The next day, Terrance gathered all the materials needed for the Toxic formula and began preparing it.
The viscous poison flowed together, corroding Gallade's arm, making Gallade's expression turn serious.
Gallade's powerful willpower kept him from showing any sign of pain, but the corrosive effect of the Toxic indeed brought about intense pain. That pain only began to fade after Terrance used a key medicinal component from the formula to help Gallade absorb the Toxic.
The poison slowly seeped into Gallade's arm, a painstakingly slow process that lasted for a full ten minutes before all of it was completely absorbed.
"How do you feel?"
"Gall~ade!!" Shaking its head, Gallade lifted its arm, and a faint purple hue spread across it, signifying that Gallade had fully mastered Toxic.
"Very good. Although this is an initial success, to make Toxic even more powerful, we'll need to further refine its ingredients." Terrance nodded just as Researcher Nero arrived for a visit.
"Researcher Nero, good afternoon."
"Good afternoon."
Seeing how cheerful Nero looked, Terrance asked curiously, "Something good happened?"
"Yes! After finishing my study of your Light Ball, I found a new research item, so I'm in a great mood." Nero laughed heartily. "And most importantly, I managed to trade for two Light Balls on a research forum, so I can continue my studies!"
"I see. Congratulations, then." Terrance smiled.
"Come on, I'll treat you to dinner tonight at the best restaurant in Pewter City to celebrate," said Nero.
"This meal's on me, consider it a thank you." Terrance said quickly.
The two kept insisting back and forth, but in the end, Nero couldn't beat Terrance to it. After the dinner, Terrance had already paid the bill first.
...
...
After returning to the laboratory, Nero went back to studying the Light Ball, while Terrance continued his daily recordings of Carbink's condition.
Though the Fairy energy inside Carbink had increased daily under the influence of the Fairy Aura, Terrance still wasn't sure what level it needed to reach.
During this period, Carbink seemed like a bottomless pit. It absorbed vast amounts of Fairy energy without showing the slightest change.
"Maybe absorbing enough Fairy energy is the key to Carbink's mutation. The problem is that objects containing Fairy energy are too rare in the outside world. They're not completely nonexistent, but unless they appear in large quantities, it's impossible to support Carbink's mutation." Terrance made this judgment.
Terrance had personally witnessed the strengthening effects of Fairy Aura. Though its effects weakened gradually over time, it was still quite remarkable.
Over the past month, the training efficiency of Vulpix and Kirlia had increased severalfold. Their growth speed was astonishingly fast.
Yet, even with such terrifying training efficiency, Carbink had only shown minimal changes, making Terrance sigh at the difficulty of mutation. From what he could tell, the amount of Fairy energy Carbink had absorbed was equivalent to at least hundreds, or even more of Fairy Gems, which were more precious than Water Gems and other such items.
Terrance began to wonder if the first Diancie had been born under the influence of Xerneas's power, or perhaps a Carbink had wandered into a massive mine rich in Fairy Gems.
"It might also be a power of inheritance," Terrance thought.
The Diancie that Ash encountered lived in the Diamond Domain, a beautiful underground kingdom where Carbink lived peacefully. Diancie was the princess of that kingdom. Within the Diamond Domain stood a massive diamond—the "Heart Diamond." This diamond had been created by earlier generation Diancie and served as the energy source that sustained all the activities of the kingdom.
Princess Diancie had set out to find Xerneas precisely in order to restore the energy of the Heart Diamond.
Thinking about it now, Terrance suddenly realized there were many suspicious points. In the Diamond Domain, there should be more than one Diancie. It was highly likely that they possessed a systematic inheritance for mutation. Otherwise, Diancie could not have been passed down from generation to generation.
And the mysterious artifact that passed down this power was very likely the Heart Diamond, continuously imbued with power by successive generations of Diancie.
"Perhaps the energy that sustains all activity within the Diamond Domain is actually Fairy energy, and the emergence of each new generation Diancie princess not only involves the inheritance of power but also consumes the Heart Diamond's energy. However, as long as there are always Carbink capable of mutating into Diancie, the Heart Diamond's power can be continually replenished, or even new Heart Diamonds created, allowing this cycle of inheritance to continue endlessly…"
Terrance speculated. If that were true, then creating a Heart Diamond must come with a cost, otherwise, Diancie would have become far too common by now.
"Maybe the Heart Diamond is simply a massively enhanced version of a Fairy Gem?"
Touching his chin, Terrance paused for a moment. No matter what, he firmly believed that the strengthening effect brought about by the Fairy Aura was by no means weaker than that of the Heart Diamond. Judging from the fact that Diancie still had to seek Xerneas's help to restore the Heart Diamond's power, the two weren't even on the same level.
A Carbink that underwent mutation through the Fairy Aura might not be any weaker than a Diancie princess transformed through the inheritance system of the Diamond Domain.
...
...
As Terrance immersed himself in his research life, new information arrived from Jade, accompanied by extensive data reports.
Team Rocket's local branch was preparing to act soon. The list of operatives and their Pokémon had already been thoroughly investigated. Seeing the two's results, Terrance gave a silent nod. This level of work had earned his approval.
As he flipped through the personnel files of Team Rocket's branch for this operation, Terrance's eyes lit up, and he gave the following reply:
"Proceed as usual."
After giving the order, Terrance organized his Poké Balls.
Altaria, Gallade, Arcanine, Castform, Beautifly, Carbink, Vulpix, Kirlia, and Pupitar.
As a Top Trainer, Terrance was far beyond what a mere Team Rocket branch could handle. Still, this time he likely wouldn't have to intervene personally. The Viridian Forest Rangers were probably already on alert, and against alert Rangers, the branch's strike force simply would not stand a chance.
On the day of the operation, Terrance arrived near Viridian Forest to rendezvous with Mismagius and briefed it on the next stage of the plan.
"Now we just wait for the rats to take the bait." After Mismagius flew off, Kirlia stood behind Terrance, establishing telepathy with him. With Kirlia's power, Terrance began to sense his surroundings.
With Kirlia's current psychic power, it was impossible to cover the entire Viridian Forest, but it was enough to scan a large portion of the area.
As Terrance walked through Viridian Forest with only Kirlia by his side, Terrance's brow gradually furrowed after a while as he discovered an unexpected anomaly.
"So that's how it is. The reason my Kirlia's psychic perception is being disrupted, it's because of Aura power."
Staring at the muscular man and his Lucario who had appeared before him, Terrance spoke.
50% Discounted Membership for T4 to T7 tiers on Patreon. Code- 3D3A8. Available till 31/12 only.
****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.