"Mr. Gym Leader…" When Troy noticed that Terrance had also arrived, he was visibly startled. Scratching his head, he looked somewhat puzzled.
"Um."
"That was a wonderful battle. I lost."
Just as Terrance called out to Troy, the Trainer who had just battled with Troy also came over. In his fluster, Troy quickly introduced the person to Terrance.
"Mr. Gym Leader, this is the Trainer who invited me to battle just now. He's a participant in the Indigo Plateau Conference, his name is Ritchie."
"Hello," Terrance greeted him.
"Hello. Just now, I heard Troy call you 'Gym Leader'… Are you really a Gym Leader?" Ritchie asked in surprise.
"Yes, I'm the Gym Leader of the Fallarbor Gym," Terrance replied, then turned back to Troy. "It's nothing important, I just wanted to remind you not to battle for too long and lose track of time. You still need to gather the ingredients before the Indigo Plateau Conference begins."
"Ah, right, I won't forget."
Terrance planned to have Troy finish preparing the Toxic before the Indigo Plateau Conference began, because once the Conference ended, he intended to send Troy away.
After that, it would be adult time, and he wouldn't have the leisure to take Troy around anymore.
At the same time, Terrance also told Troy to keep an eye out for Espeon. After giving all the necessary instructions, Terrance smiled slightly at Ritchie, patted Troy on the shoulder, and left the battlefield.
"Troy, that person just now…"
"I'm an apprentice of the Fallarbor Gym. Mr. Terrance is sort of my superior," Troy explained.
"No, that's not it." Ritchie rubbed his head. "I feel like I've seen Mr. Terrance somewhere before, but I just can't remember where. Ugh, what a headache."
"Forget it. Anyway, Troy, your Beedrill is really impressive. Its Pin Missile actually broke through Charmander's flames. Fire-type attacks are supposed to have the advantage over Bug-type Pokémon."
"It's nothing much. Beedrill's my strongest partner, after all," Troy said with a grin.
Meanwhile, Terrance had already moved on to watch the battles at other fields.
Just as he expected, not only were there no Espeon, even Eevee's three evolutions — Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon — were very rare.
Still, it wasn't a wasted trip. Watching those inexperienced Trainers shouting commands in battle was somewhat nostalgic. It reminded him of how he had started out himself.
After wandering around for a while, Terrance didn't stay long. He planned next to see whether there were any vendors selling stones, not evolutionary stones, but the kind suitable for Pupitar to eat.
He had prepared quite a lot before, but after some time they'd been used up again. Since during the Indigo Plateau Conference online orders couldn't be delivered to the Indigo Plateau, Terrance had to find another solution.
After browsing all the stalls at the Indigo Plateau, Terrance returned to the hotel when it was already close to evening.
As for his haul, it wasn't that he got nothing, but it wasn't particularly satisfying either.
Troy had already come back earlier. He had arranged over a dozen types of plants neatly and was now staring at them intently.
He just couldn't figure out how these ingredients could be used to make Toxic, nor how to make Beedrill master Toxic.
"Hmm…" Terrance looked over at Troy.
"Mr. Gym Leader?"
"I forgot one thing, we didn't prepare any equipment. But there's another way. Go get some salt water and two wooden containers."
Troy nodded and ran out of the room to speak with the hotel staff.
While Troy was out looking for the tools, Terrance picked up each batch of ingredients and examined their ages.
"Rotom, help me calculate this, use the same formula as before. I'll tell you the age."
"No need, I can tell the age myself, Roto." Rotom Pokédex shook its head and flew over, rendering Terrance speechless.
"Fine then…" Terrance shrugged, putting the ingredients back and waiting for the Rotom Pokédex to analyze their age and potency through its camera processing function.
By the time Rotom Pokédex was done, Troy had already returned, bringing the items Terrance had requested.
The process of making Toxic was quite complicated, but Terrance planned to have Ninetales and Castform assist him. With Pokémon helping, there wouldn't be much of a problem.
With sandstorm, flames, and psychic ability assisting in the preparation, it was absolutely safe, far more reliable than doing it manually with tools. After all, both of them are Pokémon of no ordinary strength, with flawless control over their energy.
"This is the formula for measuring quantities. Next, watch carefully, this is a sort of universal technique. It'll be useful for you later when you're raising other Pokémon. By then, no one will be around to help you make it. You'll have to rely on yourself. I'll only teach you once."
Knowing how sharp Troy's mind was, Terrance didn't lower his expectations for him.
"I'll remember it carefully," Troy nodded.
Turning his focus back to the ingredients, Terrance began communicating with Ninetales and Castform.
As he directed Castform and Ninetales to begin, Terrance suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia as he remembered his Junior Breeder exam. Back then, he was already capable of making medicines himself. Though he had only made a simple Burn Heal that time, he'd earned a perfect score and astonished quite a few people.
"Such smooth movements."
Meanwhile, Troy watched wide-eyed as Castform used a sandstorm to form blades that sliced the plants while simultaneously manipulating the salt water and flames to assist Terrance's work.
Combined with Ninetales' psychic ability, the coordination between Castform and Terrance was effortless, without a single mistake.
It was all so natural and fast. As Troy watched Terrance prepare the Toxic, his approach slowly shifted from rote memorization to appreciation. This didn't hinder his ability to remember; instead, it allowed him to better grasp the process of preparing the Toxic.
Finally, psychic power wrapped around the extract and placed them into two containers, marking the completion of the Toxic.
"It's done?" Troy asked doubtfully. The steps didn't seem all that many.
"Have you memorized everything?" Terrance asked.
"Yes, I have," Troy nodded.
"Alright, next you'll need to assist your Beedrill in mastering Toxic. Given your Beedrill's strength, it will likely take a few hours to fully digest the Toxic's poison. During this time, it will be in considerable pain, so you must stay by its side." Terrance glanced at the darkening sky.
"It's getting late, so let's begin now."
"Yes!" Troy immediately responded, calling out Beedrill and explaining the situation to it.
Watching the communication between Trainer and Pokémon, Terrance smiled. Though he made the preparation look easy, the real challenge lay in controlling the variations in quantity. When Troy eventually made it himself, he'd surely run into all sorts of problems, and even with a formula chart, it would still test his manual skills.
"The process is as follows…" After Troy finished speaking with Beedrill, Terrance began explaining the training procedure for mastering Toxic.
There were three steps in total: first, absorb the Toxic; second, digest the poison; third, use auxiliary medications to stabilize the Toxic's potency. Once these three steps are completed, one can master Toxic. The first two steps are the most difficult to endure, accompanied by pain. Only in the third step does the pain begin to ease. When Gallade had undergone this training, it hadn't been too difficult, but then again, Gallade was of Elite Four caliber, which was far above Beedrill's level.
Understanding the process, Troy grew serious and prepared to begin.
"Rotom Pokédex, stay here." As Troy got ready to start, Terrance nodded to Rotom Pokédex, then turned and left the room.
From here on, it was time for Troy and Beedrill.
After a while, inside the room, Beedrill's entire body turned purplish, its eyes bloodshot. Seeing his Pokémon in such pain, Troy was drenched in sweat, constantly comforting it, but there was nothing more he could do except worrying.
"Hang in there, Roto," Rotom Pokédex sighed softly. This process would make the two of them grow.
TN: Hey guys, I've picked up a new One Piece novel. You can search it: One Piece: The Undying King.
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