek vigorously.
“How about this, after this trip to Cinnabar Island, you’ll properly follow Brock’s training schedule,” Terrance said.
“Okay, it’s settled then.” Ash nodded rapidly.
Seeing how spineless Ash was acting, Brock finally let out a long sigh. “Fine, fine, do whatever you want. But afterward, you absolutely have to train seriously. The Silver Conference is starting soon after all.”
“Hehe, I know what I’m doing.” Ash struck a victory pose.
Before Terrance and Ash’s group departed, although Queen Ilene was reluctant to let Ash leave, she had already experienced Ash’s stubborn personality and knew no amount of persuasion would keep him here. In the end, she could only hold a farewell ball to send off Terrance and Ash, as a way of expressing how much importance she placed on them.
The next day, Terrance, Brock, Ash, and Misty left together.
Their destination was Vermilion City beyond Pewter City, where there was a ship capable of reaching Cinnabar Island.
“Waaah~~”
After leaving Rota, Ash’s heart immediately became restless again, eager to start battling.
This time, Ash’s request was even more outrageous—he actually wanted to challenge Terrance’s ace, Altaria.
Brock and Misty looked at Ash as if they had seen a ghost. Continuously requesting battles against an Elite Four was obviously impossible no matter how one thought about it. However, what left Brock and Misty speechless was that Terrance seemed very willing to accept Ash’s challenge, and even seriously began giving Ash pointers.
“Mr. Terrance treats Ash way too well,” Misty said powerlessly.
“There’s no helping it… Maybe Ash has some kind of spark that Terrance appreciates.” Brock shrugged.
A guiding battle from an Elite Four, Ash probably had no idea just how luxurious the treatment he was receiving really was.
By the roadside, a “great battle” unfolded between Altaria and Pikachu. Naturally, Altaria didn’t need to Mega Evolve to battle Ash. On a whim, Terrance began having Altaria practice a special technique it had learned from Wallace’s niece Lisia’s Altaria—using Fairy energy together with Cotton Guard to perform a melody.
“Pikachu, Thunderbolt!!”
Beside the road, Ash spun his cap around and waved his hand as he gave the command. However, Pikachu’s powerful Thunderbolt was directly blocked by the sea of clouds surrounding Altaria, completely unable to threaten it.
“A soft attack like that won’t work. The energy of Thunderbolt is too dispersed. It can’t pierce through Altaria’s Cotton Guard.”
After observing the attack, Terrance gave his instructions. Moments later, as Altaria’s claws guided Fairy energy into contact with its cotton feathers, invisible sound waves began spreading outward, performing a beautiful melody.
As soon as the pleasant sound rang out, Pikachu immediately froze. After being struck by the mental impact of various moves within the sound waves, it collapsed, lying belly-up with vacant eyes…
This move… was indeed far too lethal against Pikachu.
Meanwhile, when the sound of Altaria’s performance spread outward, a truck on the main road not far from the trail suddenly slammed on its brakes and stopped. Immediately afterward, a woman with smooth flaxen long hair and amber-colored eyes stepped out.
“This sound… could it be…”
Looking toward the direction where Terrance and Ash were battling, the woman’s expression continuously changed as she began muttering to herself.
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