Seven days later.
Terrance appeared in Lumiose City.
It had been a week since Altaria rejoined the team, and during that week Altaria's strength data had already been fully updated by the Rotom Pokédex.
In addition, the effects of Fairy Aura had been summarized and compiled by Terrance as one of his new methods for training Fairy-type Pokémon.
All the detailed data pointed to a single conclusion: Altaria was now extraordinarily strong…so strong that it exceeded Terrance's understanding.
This strength did not simply refer to combat ability, but rather a comprehensive strength that incorporates the use of Fairy Aura, Ability, Fairy Type energy, self-Mega Evolution, and several other aspects.
During the three months of training alongside Xerneas, Altaria had undergone a true rebirth.
And according to Altaria, it had not yet completely absorbed Xerneas's teachings; as it continued to train, its strength might still increase dramatically.
This prospect excited Terrance, but he couldn't determine exactly how powerful Altaria would become.
Its exact standing could only be judged after a battle against a top-tier Trainer, whether that was a seasoned Elite Four member or even a regional Champion…
"Altaria… could it already rival Champion level now?"
Terrance had watched Cynthia's battle livestreams; the ferocity of her Garchomp far surpassed any opponent he had ever faced.
An Elite Four–level Trainer facing that Garchomp could barely even disrupt its movements. In other words, someone like Elite Four Leo, whom Terrance had battled before, his ace Electivire could strike with Brick Break and Cynthia's Garchomp would only frown slightly, take it head-on, and then swiftly counterattack to knock it out in an instant.
Power, speed, defense, reaction; Terrance saw that these attributes had been trained to their limits on Cynthia's Pokémon. It was these formidable qualities that ensured her Pokémon never fell into a desperate situation during battles.
So even though Altaria's strength had greatly increased, Terrance still lacked confidence in defeating a top-class powerhouse like Cynthia. But Cynthia had become Champion at eighteen; Terrance still had some time before turning sixteen. If he didn't count his mental age, then there is still a little hope in catching up to a top genius like Cynthia.
At this point, Terrance was feeling a little arrogant, subconsciously wanting to stand at the same height as those top geniuses.
The current stage could no longer satisfy Terrance. Even clashing with the Elite Four no longer brought him much enjoyment.
Terrance was confident that, given more time, he could certainly reach the level of a regional Elite Four. But becoming a regional Champion was not something that could be achieved so easily.
Terrance, who had originally only wanted to make life a little better for himself and those around him, had unknowingly reached a peak. Whether he will climb to the top of the mountain or linger on the edge of the summit depends entirely on his own choice from now on.
Lumiose City, located at the heart of the Kalos region, is a large city that serves as the region's center and is currently the most populous city in the world.
An auction aimed at the Trainer community was about to be held in Lumiose City, naturally attracting countless people's attention, and Terrance was no exception.
"There's still one day before the auction starts. During this time, I need to tally up all the liquid funds I can mobilize."
Although Terrance still didn't know what kind of Mega Stone it was, he had already developed the desire to compete for it. Even though the chances of winning the bid were slim, he still planned to give it a try.
And even if he failed to get the Mega Stone, he might still come across other good treasures.
Having obtained a ticket, Terrance only needed to quietly wait for the auction to begin. The next day, the auction was held as scheduled, and Terrance entered as normal. However, as item after item came on stage, Terrance's interest remained lukewarm. He still hadn't seen anything that would be of use to him.
That was, until the Mega Stone appeared. But this particular Mega Evolution item was for Venusaur. When he saw the type, Terrance's interest dropped by more than half, but in order to study the life energy within a Mega Stone, he still tried to bid.
However, the competition for the Mega Stone was far more intense than Terrance had imagined. Countless wealthy bidders began throwing around high prices without restraint, and after following a few rounds, Terrance had no choice but to give up.
Although he wasn't short of money now, bidding against second-generation rich Trainers whose families owned all kinds of businesses still made his heart ache.
By the end of the entire auction, Terrance had purchased only one item. It was the sort of thing nobody else had bid on, a marble-sized yellow bead filled with electric energy.
Even the auctioneer couldn't explain its specific effects. However, the electric energy it contained was real; various instruments could measure it. Still, the amount of energy wasn't enough to make it especially precious, so the item's original owner had simply tried to auction it off to see if it could fetch a high price.
But his hopes fell through. Not a single Trainer was willing to pay a high price for such an unknown item. Terrance was no exception; he only bid within a price he could afford. For something with an unknown function, his innate curiosity drove him to buy it to study.
In summary, apart from purchasing an electric energy bead of unknown use for research at a moderate price, Terrance did not gain much from this auction.
"Thank you for coming. Please take care on your way out."
In Lumiose City, after receiving a fruit tea from a milk tea shop, Terrance glanced at the time. He was planning to leave the Kalos region soon.
In Kalos, aside from Mega Evolution and the disaster Xerneas had mentioned, there was nothing left to attract Terrance.
But whichever of those two matters it was, Terrance currently couldn't afford to devote much thought to it. So he planned to return to Hoenn first, thoroughly research Altaria's self-Mega Evolution, and focus on training those new Pokémon.
The life energy in Altaria's Mega Stone had already been completely absorbed by Altaria. Because of this, it had gained the ability to Mega Evolve on its own. There were many things worth studying in this; perhaps it could help Altaria gain power more effectively, or even inspire new research discoveries.
Taking a sip of the fruit tea, Terrance was just about to leave when he suddenly brushed past a woman dressed entirely in black and wearing a black top hat.
"This feeling is…" Terrance's psychic power suddenly stirred, causing him to stop in his tracks. He turned his head, and after taking a glance, he opened the door and continued walking out of the milk tea shop.
But Terrance did not leave. Until the woman in black stepped out of the shop, Terrance walked up to her, smiled, and softly said, "Miss Diantha, we meet again."
****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.