Gallade kept its strength greatly restrained during the entire battle.
Hone its techniques!
That was the intention of both Terrance and Gallade.
As Gallade grew to where it is now, it had learned many blade moves; from the initial Slash, to Close Combat, Leaf Blade, Night Slash, Fury Cutter, Aerial Ace, and Psycho Cut, which is executed by using the meditation method to solidify its psychic power onto its blade. As Gallade became more powerful, it found mastering these blade moves increasingly easier.
At present, the seven types of slashing moves Gallade demonstrated in battle mainly relied on direct slashes. The more advanced ones included the "Iai technique" and the "Splitting Waterfall" technique.
Thanks to previous solo training and refinement, Gallade was already capable of perfectly transforming the seven types of slashing moves, meaning it can seamlessly transition between the types of its slashing moves.
However, that wasn't Terrance's training goal.
What he wanted Gallade to achieve was a complete sword style that fused all seven slashing moves, with "Teleport," "Splitting Waterfall," and "Iai technique" as the core, a style capable of handling all sorts of situations!
To make slashing no longer just a single-mode attack, but a versatile offensive method that could adapt to any situation and still deliver a decisive blow. It's a vast system.
Terrance's goal was to turn simplicity into complexity.
In Terrance's words, simplifying complexity is one kind of mastery, but turning simplicity into complexity is another path. For Gallade, its journey is far from over. Relying on a single slashing technique limits it to handling only one type of scenario. As shown in the battle with Ash, once an opponent sees through its attack method and has the strength to counter it, then even with Teleport, Gallade would struggle to face opponents of the same level multiple times and still maintain victory.
Establishing a sword style system that could deal with all kinds of scenarios would make Gallade's combat style much less one-dimensional. Such a transformation would greatly boost its strength as well!
Whoosh!
With a single draw-slash, Gallade sent Absol flying, who had tried to use the Bite move, knocking it out instantly.
"As expected, it's still too one-dimensional." It wasn't just Gallade. Terrance had also been pondering what Gallade's sword style should ultimately become.
Even the Iaido techniques, when executed by Gallade, followed a fixed trajectory.
Though its speed and power made the Iai technique seem formidable, Terrance knew this technique might work the first time, possibly catching the opponent off guard. But by the second or third match, or if the opponent anticipated it beforehand, Gallade would have nothing else to rely on. Its attacking style was far less diverse compared to Castform or Beautifly.
So, if Gallade wished to face powerful opponents, it had to master more types of attack modes.
After defeating Astrid, Terrance received congratulations from many spectators and was provided Baron's white cape by a maid.
At this moment, Terrance officially held the title of Baron within the Battle Chateau.
"I am Baron Terrance. Is there any knight willing to battle?" Just after finishing the match, Terrance immediately issued a battle invitation.
The next moment, a pair of white gloves was tossed over. Terrance bent down to pick them up and looked toward the boy who had thrown them. This marked the confirmation of the next battle.
For the following days, Terrance remained at the Battle Chateau, engaging in seemingly endless battles.
At Terrance's suggestion, Gallade used only the Iaido techniques during this period, intending to refine it into a complete system first.
"You must understand, your next training task is not to overpower your opponent with sheer strength, but to use your psychic power to observe and identify the opponent's current weakest point, then change the trajectory of your sword drawing technique. That is the true purpose of your training!"
Terrance's words echoed in Gallade's ears, prompting it to start paying attention to the trajectory and direction of its sword drawing technique during battles.
"Ten Forms of Iaido", the swordsmanship secret technique that Terrance held in his hand, was a style of swordplay compiled by ancient human warriors during wartime, which he had collected specifically for Gallade.
This sword style was clearly created for human-to-human combat, but during their time at the Battle Chateau, Terrance used this secret technique as the core and, from details to movements, gradually summarized for Gallade the most suitable sword-drawing motions through repeated actual battles.
Sword drawing technique, another term for Iaido.
Although Gallade's sword drawing technique could defeat opponents, it was not using the most relaxed or most efficient methods.
Iaido emphasizes the art of killing with a single strike. Gallade had always relied on overwhelming strength for this, not technical mastery.
There were better slashing paths that would allow it to cut more smoothly, and better slashing methods that would help it respond to complex situations. To accomplish this, Terrance planned to rely on the Ten Forms of Iaido in his hand.
Compared to Gallade's self-developed, single-attack style of "sword drawing technique," this battle-tested sword style—summarized from countless real encounters—was clearly more suitable for combat. Its unpredictability and adaptability were aspects Gallade needed to learn.
Each form in the Ten Forms of Iaido carried specific meaning and key movements. These meanings and movements currently had limited usefulness for Gallade, because it would rarely fight humanoid Pokémon in the future. When battling Pokémon with unique build, it couldn't rigidly copy the Ten Forms of Iaido, or else the entire exercise would become meaningless.
Terrance and the Rotom Pokédex acted as a bridge between the Ten Forms of Iaido and Gallade's own "sword drawing technique," responsible for the transition work between the former and the latter.
Inside the Battle Chateau, Gallade and Terrance quietly watched a replay of a battle recorded by the Rotom Pokédex.
On screen, Gallade was sneak-attacked from the left by a Weavile and responded with a wide-range sword-drawing slash, knocking the opponent away.
Due to strength restraint, the blow didn't render the opponent unable to fight.
"Although it knocked back the opponent, it failed to cause effective damage. Strike accuracy… unsatisfactory," Rotom Pokédex judged.
"According to the ninth form of the Ten Forms of Iaido, upon detecting an opponent on the left, one should preemptively rotate 90 degrees leftward to strike the opponent…"
Terrance recited the instruction from the Ten Forms of Iaido, and together with Rotom Pokédex and Gallade, discussed how to modify the elements of the ninth form in that type of situation to hit the opponent's vital spot and achieve a one-hit kill.
"Rotom Pokédex, replay it again."
Through the collaboration of Terrance, Gallade, and Rotom Pokédex, Gallade gained countless valuable experiences from repeated battles.
Some of these experiences brought incredible enhancements to Gallade's execution of sword drawing technique, making its attack style no longer one-dimensional, no longer confined to the form, turning "Iaido" into a sword style adapted for many situations, rather than a single rigid attack move.
Its chances of achieving a one-hit kill also steadily increased, with less dependence on brute force.
By the time Terrance had spent half a month in the Battle Chateau, he had already participated in 40 battles.
Counting battles with wild Pokémon and passing Trainers outside the Battle Chateau, Gallade had completed over a hundred battles in that half month.
On average, 7 to 10 battles per day.
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