League Calendar Year 214, Fallarbor Town.
This agricultural town located in the northeastern part of the Hoenn region has already developed into an important agriculture town with a thriving tourism industry.
The residents of Fallarbor Town all know that the Pokémon Contest Hall, as well as the recently built "Fallarbor Woods Scenic Area" with heavy investment from the Pokémon League, were closely linked to Fallarbor Gym's Gym Leader, Terrance.
The building and project that benefits Fallarbor Town's development are things the residents are happy to see. With the growth of Fallarbor Town, the living standards of the people here were also constantly improving.
Fallarbor Woods.
A Beautifly enveloped in a mysterious aura served as the core of the "Guardian Deity: Monarch of Wings." Alongside staff members and a group of Bug-Type Pokémon, it was undergoing training. This was the very "Little Beautifly" that Terrance had raised for Fallarbor Gym.
Pokémon possessing a totem aura have an extraordinary level of intimidation and leadership over their own kind. Terrance not only witnessed this firsthand in the Alola region but also confirmed it through experiments with the group of researchers.
As Terrance's status changed, his early concept of the "Fallarbor Woods Scenic Area Project" and the "Guardian Deity: Monarch of Wings" received investment from various parties. Today, the project was developing rapidly, and in terms of commanding and leading Bug-Type Pokémon, Terrance had also found far better methods than at the beginning.
That method was to raise a core Totem that could command all the Bug-Type Pokémon of Fallarbor Woods.
This task ultimately fell upon Fallarbor Gym's Little Beautifly.
As for Terrance's Beautifly, since it had mastered the top-tier technique, Terrance wanted to continue raising and training it by his side, rather than assigning it as the core of the "Guardian Deity: Monarch of Wings" and spend its life guarding Fallarbor Town.
The investment in the scenic area project was merely a trivial benefit that came with Terrance's rise to prominence.
Now, Terrance's strength has taken another leap forward. His six Pokémon — Altaria, Arcanine, Castform, Gallade, Mismagius, and Beautifly — have all been granted the improved version of totem aura.
In other words, Terrance's six main Pokémon have all become Totem Pokémon.
Moreover, the duration they can wield the totem aura is far longer than the crude one-year time limit from Terrance's earliest totem aura.
Of course, the Sparkling Stones used to grant his main Pokémon the totem aura, aside from his own two, were all generously provided by the International Police, which can be considered a benefit Terrance received through mutual interest exchange.
Sparkling Stone, the rare resource used to craft Z-Rings in Alola, were handed to Terrance in multiple pieces. With the emergence of totem aura technology, it has also had a severely negative impact on the Alola region.
All Trainers in the Alola region who wish to undertake the Island Challenge now face entry requirements and trial difficulty that has suddenly risen to terrifying levels.
All of this was caused by the scarcity of Sparkling Stones, and the one considered the "culprit" behind it all, Terrance, was also still troubled by the issue of Sparkling Stones.
Although Altaria and the others have already been granted totem aura, that totem aura still has a time limit.
Just this alone is already quite frustrating, but fortunately, the granting of this aura isn't only about giving a Pokémon temporary power.
While mastering this higher-level power... it also allows the Pokémon to experience and comprehend the power, giving them a clearer sense of the path toward improvement, and helping them grow better.
"There are still not enough Sparkling Stones... Ice Vulpix hasn't matured yet, so it's not the time to grant it the totem aura. That Larvitar has only just been caught, and it's still wary of me. We'll need a long time to build rapport..."
Terrance felt a headache coming on. He walked back into the Old Green House and looked at Larvitar, who was playing a chasing game with Little Vulpix, and gave a cough.
At the sound of Terrance's cough, the snow-white Little Vulpix and the unusually heavy-looking Larvitar both stopped at the same time, eyes wide as they looked toward Terrance.
Ice Vulpix was fine. It ran over immediately and jumped into Terrance's arms. As for Larvitar, it just stared wide-eyed at Terrance.
This Larvitar, delivered by Researcher Kennard a few days ago, was something Terrance had been looking forward to for a long time.
Revived from a fossil, this Larvitar, though theoretically having lived for nearly ten thousand years, was not much different from the Larvitar Terrance knew, except for one small aspect.
But perhaps due to the fact that it had been revived from a fossil, this Larvitar was somewhat special. Terrance not only heard about it from Researcher Kennard, but had experienced it firsthand.
Watching it slowly step toward him, the ground thudding with each heavy footstep, Terrance gave a wry smile at Little Vulpix. Playing chase with Larvitar? There was no way Larvitar could catch it.
Though this Larvitar's size was on par with an ordinary Larvitar, its weight… was three to four times that of a normal one!
Dragging around such a heavy body, Larvitar moved very slowly, giving off a dopey, sluggish impression.
"And this is still just the Larvitar stage… if it evolves into Tyranitar, how heavy is it going to be?!" Terrance sighed internally. Why are so few of his Pokémon even remotely normal?
The excessive weight was, in the short term, a serious disadvantage for Larvitar's growth and battles. Its sluggish movement made it a sitting duck. Even eating was painfully slow. Terrance was truly at his wits' end.
But as a Senior Breeder, Terrance naturally wouldn't be troubled by this for long. If he could successfully train a Ralts into a powerful Gallade despite its early issues, Larvitar's uniqueness could also be turned into an advantage. Terrance had confidence in that. He and Larvitar had only just met, there was still a long road ahead.
"Gal~lade!!"
Over by the garden, the Gallade who had been swinging its blades through the air halted its training and looked over at the approaching Terrance.
"Take a break for now," Terrance said with a smile. Ever since the festival ended and Gallade suffered a defeat, it had opened up emotionally thanks to Terrance's guidance.
After resolving its inner turmoil, Gallade's psychic power underwent a qualitative transformation, and its aura became even more concentrated.
Gallade had opened its heart, and as its Trainer, Terrance was naturally delighted. Since then, Gallade had also become much stricter with itself.
All of this stemmed from what Terrance had said back then:
When you're working hard, others are working hard too. On the path to becoming the strongest, hard work is just the basic requirement.
After realizing this, Gallade's mindset became much more complete. Facing the current Gallade, Terrance felt like it had become a completely different Pokémon.
This change was undoubtedly a positive one. While Terrance felt joy in his heart, he was also deeply glad for Gallade. The changes in Gallade... certainly lived up to his decision to specifically request a Galladite from the International Police as part of the exchange.
"When the time is right, you'll be able to Mega Evolve, just like Altaria…"
After offering Gallade a few more training tips, Terrance turned and left, silently muttering this to himself.
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