"Heart Diamond?" Terrance asked in surprise.
The moment he heard this term, he immediately recalled the story Kalos Ash had once told him, about traveling together with the mutated form of Carbink, Princess Diancie. He remembered clearly—it was because the Heart Diamond's energy was on the verge of dissipating that Diancie had left the Diamond Domain, intending to seek out Xerneas, who possessed Fairy Aura and could help her gain greater power.
"Jessica, why are you only just getting back? Go make dinner." The shopkeeper said impatiently.
"Okay, Dad." Jessica replied.
At their exchange, Terrance was a little surprised. "So you two are father and daughter."
"Hello, we met just now at the Pokémon Center. My name is Terrance."
Looking at the girl in brown mountaineering clothes, Terrance turned to glance at the photo.
"You just called this stone the Heart Diamond, right? The one from the Diamond Domain?"
At those words, the shopkeeper and Jessica both changed expressions, staring at Terrance in disbelief.
"You know about the Diamond Domain?!"
Terrance nodded. "Could it be that this photo was taken by you in the Diamond Domain, shopkeeper?"
The shopkeeper froze. "This photo was taken by me thirty years ago. Back then, while traveling across Kalos, I accidentally stumbled into an underground kingdom…"
"Interesting." Terrance was overjoyed. "Boss, do you know where the Diamond Domain is? I'll buy that information, name your terms."
"Don't even think about it." The shopkeeper snorted coldly. "I know exactly what you're after."
"Looks like you're quite knowledgeable. I bet you're planning to capture Diancie, then use its ability to create diamonds and satisfy your ambition."
"But unfortunately, I don't know where the Diamond Domain is. After I left, I tried to find its entrance again, but I could no longer find the path."
"Moreover, the place where I emerged was three whole cities away from where I had entered."
"You've misunderstood me, boss." Terrance smiled bitterly. "It's true I'm interested in Diancie, but I also know how important Diancie is to the Diamond Domain and the Heart Diamond. I wouldn't disrupt their lives for a bit of personal gain."
"Besides, I'm not exactly short on money right now."
"Then why are you looking for the Diamond Domain?!" Jessica pressed.
Terrance replied, "I'm interested in how Carbink evolves into Diancie, and also in what kind of power the Heart Diamond uses to sustain the functioning of an entire Pokémon kingdom. These are things I'm interested in."
"Oh, I forgot to mention my profession. Here are my credentials."
With that, Terrance took two certificates out of his backpack and handed them over.
The one in the shopkeeper's hands bore the large words "Senior Breeder."
The one Jessica was holding bore the large words "International Researcher."
The two exchanged glances, swapped certificates, and the expression in their eyes as they looked toward Terrance changed.
"So you're a researcher." Returning the certificates, the shopkeeper shook his head, uncertain whether he truly believed Terrance's explanation. "But I really don't know the location of the Diamond Domain. If I could, I'd want to go back myself."
"After all, the princess of that Diamond Domain once helped me, and I never repaid her."
Even after asking several times, Terrance failed to obtain any useful information. It seemed the other truly didn't know the whereabouts of the Diamond Domain, and even if he did, if he didn't plan to tell Terrance, there was nothing Terrance could do.
Since this wasn't something he absolutely had to know, Terrance thought it over for a while, then decided to stick to his original plan—to see if he could encounter a Carbink suitable for him to capture.
Leaving the bounds of Geosenge Town, Terrance pulled out the hand-drawn map he had just obtained and called out the Rotom Pokédex that had been sleeping in his backpack.
"Recording complete, auto-locating…" The Rotom Pokédex spun in a circle. After snapping a picture of the map, the task of navigating was left entirely to it. Terrance casually stuffed the map back into his bag, then said, "Let's start searching from the nearest spot."
"Understood, Roto~"
In truth, there were quite a few people around Geosenge Town. Many Trainers or explorers hoped to find rare stones nearby to sell for a good price, though not many are fortunate enough to do so.
Terrance and the Rotom Pokédex chose a less crowded path into the mountains, beginning their search for traces of Carbink.
Once Altaria's training was complete, the pace of raising his Fairy-type team would accelerate greatly. Until then, if he could assemble a complete team, that would be best. Of course, with Terrance's current status and his relationship as Master Victor's direct disciple, it would be easy for him to obtain young Pokémon with excellent talent, and even acquiring Pokémon that have inherited powerful moves through special breeding methods wouldn't be difficult.
But Carbink was a special case. These Pokémon were born deep underground under conditions of intense heat and pressure. As for reproducing them through eggs, to this day no one has figured out a truly scientific method.
It was said that from the moment of their birth, Carbink slumbered beneath the earth for hundreds of millions of years. Unless someone dug them up, or unless they awakened on their own, they would likely remain in eternal sleep within the ground.
"Nothing here?" Terrance muttered, stepping into a cave. He frowned. There were no Carbink, nor any digging marks. It seemed there were no Carbink in this area.
Before arriving here, he had spotted two solitary Carbink, but they hadn't met his standards. He hadn't felt any particular urge to capture them.
At Terrance's level, capturing a Pokémon whose personality suited him, and with whom he felt a genuine connection, was the top priority. Talent came second. That meant unless he had a large number of Carbink to choose from, finding one that was both "love at first sight" and not lacking in talent would be extremely difficult.
"Rotom Pokédex, let's find a spot to eat something. I just realized we haven't eaten since morning." Terrance said.
Rotom Pokédex nodded, and the two of them paused their search.
By a large boulder, Terrance called out Beautifly, asking it to blow away the dust and then slice the rock into a flat stone table with wind blades.
From his bag, Terrance pulled out the few remaining supplies of Pokémon food and rations, and with some helplessness released his Pokémon.
Beautifly, Larvitar, Vulpix, Ralts, Gallade, Castform, Mismagius, and the Rotom Pokédex—that was the full team accompanying Terrance. As for Arcanine, because its training equipment was too troublesome to carry around, Terrance had left it back at Fallarbor Gym to train on its own.
Larvitar, Vulpix, and Ralts were currently in a rapid growth stage. Their meals were carefully prepared nutritional foods; perhaps not the tastiest, but with undeniable effects on strengthening them. While eating, each of the three could feel the changes in their bodies.
As for Beautifly, Gallade, Castform, Mismagius, and the Rotom Pokédex, there's no need to be so particular. While they also eat nutrient-rich compressed food, it has been perfectly tailored to their preferred tastes and was as delicious as possible.
"After we finish eating, we'll rest for half an hour, then train for an hour before setting out again."
During the meal, Terrance spoke.
After meals, during rest time, Terrance and the Rotom Pokédex are usually responsible for planning training tasks, tracking progress, and engaging in casual chats or heart-to-heart talks with the Pokémon.
****Please support on pat*eon for extra chapters; there is date to date subscription enabled on patreon. [There is a 7-day trial version availabe on patreon.]
https://www.pat*eon.com/dmtranslations
You can read ahead upto 65 chapters on my pa*reon.