When Ash greeted Terrance, Brock and Misty also noticed him.
However, it was the Sacred Flame relay, and Officer Jenny, who was in charge of escorting the Sacred Flame, grew displeased when she saw Ash suddenly stop. Her mood instantly soured.
They had already made an exception to let Ash lead the run, yet he still acted so unreliable, stopping whenever he pleased. Honestly…
"Hehehe, isn't this the great hero of Acapulco?" Just as Terrance was about to tell Ash to continue leading the relay, an old man with a long white beard stepped out from one of the cars behind them. He was smiling kindly at Terrance, wearing a surprised expression.
Seeing him, Terrance immediately straightened up and said seriously, "Hello, Charles Goodshow. I'm sorry for disturbing the Sacred Flame relay."
Charles Goodshow?
Troy, who was following behind Terrance, looked confused.
"Troy, this is Mr. Goodshow, the highest head of the Pokémon League and the president of the League Competition Committee," Terrance nudged Troy and reminded him.
"Ah!" Realizing who this man was, Troy was shocked, his whole body trembling slightly. This was someone ranked even higher than the Elite Four Champion.
Pathetic…
Watching Troy's reaction, then glancing at Ash's calm demeanor, Terrance couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Maybe this was the difference in mentality. If this were the world of One Piece, Ash would definitely have the qualities of a Conqueror's Haki user.
"No need, no need, really. There's no need to mind my status. Right now I'm just an old man watching over the Sacred Flame, haha." Mr. Goodshow said with a hearty laugh.
"Oh, right, Terrance, are you interested in becoming a Sacred Flame's torchbearer? As the hero who saved Acapulco, I think you'd be perfect for the role."
Looking at Terrance, Mr. Goodshow said temptingly.
"I appreciate your kind intentions, but I'll pass. I'm really not used to this kind of situation," Terrance declined with a smile. At this time, the Rotom Pokédex had already finished analyzing the Sacred Flame; there was no need to go and lead the race.
"Well, that's a shame then."
As the two spoke, the Officer Jenny accompanying the Sacred Flame looked stunned. Someone familiar enough to be on good terms with Charles Goodshow, and the hero who saved Acapulco… could it be—
Could it be Trainer Terrance, the one who froze the entire Acapulco sea area and mutated Giant Tentacruel?
Realizing who was standing before her, Officer Jenny's beautiful eyes sparkled as she began observing Terrance seriously.
Meanwhile, Ash, Misty, and Brock never expected that Terrance would be remembered by someone of such high status as Charles Goodshow.
After politely declining Mr. Goodshow's offer, Terrance quickly led Troy off the road so as not to interfere with the Sacred Flame relay.
"Mr. Gym Leader… what's Acapulco?" Troy was still hung up on the way Mr. Goodshow had addressed Terrance, asking in confusion.
"Hard to explain. Go look it up online yourself," Terrance replied.
"Oh." Troy nodded, then glanced at the distant Sacred Flame. "So that's the Sacred Flame? It doesn't look all that special to me."
"Don't know," Terrance said, shaking his head. At that moment, his Rotom Pokédex floated over and whispered a few words to him. It had finished analyzing the Sacred Flame just now. According to Rotom's analysis, there was indeed nothing remarkable about the Sacred Flame. Yet, somehow, Terrance still felt something wasn't right.
"I see…" After listening to the analysis, Terrance nodded, "In that case, we'll take another look during the opening ceremony."
Watching Terrance and Rotom Pokédex acting mysterious, Troy sighed blankly. Keeping secrets from me again…
"Um, Mr. Gym Leader, that Sacred Flame's torchbearer just now, he seemed to know you?"
"Yeah…"
After seeing the Sacred Flame, the two began waiting for the opening ceremony of the Indigo Plateau Conference.
The next day, Terrance handed the tickets to Troy for safekeeping.
"Front-row seats, that's amazing!!"
Seeing the seat numbers, Troy was overjoyed. He hadn't expected Terrance to get tickets so close to the front.
"Pay close attention to the battles and absorb as much experience as you can. Official matches have tons of details you'll never see on TV."
After reminding Troy, Terrance checked the time. Though the opening ceremony wasn't for a little while yet, they needed to head out early to get there on time.
"All right, let's go."
After getting ready, Terrance and Troy set off for the Indigo Stadium as spectators. The streets were packed as waves of people all headed toward the stadium. If not for the traffic police keeping order, chaos would've broken out long ago.
"So lively," Troy felt especially delighted in his heart; this atmosphere was truly exhilarating.
"If only… I could stand on that stage someday, battling before a crowd like this," Troy thought, beginning to envy these competitors.
Sensing Troy's thoughts, Terrance smiled. Following the flow of people, the two soon arrived at the Indigo Stadium and, guided by the staff, found their seats.
About half an hour after they sat down, the opening ceremony finally began.
"All right, the opening ceremony of the Indigo League Conference begins!! This grand competition where outstanding Pokémon Trainers and their Pokémon unleash their signature moves and power in battle is about to start!! The champion of this competition will not only gain the honor of a Trainer but they must also overcome this challenge on their path to becoming a master-level Trainer! Look, everyone, the contestants are already entering the arena one after another. They..."
As the announcer's voice boomed through the loudspeakers, Terrance and Troy turned their eyes toward the field, where the contestants were entering one after another.
Ash and Gary Oak… Terrance immediately spotted the two of them.
"I see Ritchie!" Troy added excitedly.
At the same time, the Sacred Flame's torchbearer also arrived. She ran a circle around the contestants, then started moving along the pathway between them toward the Sacred Flame platform, ready to light it.
"Before the tournament begins, the Sacred Flame that has been passed through the hands of hundreds of people is now making its way to the Sacred Flame platform!!" the announcer shouted with passion.
"Oh~~ wait a minute, what an amazing performance! It looks like a woman will be the one to light the Sacred Flame!"
Hearing that, many spectators turned their attention toward the Sacred Flame platform, only to see three figures suddenly appear there, all dressed in monk-like robes. The young girl serving as the Sacred Flame's torchbearer stared at them in confusion. She didn't remember this being part of the ceremony.
At that moment, beneath the Sacred Flame platform, Ash's pupils contracted sharply. He suddenly sensed something was wrong. Bursting into a sprint toward the platform, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "No! Don't give the Sacred Flame to them!!"
!!!!!!!!!!!
Terrance shot to his feet, his eyelids twitching wildly, nearly startling poor Troy out of his seat.
"What's wrong?" Troy asked in confusion.
"Someone's trying to steal the Sacred Flame." Watching Ash's reaction, and then looking at the dwarf among the three in monk robes, Terrance would have lived in vain if he still didn't know these three were Team Rocket. His mouth twitched as he looked at James, Jessie, and Meowth, then he slapped his forehead, only one word remaining in his mind:
Impressive.
He could bet there were multiple Top Trainers handling security for the Indigo Plateau Conference, including Master Bruno himself, and at least one member of the Elite Four. For such an important event, anyone could guess how tight the security must be. And yet…
James, Jessie, and Meowth had actually done it. Right before tens of thousands of spectators, they snatched the Sacred Flame from the torchbearer and tore off their disguises, revealing the Team Rocket uniforms underneath.
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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