130 days.
At least another 130 days would be needed to find out whether Carbink's mutation would succeed.
This gap nearly caused Terrance to collapse. His initial thought was that if Carbink successfully mutated, Diancie would become another major combat asset for him.
During the Champion League campaign, it would be able to play an extremely important tactical role.
However, this 130-day timeframe meant that even if Carbink could successfully mutate, the timing would already be the final stage of the regular season.
With good luck, it might make it in time for one or two regular-season matches. With bad luck, it might not even break out of its cocoon by the time the Elite Four matches arrived.
"Forget it. In the early part of the regular season, I should focus mainly on training Gardevoir, Ninetales, and Pupitar."
Looking at the diamond cocoon, under the current circumstances, Carbink's safety was the most important thing. Whether it could successfully absorb all the Fairy power within the diamond cocoon and undergo mutation had instead become secondary.
No one had ever seen a situation like this before, and Terrance himself didn't know what stages Carbink's mutation would go through.
After some consideration, Terrance placed the diamond cocoon at the summit of Mt. Chimney, entrusting it to Altaria, Arcanine, Castform, and Rotom Pokédex—five Pokémon in total—to guard it.
Terrance's lineup for the next battle would be Gallade, Beautifly, Pupitar, Ninetales, Gardevoir, and Mismagius, so he left behind the Pokémon that needed to learn Sunny Weather technique, using them to observe Carbink's condition over the short term.
With Altaria and Rotom Pokédex constantly monitoring Carbink while he was away, Terrance felt relatively at ease.
In case of any emergencies, Rotom Pokédex's functions allow for quick contact, making it even more useful than Fairy Mark.
Terrance spent the entire day on Mt. Chimney, staying by Carbink's side, hoping to see some kind of turning point.
When nothing came of it, and with the Champion League match drawing near, Terrance had no choice but to leave early, taking with him the six Pokémon that would be competing, along with the Cutiefly, while leaving the other Pokémon behind.
…
"Why did you come along too?"
In Ever Grande City, Terrance walked ahead, with his assistant Sharan following behind. Besides them, there was one more person, Gym apprentice Troy.
"Gym Leader Kotoko got some tickets and let me come observe some real battles."
Troy said, scratching his head.
After entering Fallarbor Gym, Troy's strength had improved very rapidly. Aside from Beedrill, thanks to achieving good results in the Bug-type tournament, he had also received a Bug-type Pokémon Egg as a reward, which hatched into a Heracross.
At present, he was training and nurturing Heracross.
"Don't worry, Mr. Gym Leader, I definitely won't cause any trouble," Troy said, patting his chest in assurance.
"That's not what I'm worried about," Terrance shook his head and looked at Troy. "If you want to become a Bug-type master like Aaron, just watching battles isn't enough. Although you did well in the previous Bug-type tournament, you should also look into why you didn't ultimately take first place. Foundation is one aspect, but I think there are other factors as well."
Aaron was an expert Terrance had once met who specialized in commanding Bug-type Pokémon. He had now become one of Sinnoh's Elite Four. Rising to the pinnacle of the Elite Four with Bug-type Pokémon, he instantly became a prominent figure in Sinnoh.
After Terrance previously introduced Aaron's achievements to Troy, Troy immediately found a goal to strive toward.
"Oh…" Troy lowered his head, slightly stuck out his tongue, and made a silly face, deliberately making sure Terrance didn't see it.
"Hmph, hmph. I used Beedrill's training process as a reference and designed a special training method for my newly captured Heracross. When the time comes, I'll definitely surprise Mr. Terrance."
After being criticized, Troy simply let it go in one ear and out the other. Instead, a competitive spirit welled up inside him, and he resolved that sooner or later, he would defeat Aaron.
Looking at Troy's obedient appearance on the surface, Terrance smiled helplessly to himself. Ever since Troy had integrated into the Gym, his pressure had eased and his youthful nature had come out. Given his age, this was fairly normal.
Troy had outstanding talent in training Bug-type Pokémon. This became increasingly apparent as he was exposed to more knowledge. His progress could already be seen from the fact that, as a rookie Trainer, he had reached the top four in the Bug-type tournament.
His personal style was very distinct, and his training methods were extremely unique. After discovering Troy's talent, Terrance greatly appreciated him and indeed intended to cultivate him further. This was an investment— even if Troy could not become a Top Trainer or a Bug-type master, earning the title of Bug-type expert would be more than enough to repay Fallarbor Gym's efforts.
Compared to nurturing outsiders, Terrance would have preferred for one of the children from the Old Green House to take over the Gym, but he also realized that they were not cut out for it, and their dreams lay elsewhere. So Terrance gave up on that idea. As he became a Contest Master and Fallarbor Gym's status rose to rival that of the Wallace Cup, Terrance let the remaining children go and seek meaningful pursuits of their own, rather than staying confined to the Gym.
"Mr. Terrance, we've arrived at the hotel," Sharan said at this moment.
…
Inside the hotel.
Terrance took a hot shower, washing away the fatigue of traveling. Not long after lying down on the bed, he opened his laptop.
Ever since having Rotom Pokédex as his assistant, Terrance rarely used a computer anymore.
However, with Rotom Pokédex not around at the moment, Terrance could only use this to pass the time.
He first opened a novel he had been following. After savoring the newly updated chapter, Terrance let out a breath. It had once again stopped at a critical point.
This novel, titled"The Legends of Eevee", was a genre-shift work by the well-known Unova female author Shauntal. Why this writer, who excelled at writing physical novels, had started serializing works online was something Terrance didn't know, but the content itself was very interesting. It told the story of an Eevee that could freely evolve and devolve.
Under her pen, this Eevee had a very endearing personality, which only strengthened Terrance's desire to catch an Eevee of his own.
Terrance had loved this author Shauntal's works since he was young. It wasn't until several years later that he learned she was actually one of Unova's Elite Four, a Ghost-type master.
"When I become an Elite Four, I'll challenge her under the banner of interregional exchange and beat her until she updates," Terrance muttered through clenched teeth as he closed the novel, when he was suddenly drawn to a piece of news that popped up.
In the next moment, Terrance, who had been harboring a grudge in his heart, felt his pupils contract as he read the content. A major disaster had struck the Orange Archipelago: the deity of the sea Lugia had appeared, bringing with it ocean currents that caused drastic climate changes. The entire Orange Archipelago was now in chaos, like the end of the world. Numerous media outlets were broadcasting live, and images even showed the figures of the three Legendary Pokémon—Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno.
"Ash and Team Rocket should be in the Orange Archipelago right now…"
"If that's the case… then in the end, things should turn out all right…" As the Orange Archipelago became the focus of intense attention, Terrance silently prayed in his heart.
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