Terrance didn't sleep all night.
He kept a constant eye on the internet, following the situation in the Orange Archipelago.
Fortunately, everything seemed to end safely, with no casualties, which finally let Terrance breathe a sigh of relief… As long as no one was hurt, that was good.
Terrance remembered that this incident seemed to have a main culprit, but they should have already been arrested by now.
Still, compared to the Acapulco incident, this disaster was even more severe, pushing Terrance's sense of crisis to the extreme.
That Ash… he would soon head to the Johto region, and then come to Hoenn.
By then, all kinds of disasters would follow one after another, which is definitely not anything good.
Thinking of this, Terrance sighed. At the same time, his mobile suddenly rang. When he looked at it, it was actually Teacher Julian from Crown Academy far away.
"A Togepi with a very interesting personality wandered into Crown Academy and has turned the place upside down. I think you'd be interested in this special Fairy-type Pokémon."
Seeing the message, Terrance's eyes lit up. Teacher Julian knew his tastes well. Ordinary Pokémon would never catch Terrance's interest…
The academy had actually thought of him, which made Terrance guess that this Togepi wouldn't be simple. Definitely not an easy one to deal with.
"Mr. Terrance, breakfast is ready."
Just after he quickly replied to Teacher Julian to express his interest, voices came from outside the room not long after. It was Sharan reminding him. Terrance answered back, rubbed his eyes, and although he hadn't slept all night, a short meditation would be enough to restore his energy. As for the Togepi, he planned to learn more about it after the battle.
This time, his opponent was a Trainer with three years of experience competing in the Champion League. Judging from past results, they couldn't really be considered a strong enemy.
After washing his face and eating lunch, Terrance was led to the Ever Grande Stadium by Sharan.
After a while, the car stopped. Sharan got out first and opened the door for Terrance, which made him feel a bit awkward.
"Why does it feel like I'm a disabled person…" Terrance kept his expression unchanged, though he felt strangely uncomfortable inside.
Before long, however, his attention was fully drawn to the Champion League. Compared to his first appearance, the lineup of spectators this time wasn't nearly as luxurious.
Two Elite Four and one Champion had come to watch before only because it was Terrance's debut in the Champion League. For the next dozen matches, it was impossible for them to always spare the time.
Terrance was actually relieved by this. If possible, he'd much rather have no audience at all.
…
All Champion League arenas used a Standard Terrain, with no terrain variations. As Terrance stepped into the venue, he immediately saw his opponent, a dark-skinned young man.
Terrance's second match in the Champion League: Contest Master Terrance versus monster hunter Si'en.
Facing the formidable Terrance, Si'en didn't dare to be careless and sent out a well-balanced Snorlax as his first Pokemon.
On Terrance's side, he sent out Pupitar.
The massive Snorlax entered the field, instantly causing the ground to shake. The opponent truly lived up to the title of monster hunter. With such a heavyweight foe, Pupitar was clearly in for a hard fight.
With a wave of Terrance's hand, Pupitar's sandstorm swept forward, but to everyone's surprise, the opponent directly pushed through with brute force. The sandstorm Pupitar had gathered was scattered by Snorlax's sheer strength!
"Such incredible power." Terrance frowned slightly. The opponent's fighting style was indeed as fierce as the records had described. It was a pity that Arcanine wouldn't be taking the field, or else there would have been quite a spectacle to watch.
Facing the charging Snorlax, Pupitar in extreme-light mode lightly sprang away, dodging with ease. Its agility was far beyond that of its opponent. But in the next moment, Snorlax suddenly stopped, and an upward Brick Break collided directly with the falling Pupitar.
Iron Defense, Bulldoze!
In that instant, under Terrance's command, Pupitar's entire body activated Iron Defense, entering extreme-heavy mode, unleashing a clumsiness and power completely opposite to its previous agility, and instantly tangled with Snorlax.
"No good, its strength still doesn't measure up to this Snorlax."
As fists and stomps collided on the battlefield, terrifying shockwaves were kicked up. Pupitar was blasted away by the force, while Snorlax slid a long distance across the field before finally coming to a stop.
"Pupitar hasn't evolved yet, its full potential hasn't been completely unleashed. Compared to these Champion League contestants, there's still a clear gap."
Lost in thought, Terrance watched as the two Pokémon collided once more. Relying on the light and heavy modes, Pupitar continuously switched between agility and power, barely managing to contend with the immensely strong Snorlax. In the end, during a full-force clash, both Pokémon lost their ability to battle at the same time.
You did well, Pupitar.
After recalling Pupitar, Terrance paused slightly. He had originally planned to get in a few more real battles so Pupitar could gain experience, but it seemed he had underestimated his opponent. Being able to barely trade one for one was largely thanks to the special light and heavy modes; the incomplete sandstorm had practically played no role at all.
Some spectators who had watched Terrance's first match were puzzled. "First Kirlia, then Pupitar, why does Master Terrance keep sending out Pokémon that haven't even fully evolved? Where are his main Pokemon?"
"Could it be that he's using the Champion League to train new core members, building strength through battle?"
If Terrance knew what the audience was thinking, he would definitely shout that they were absolutely right.
"I'll leave it to you, Ninetales."
With the first exchange over, Terrance glanced at his opponent and sent out the snow-white Ninetales. In the very next moment, the temperature across the entire field plummeted. Snow Warning activated instantly, countless snowflakes swirling around Ninetales and plunging Si'en, who had sent out another monster, Nidoking, into trouble.
"So this is your power-based style?" Terrance thought. Ninetales whipped up endless ice and snow as a Blizzard rapidly took shape, its momentum overwhelming.
Facing this terrifying Blizzard, Nidoking felt immense pressure. Its Iron Tail, packed with tremendous force, swept out in an instant.
As Iron Tail and Blizzard collided, the wind and snow engulfed Nidoking. At the same time, driven by the massive power of Iron Tail, countless chunks of ice and snow were whipped back like cannonballs, shooting toward Ninetales like bullets.
However, such a powerful sweep meant nothing in Ninetales' eyes. In the next second, the ice and snow returned to its control once more. Instead, Nidoking was nearly frozen by the frigid energy.
"Poison…?" Watching the suspended ice and snow gradually take on a purplish hue, Terrance looked toward Nidoking's tail. Beneath the metallic sheen, faint traces of purple could be seen…
Fortunately, Ninetales had absolute control over ice and snow, and the opponent's attempt failed.
Before Pupitar evolved, Ninetales was on an entirely different level of combat power. Ninetales was already extremely close to the top tier, just one step short. Based on the information Terrance had gathered, if Si'en hadn't improved, then only his ace Pokémon, Aggron, could pose a real threat of defeating Ninetales.
After two or three exchanges, Nidoking was completely frozen. Forced to switch Pokémon, the opponent sent out a Nidoqueen.
The opponent's strategy remained the same, using poison to support overwhelming power, but Ninetales' mastery over ice and snow was no joke, and the opponent had very few chances to get close.
Under Snowy Weather, a spear formed from ice and snow clashed with the opponent's Poison Jab. Seeing Nidoqueen pinned to the ground and frozen together with the terrain, the referee once again declared Ninetales the winner, and the match entered the halftime break.
"Ninetales, are you okay?" Taking advantage of the break, Terrance gave Ninetales a brief massage. He could sense its fatigue, still very slight, but not a good sign. Although the opponent was weaker than Ninetales, Ninetales still couldn't achieve victory with minimal consumption.
"Nine~tales!" Ninetales shook its head, signaling there was no need to worry.
As the second half began, the opponent finally couldn't hold back and sent out his ace Pokémon, Aggron. At this moment, Terrance's Ninetales had recovered quite a bit. Across two battles, it had only been hit once through the ice and snow barrier, and its stamina was still plentiful.
This Aggron's overall constitution was nearly on par with Ninetales', with even greater strength, and it held an absolute advantage in type. Facing such an opponent, even if Ninetales was in peak condition, Terrance didn't dare to be careless.
Aside from psychic communication through the Fairy Mark, he used almost every method at his disposal. Ninetales also fought with everything it had, even deploying simplified combo moves based on the situation. Even so, it still couldn't defeat the opponent. In the end, Ninetales fell, leaving Aggron severely injured.
"Gardevoir?" In the next moment, seeing Terrance recall Ninetales and send out Gardevoir—another Pokémon with an unfavorable type—many people showed looks of surprise. Troy in the stands was no exception.
"What is the Gym Leader trying to do?"
"Fighting against unfavorable matchups is also a form of training." Holding this purpose in mind, Terrance continued the battle. In the future, he would face many more situations with unfavorable types, so it was better to challenge them early. After all, he hadn't neglected reverse-type training; Ninetales being able to heavily injure the opponent despite its disadvantage owed a lot to targeted training.
After evolving, Gardevoir's overall strength was slightly superior to Ninetales'. Under the suppression of its powerful psychic power, the heavily injured Aggron had no ability to resist and lost its fighting capability, without Gardevoir even needing to display any tactics.
Next, the opponent sent out his remaining two Pokémon one after another, but they were even less of a match for Gardevoir. As Terrance's side smashed through the opponents, Terrance's second Champion League match was ultimately declared a 3-vs-6 victory.
"The time… only such a small amount has passed?" Troy checked the time, never expecting the battle between the two to end so quickly. Thinking it over, he realized there hadn't been a single wasted movement in either side's Pokémon moves—every action was taken with the goal of defeating the opponent….. As advantages snowballed, the battle's tempo accelerated instantly, and the Pokémon clashes were a feast for the eyes.
…
"Mr. Terrance, your third match is in twelve days. Do you have any plans?"
As Terrance left Ever Grande Stadium, his assistant Sharan immediately followed and asked.
"First, we're going to the desert. Then help me book a ticket to the Sinnoh region, I received some interesting news before the match…"
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