After finishing her battle with Terrance, Diantha immediately contacted her secretary. She had originally wanted to end things quickly with Terrance, but the situation had not developed the way she had expected. Diantha had underestimated just how troublesome Terrance would be.
She glanced once more at the footprints Terrance had left on the forest path as he departed, then lifted her head to look up at the sky.
The sound of a helicopter's rotors reached her ears, indicating that her secretary had found her.
"Miss Diantha."
The helicopter descended slowly. Diantha's female secretary, looking angry, held up the itinerary and said, "You've missed another important appointment. I'm not taking responsibility for the consequences."
"Alright, alright, I get it."
Diantha smiled helplessly. There was no helping it; once she had decided to sneak out for the fruit tea, she had already given up on the next appointment on her schedule.
"Wait a second!" Her secretary looked around at the surroundings and was startled, letting out a sharp scream.
"Miss Diantha, you again fought someone here, didn't you!! Do you know what kind of huge impact it would have on your upcoming movie if someone saw you?!!"
Diantha's personal secretary was worrying herself sick, but Diantha just smiled and steered the conversation elsewhere, denying her speculations.
Still, as the two of them boarded the helicopter, her secretary remained uneasy.
"You really didn't battle anyone?"
"Absolutely not," Diantha said seriously.
As the helicopter took off, Diantha looked down at the mess left behind due to the battle and suddenly fell into thought.
That was close.
The battle between her Mega Gardevoir and Mega Altaria had been evenly matched from start to finish.
In the end, it was only because Mega Altaria suddenly became exhausted and could no longer maintain its Mega Evolution that Gardevoir was able to win.
In fact, if Terrance and Altaria had held out a little longer, she might have been forced to reveal some trump cards she normally never showed in battle just to secure victory.
In this fight with Terrance, Diantha had felt a deep sense of threat. If Terrance's Altaria's abilities had been fully matured, it might truly have been able to match her Gardevoir's strength.
"Unlimited potential—" When the forest had shrunk to a black dot below, Diantha pulled her gaze back from the window and murmured inwardly.
At Lumiose City's Pokémon Center, Terrance sneezed and then shook his head.
After battling Diantha again, Terrance now had a much clearer understanding of Altaria's strength. At the same time, he was planning to return to Hoenn region in a few days.
But before that, there was someone he still wanted to meet.
…
…
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye. After finishing his affairs in Kalos, Terrance had returned to Fallarbor Town.
At Fallarbor Gym, Kotoko walked to the rear garden. Seeing Terrance sitting on a rock watching the Pokémon play, she asked in confusion,
"Why have you been so distracted ever since you got back from Kalos?"
"I'm working out a new technique," Terrance replied.
"How diligent…" Kotoko shook her head. Given Terrance's current strength and perspective, any new technique that troubled him was naturally something she couldn't help with, so she tactfully didn't pry further.
"The research equipment you requested from the Hoenn League has all been transferred here. Where do you want to set up the laboratory?"
"Just put it inside Fallarbor Gym. I'll clear out a room later."
Terrance jumped down from the large rock, and set aside the worries over the new technique. As Steven had said, trying to perfectly integrate multiple tactics into a single whole, making them mutually reinforcing, was very difficult.
Although he had planned it all out at the start, once it came to actual implementation, because of issues with the Pokémon's strength and coordination, the tactics just couldn't merge perfectly. It was driving Terrance crazy.
Walking out of Fallarbor Gym, Terrance arrived at the farmland around the flower fields that was currently being renovated. Suddenly, he spoke: "Rotom Pokédex, do you think I have what it takes to stand on the highest stage as a Trainer?"
"Of course!! You're already a Trainer who fought Miss Diantha and only slightly fell short against her. If Altaria had fully mastered the results of its three months of training, victory in that battle might very well have belonged to you, Terrance! Roto!"
Rotom Pokédex wasn't supervising the Pokémon's training this time; Terrance had called it out to talk.
For Terrance's Pokémon, Rotom Pokédex was also a training assistant. Having absorbed the essence of Terrance's breeding methods, in a sense it was like another Terrance.
"Altaria is very strong now, but that isn't my achievement. Other than Altaria, Arcanine and the others are still far from reaching the top of Elite Four level." Terrance understood that Altaria possessing power rivaling Miss Diantha's ace Pokémon, Gardevoir, was in large part thanks to Xerneas's training.
As the Legendary Pokémon with the power to grant life, Xerneas might not be the strongest among Legendary Pokémon in sheer battle power, but when it came to training Pokémon, Terrance believed it must be extraordinary.
After Altaria underwent intense specialized training, Xerneas used life energy to heal and restore it. This was far more effective and beneficial than any Potion or any technological method.
This approach went straight to the source. With three months of specialized training under such advantageous conditions, the results could be multiplied tenfold.
Furthermore, Xerneas also possessed Fairy Aura. In terms of developing Altaria's potential, probably no one could compare to it. And in using Fairy energy, Xerneas was one of the few Pokémon whose mastery exceeded that of Terrance's Mega Altaria.
If a Pokémon that has lived for thousands of years can impart just a bit of insights and experiences, it might greatly benefit Altaria, let alone the fact that the other party went to great lengths to teach Altaria how to use their signature ability, Fairy Aura. Having obtained such an opportunity, Altaria's strength should skyrocket, and as time went on and it fully digested that power, Terrance felt it won't be that difficult for it to surpass Miss Diantha's Mega Gardevoir.
After all, throughout history, there have been very few Trainers and Pokémon recognized by Legendary Pokémon, and they have all achieved great things.
Terrance and Altaria could now be considered recognized by Xerneas as well. At this moment, Terrance still bore the Fairy Mark bestowed by Xerneas.
After learning part of the Fairy Mark's effects, Terrance hadn't given up researching and developing it, hoping to uncover more of its secrets.
"Forget it, let's head back for now. I haven't finished today's work yet." Terrance didn't stay out for too long. Aside from his routine tasks like massaging his Pokémon, tracking their training progress, and attempting to build a team battle system, he was still keeping up with his studies on…
Breeding knowledge, Pokémon knowledge, genetic inheritance, and more.
****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.