Shalour City, on a public bench in a remote area, Terrance and the Rotom Pokédex temporarily paused their actions to gather information.
Now that he had arrived four years in the future, Terrance actually had many questions. However, due to various reasons when he first got here, he didn't delve into them deeply. For example, not entering the Pokémon Center just now was one of Terrance's doubts.
"Rotom Pokédex, did you find anything?"
Terrance didn't have Rotom Pokédex first search for information about Teacher Teresa's father online; instead, he had it search for information about the Gyms in the Hoenn region.
"Locking onto the map, Fallarbor Town… searching for Fallarbor Gym…no data found, no data found??"
Rotom Pokédex spoke in confusion and looked at Terrance, as if puzzled about why the Fallarbor Gym had vanished into thin air.
"Good thing I didn't go in." Terrance grimaced and said, "Can you find any information about the Super Festival in Hoenn from four years ago?"
As for that festival... although four years have passed, there should still be information about it online.
Rotom Pokédex nodded, and after a moment, spoke again: "Nothing found."
"Nothing about the festival, or nothing about me participating?"
"The festival was held as scheduled, but there was no one named Terrance participating…" Rotom Pokédex slowly responded.
"What about Albus, Fujiki, and Leo?"
"Leo, the former Elite Four from the Unova region, attended the festival. He lost to Wallace in the battle segment. In the final match, Wallace single handedly swept through all Trainers, cementing the status of Pokémon Contests and his strength as a Contest Master… As for Albus and Fujiki, there's no record of either of them appearing, Roto."
Terrance fell silent. At first, when he traveled through the timeline, he had been a bit anxious, thinking he might be able to determine Albus's fate through how the future unfolded. Regardless of whether it was good or bad, Terrance was mentally prepared. But judging from the information recorded online now…
It seemed that in this timeline, there was no such person as Terrance. Whether it was the Fallarbor Gym or the Super Festival, anything related to him simply never happened.
Rotom Pokédex held its head in confusion. Terrance said nothing. It seemed… his identity as a transmigrator indeed made him different.
Perhaps… the timeline he came from, the one where the "Transmigrator Terrance" existed, had already become a unique existence?!
Terrance had a sudden headache. He didn't want to think too much about it. Even humanity hadn't fully understood timelines, so naturally, he didn't know much either. But based on what he did know, he understood that the course of history in this timeline had completely diverged from the one he came from.
"Sigh, Rotom Pokédex, search for information on Researcher Stuart."
Teresa's father should be considered a public figure, so it wouldn't be hard to find his information online.
Sure enough, after a few seconds, Rotom Pokédex gave Terrance the relevant data.
"His family and research team are all in Anistar City, huh…"
Having obtained the information he wanted, Terrance rubbed his chin. Shalour City and Anistar City were not close, but if he hurried over, it wouldn't take too long.
"Alright, Rotom Pokédex, next we're heading to Anistar City!"
"Wait, Terrance, I discovered something, Roto!!" Rotom Pokédex suddenly stopped Terrance and said, "In the items you asked me to keep an eye on regarding Albus, I found matching keywords here in Shalour City."
"What?" Terrance froze.
"Lucario, and... a Lucario that has mastered Mega Evolution."
"The official Gym of Shalour City, Shalour Gym, has a Gym Leader named Korrina whose ace Pokémon, Lucario, has recently mastered the power of Mega Evolution. Maybe they know deeper secrets about Aura."
Terrance spoke softly: "Mega Lucario?"
"Rotom Pokédex, check for relevant information on Mega Evolution."
"Got it, Roto~~ Mega Evolution surpasses the current limits of Pokémon evolution. It is a higher form of evolution. In the Kalos region, it's already become a very popular evolution method and is a symbol of a Trainer's strength. Trainers who have mastered the power of Mega Evolution are all quite famous!!"
Hearing the information provided by Rotom Pokédex, Terrance said, "Looks like four years was enough time for Mega Evolution to become fully integrated into the Trainer community… In that case, Trainers who can use Mega Evolution may not be that rare anymore."
"My and Altaria's advantage... has also become negligible in this timeline."
"That seems to be the case, Roto..." Rotom Pokédex said.
"But it doesn't matter. You know, I'm starting to kind of like this timeline. Not only does 'me' not exist, but there also seem to be quite a few outstanding Trainers… Shalour Gym, huh. Korrina, right?"
Terrance returned his focus to Rotom Pokédex's earlier reminder and shook his head. Though he didn't think the other party could offer any particularly valuable information, he still planned to check it out. After all, it wouldn't take much time. This was at least a lead.
In the original timeline, even that advanced Aura user Riley from the Sinnoh region was at a loss when it came to Albus. Though Korrina possessed a Mega Lucario, Terrance wasn't holding out much hope.
…
…
Shalour Gym was located within the Tower of Mastery built on shallow sea waters.
After spending a bit of time finding the location, Terrance headed directly toward Shalour Gym.
"Am I supposed to… fly over there?"
Standing on the beach, looking at the Tower of Mastery seemingly floating on the sea in the distance, Terrance scratched his head.
Should he ride Altaria to fly across, or have Gallade teleport him over?
At this distance, with a few teleports, they should be able to make it.
"Hello, are you planning to go to Shalour Gym?"
Just as Terrance was considering how to cross, a pleasing female voice reached his ears.
"If you want to challenge the Gym, you'll need to wait patiently. Only at dusk does a path appear over the sea that leads into the Gym."
"You are..." Terrance looked at the girl wearing something like skates, slightly startled.
The girl had a lemon-yellow ponytail and wore a red-and-white training outfit. She looked clean, sharp, and full of energy.
"Shalour Gym's Gym Leader, Korrina." Upon seeing the girl, both Terrance and the Rotom Pokédex floating behind him spoke at the same time.
As their voices fell, a Lucario descended from the sky and stood behind Korrina, calmly watching Terrance.
"That's right, the ultra-strong Trainer of Shalour Gym, Korrina, has arrived! Just kidding! You look like a pretty capable challenger. So, how about waiting until dusk with me and then having a great battle?"
"Eh… eh!!! The Pokédex can talk?!"
Korrina greeted Terrance cheerfully, then suddenly turned her head to look at the Rotom Pokédex behind him, her face full of surprise.
She's got some pretty thick nerves...
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