The next morning.
After washing up, Terrance noticed Troy walking out of his room with a face full of excitement.
It was obvious that Beedrill had successfully mastered Toxic, and as its Trainer, Troy was overjoyed as well.
"Mr. Gym Leader, it worked…"
Troy opened his mouth slightly, seemingly wanting to express his happiness, but Terrance immediately stopped him.
"Good, that's what matters."
"By the way, the Sacred Flame should be arriving today. Want to go take a look?"
"Sure!" Troy responded quickly.
The "Sacred Flame" referred to the Indigo Plateau Conference's torch flame, symbolizing the friendship between humans and Pokémon. In every League Conference, the torch relay and lighting of the Sacred Flame were indispensable ceremonies.
Terrance recalled that the Sacred Flame of the Indigo Plateau Conference was taken from Moltres, while the one used for the Silver Conference came from Ho-Oh's flames.
These two flames were the main ones used for the League Conferences of the Kanto and Johto region.
"Let's go," Terrance said, waving his hand: "We'll grab breakfast first."
Most people went to see the Sacred Flame just for the excitement, but Terrance wanted to observe it up close.
He had once heard a rumor, though he wasn't sure whether it was true, that Moltres' Sacred Flame possessed self-awareness.
That kind of existence was beyond Terrance's understanding. From the perspective of flame itself, it might even surpass Entei's Flame of Life. Of course, that was only Terrance's speculation.
There wasn't just one Moltres; it was possible they formed a vast species. The flame preserved by the Indigo Plateau Conference must have been taken from some ancient Moltres.
So regardless of his reasons, Terrance felt he had to witness the Sacred Flame with his own eyes.
After a simple breakfast, Terrance and Troy began walking toward the Indigo Arena.
That evening, the Sacred Flame would arrive at the arena, and the next day, the Indigo Plateau Conference would officially begin.
Therefore, if they wanted to see the torch relay, they needed to wait along the relay route in advance.
After walking for a while, Terrance stopped and said, "Let's wait here."
"Here?" Troy asked.
"We're already quite close to the Indigo Arena, but the Sacred Flame probably won't arrive until the afternoon. For now, you can train here."
"Practice the Toxic move you mastered yesterday. Beedrill needs to get used to it as soon as possible. I'll have Pupitar spar with you next."
After speaking, Terrance took out Pupitar's Poké Ball. Recently, Pupitar had been getting better and better at using Sandstorm. Just yesterday, Pupitar had told Terrance that it wanted to test its skills in actual combat. After thinking it over, Terrance agreed, and decided to use Troy's Beedrill as the opponent.
"Pupitar?" Troy froze for a moment before realizing that this was the form that evolved into Tyranitar.
Dragonite and Tyranitar, he was familiar with both. They were powerful Pokémon he had once dreamed of having. Now, faced with a battle against Pupitar, Troy began to feel nervous.
"I'll give it everything I've got," he said, throwing out Beedrill's Poké Ball. Compared to yesterday, Beedrill's twin stingers gleamed more sharply and brightly.
"Good aura." Terrance pointed toward an open area in the distance and said, "Let's go over there."
The clearing wasn't small, just right for a battle. After arriving, Terrance also released Pupitar, which looked similar to a silver bullet.
"Pupitar is Rock and Ground type. Poison-type moves won't be very effective…" Remembering Pupitar's types, Troy fell silent.
That meant the Toxic move he had mastered yesterday wouldn't be able to do much damage. This was going to be a tough battle, but indeed, it made it perfect training for Beedrill to practice Toxic.
After feeding Beedrill a Lansat Berry in advance, Troy focused his mind and had Beedrill use Focus Energy. But before Terrance could even give a command, Pupitar's Sandstorm instantly spread across the entire field, and the swirling sand interrupted Beedrill's Focus Energy.
"Too slow. No one will give you time to power up in a real battle," Terrance said bluntly.
"From here on, I won't be giving Pupitar any orders. Do your best," Terrance added, leaning against a tree with interest as he watched the battle.
No commands?
Troy froze, then looked toward Beedrill. "In that case, Beedrill, use Agility! "
Troy's intent was clear: he wanted to rely on speed to break through the Sandstorm's defenses. Boosted by Agility, Beedrill became a blur, darting forward with its twin stingers aimed fiercely at Pupitar.
However, Pupitar moved even faster. The sandstorm around it acted like a shield, instantly condensing into layers of swirling sand that wrapped around its body. Beedrill's poison-coated stingers struck hard against the Sand Shield; it put all its strength into the attack, but still couldn't pierce through.
On the contrary, the sand began to flow along Beedrill's stingers, as if trying to engulf it.
Bang!!
Just as Beedrill and the Sand Shield were locked in a stalemate, the air currents suddenly exploded. Countless grains of sand that formed the Sand Shield were turned into bullets by Pupitar and blasted apart, sending Beedrill hurling far away.
"Looks like even without using the light-heavy mode to keep Pupitar stationary, just its Sandstorm alone is enough to give Troy and Beedrill a hard time." Terrance chuckled and shook his head, then called over the Rotom Pokédex to chat about other things, leaving the battlefield entirely to Troy and Pupitar without paying further attention.
Pupitar's unique body structure allowed it to compress gases within itself, and when combined with its mastery of Sandstorm, it could manipulate the move in a different way, greatly enhancing its power. The result was a relentless onslaught that forced Beedrill to retreat again and again.
Whether through poison or direct attacks, Beedrill could hardly threaten Pupitar at all, leaving Troy drenched in sweat.
After a while, Beedrill became exhausted for the first time, and Troy had no choice but to let it rest. After eating some Berries to recover its stamina and taking a short break, the battle resumed again, and again.
The one-sided beatings went on for several hours. Pupitar was still full of energy, but Beedrill had already taken several breaks. The stamina disadvantage became painfully obvious, though this also gave Troy the chance to clearly identify many of Beedrill's weaknesses.
"All right," Terrance said, clapping his hands as he watched Troy, who was fully immersed in the battle. "The Sacred Flame has arrived. Review the weaknesses exposed during the battle later, and don't forget to set up a training plan to make up for Beedrill's shortcomings."
"Ah…okay, wait, what? The Sacred Flame's here?!" Both Beedrill and Troy froze mid-attack, then quickly ran to the roadside and looked into the distance. Sure enough, a few black dots had appeared.
"That's the convoy escorting the Sacred Flame, along with the torch bearers," said Terrance. "Come on, let's walk while we wait for it to pass by."
After Troy nodded, Terrance recalled the thoroughly satisfied Pupitar and walked to the side of the road.
Since the Sacred Flame was being carried by torch bearers, they arrived quickly. But when Terrance saw the torchbearer, a sudden realization struck him. He sighed helplessly and knocked his forehead lightly.
"Mr. Gym Leader, look! The Sacred Flame's here!" Troy exclaimed in delight.
"Yeah." Terrance nodded, turning his gaze toward Ash who was looking straight at him, and smiled.
Sure enough, the torchbearer, Ash, stopped right at the roadside, looking surprised. "Brother Terrance? What are you doing here?"
"That's my line. How did you end up as Sacred Flame's torch bearer?"
Not only Ash, but even Brock and Misty were sitting among the convoy escorting the Sacred Flame. Terrance couldn't help but be impressed. Such treatment wasn't something an ordinary Trainer could ever receive.
"Hahaha, well, that's a long story," Ash said awkwardly, scratching his head.
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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