“Not bad.”
The deeper they went into the Super-ancient Pyramid, the more strength Jillian displayed.
Terrance estimated that she was probably not much weaker than Grayson of the Grass Star Style, roughly on the same level, though it was hard to judge for sure without actually battling her.
“Next is the third floor. Can your stamina keep up?”
“No problem. My Pokémon have all achieved unity of body, mind, and spirit. They’ve completely mastered their bodies, so their stamina recovers very quickly.”
As Jillian finished speaking, the two continued forward. Terrance was happy to take it easy. The first seven floors posed little threat to a Trainer of Jillian’s caliber. At the moment, she was still full of fighting spirit, but Terrance knew the real setbacks were yet to come.
During battle, Machamp’s stamina recovery speed was indeed astonishing, which surprised Terrance greatly. He could tell it wasn’t a move. Perhaps it really was the “unity of body, mind, and spirit” Jillian had mentioned. Possessing such a special technique, her confidence was well-founded.
Even so, by the time they reached the deeper parts of the third floor, Jillian was forced to send out two new Pokémon.
Hitmonchan and Primeape—a standard Kanto Region Pokémon lineup.
Three days later, Terrance and Jillian arrived at the seventh floor. That pace was already extremely fast. Back when Terrance had first entered, it had taken him five days just to reach the eighth floor.
Being able to reach the seventh floor in only three days was largely thanks to Terrance’s guidance, which had made Jillian’s progress much smoother. Even so, she was now covered in dust, and both her stamina and energy were beginning to run short.
After three straight days of poor eating, poor drinking, and poor sleep, anyone would feel exhausted. Although Jillian was a capable Trainer, she still had to face the limits of the human body. In the end, she couldn’t hold on, and her condition rapidly deteriorated.
The eighth floor—the floor where Terrance had been forced to stop during his first visit. By the time they arrived here, all six of Jillian’s Pokémon had already been deployed. Facing the suicidal assaults of Pokémon that had mastered Self-Destruct and Explosion, her team’s defensive line completely collapsed.
Amid the chaotic battle, her six Pokémon concentrated their minds and unleashed full-power Focus Punches instantly in their state of body-mind-spirit unity. Even so, they were dragged down by the Weezing group before them, ending up utterly exhausted and poisoned.
“The eighth floor… this is as far as we go.” From being full of vigor to being completely worn out, both Jillian and her Pokémon’s condition had declined drastically. If she had challenged the eighth floor directly, she might have handled it with ease. But the first seven floors had consumed too much of her strength, leaving her own fighting spirit somewhat low.
“An… Antidote.”
After driving away the Weezing group, Jillian’s six Pokémon were already at their limits. Seeing their condition, she hurriedly opened her backpack.
“No need. Leave the rest to me.”
At that moment, Terrance suddenly spoke. Throughout the first seven floors, he had barely made a move. He had simply traveled while training Froakie and Togepi, letting them observe Jillian’s battles at the same time. As he had anticipated, it was already extremely difficult for someone of Jillian’s strength to reach the eighth floor, and indeed, that was the case.
Terrance had already thoroughly explored the first seven floors before, so he hadn’t paid them much attention. But for the next few floors, he intended to clear the path himself.
As Terrance threw out a Poké Ball, Altaria soaring through the sky immediately released the Flame of Life, bathing the six Fighting-type Pokémon in its flames. At the same time, under Mismagius’s illusion skill Hypnosis, the six Pokémon instantly fell into a deep sleep, and their stamina began recovering at a rapid rate.
Visible to the naked eye, the toxins within the Pokémon’s bodies were instantly burned away. Their injuries began to heal, their stamina and mental energy started recovering under the effects of deep sleep, and peaceful expressions appeared on their faces.
Seeing that this mysterious flame and incantation could restore Pokémon so quickly, Jillian found it hard to believe.
“As for what’s next, I’ll take over clearing the way. After these three days, you should be familiar with the environment here by now, right?” Terrance asked.
Terrance had let Jillian take the lead because he wanted her to personally familiarize herself with the environment of the Super-ancient Pyramid. If he had simply guided her through it from the start, it would not have meant much. The impression left on her would never have been as profound as it was now. At the same time, Terrance had also wanted Froakie and Togepi to become thoroughly familiar with the Super-ancient Pyramid during these three days. By watching battle after battle along the way, they had accumulated considerable experience.
“I understand,” Jillian said after a moment of hesitation, her tone somewhat dejected.
“There’s no need to lose confidence. The first time I came here, I also stopped at the eighth floor. Recall your Pokémon. For now, focus on gaining experience. Let’s keep moving forward,” Terrance said.
At the same time, he sent Froakie and Togepi to clear the way, while Mismagius and Gardevoir acted as bodyguards.
Although Froakie and Togepi worked together very well, with their current strength, difficult battles were unavoidable whenever they encountered certain Pokémon within the Super-ancient Pyramid.
However, with the healing moves of Altaria, Gardevoir, and Mismagius supporting them, Terrance had no worries about them getting injured. As a result, their progress was even faster than when Jillian was leading the way.
Watching the coordination between Terrance’s Pokémon, Jillian was left speechless.
She had never imagined that the Super-ancient Pyramid, which she found so troublesome, was merely a place Terrance used to train newly captured Pokémon.
From the eighth floor to the twelfth floor, Terrance took less than two days. For Terrance, this pace was actually somewhat slow. If he wanted to, he could sweep through every floor in a single day. The reason it took so long was that he carefully searched every area, hoping to find Pokémon worth capturing.
At the same time, he was giving Togepi and Froakie more opportunities to gain experience. As for Jillian, she had essentially gotten a free benefit. Following behind Terrance, she gained a very deep understanding of the dangers present on these floors. The next time she came, she would be able to selectively choose suitable training locations.
The twelfth floor was a layer where four different weather environments coexisted. Deserts, dense forests, snowy fields, and rivers could all be found there. Although Terrance failed to find a Pokémon he particularly wanted on this floor, while exploring a dense forest, after dealing with several Grass-type Pokémon, he suddenly made an astonishing discovery.
“This is…”
“Power Herb?” The red herb-like plant before his eyes immediately stunned Terrance.
After Rotom Pokédex scanned it, he was even more surprised to discover that the Power Herb growing on the twelfth floor of the Super-ancient Pyramid was exceptionally old.
Back in Alola, when Altaria had been training to harness natural energy, it had used a plant created by Tapu Bulu that appeared to be a Power Herb.
After eating it, Altaria had been able to draw upon natural energy more easily to strengthen itself.
Later, after analysis by Terrance and Rotom Pokédex, they had confirmed that the red herb created by Tapu Bulu was indeed a Power Herb…
The very same thing now standing before them!
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