"Vul~pix?" Ice Vulpix stopped in its tracks when it heard Terrance's call, tilting its head to look at him with a blank, cute expression.
"I'm giving you an extra training task."
Terrance called over the Rotom Pokédex and said, "Starting today, for the next week, Rotom Pokédex will be supervising your training to strengthen your tail's power and improve your skills in using your tail."
As Little Vulpix was beginning to grasp the basics of energy control, Terrance planned to have it master the use of its tail before it evolved.
As a Coordinator, Terrance understood that Pokémon weren't limited to relying on just their moves; sometimes, certain unique body parts could be even more dependable weapons.
The tails of Vulpix and Ninetales were perfect examples of this.
Moreover, for Little Vulpix, Terrance's intended role for it leaned toward Pokémon Contests, which meant that techniques could not be neglected. In Pokémon Contests, the ability to showcase a Pokémon's charm was a key scoring factor, and one of Vulpix's charms was, of course, its six tails.
"Vul~pix?" Little Vulpix looked even more confused, giving its tails a little swish.
"Compared to your legs, your tails can actually exert even greater force," Terrance said with a smile.
If moves like Aqua Tail and Iron Tail were further enhanced with ice energy, then in close combat, Little Vulpix would also have a pretty solid offensive option.
After evolving into Ninetales, with nine strong tails unleashing moves at the same time, it would definitely give opponents a massive headache, becoming Little Vulpix's unique signature move.
Hearing Terrance explain the methods of using its tails, Little Vulpix finally understood and began learning various tail techniques through videos with the Rotom Pokédex.
As for Terrance, he explained the key points of the move tutorial to Little Vulpix one by one.
An hour later, Ice Vulpix began its preliminary training under Rotom Pokédex's guidance, while Terrance returned to his own room.
Beautifly, Gallade, Arcanine, Mismagius, and Castform had already entered the Elite Four level. Improving further wasn't something that could be achieved overnight, and they no longer relied heavily on Terrance's guidance to progress.
In other words, with Terrance's current foundation, he wasn't capable of guiding Beautifly and the others to an even higher level.
For someone like Terrance, who had just stepped into the threshold of a Top Trainer, the Elite Four level was already a bottleneck, one where no breakthrough seemed in sight.
Terrance's personal ability was beginning to lag behind the growth of his Pokémon. This was not only a common shortcoming for Trainers who focused solely on raising elite teams, but also a flaw shared by many current Elite Four.
So, going forward, Terrance planned to start raising a new team in hopes of breaking through.
Ice Vulpix and Larvitar were already set to be the two core members of Terrance's new team.
…
…
"Three days later… a parent-teacher meeting?" Terrance glanced at the calendar and sighed.
He had very complicated feelings toward such events.
In his previous life, he had been an orphan, so naturally no one ever came to parent-teacher meetings for him. But seeing the looks of dread and aversion on his classmates' faces whenever such meetings came up, Terrance figured that people his age back then could never understand his loneliness—
Back then, he had actually wished someone could attend a parent-teacher meeting for him, since he had been a top student.
Rina's parent-teacher meeting was one he had to attend, but what puzzled Terrance was why a police academy would even have something like a parent-teacher meeting…
That question, he figured, probably wouldn't be answered until he went.
The police academy Rina attended was located in Cerulean City of the Kanto Region.
It was quite a good academy and ranks among the top three in the Kanto region. Sending Rina there to study was arranged after Terrance asked Teacher Julian for help with the matter.
In other words, Teacher Julian had acquaintances at this police academy, so Rina's enrollment was something of an inside connection…
This connection also saved Terrance from a lot of unnecessary trouble and complicated procedures, allowing Rina to be admitted with ease.
Therefore, to attend Rina's parent-teacher meeting at the police academy, Terrance had to travel from Hoenn all the way to Kanto.
After booking his ticket in advance, Terrance set off today.
A day later, Terrance arrived at Kanto's Acapulco Airport. Since Cerulean City had no airport, he would have to make his own way there.
The distance wasn't too far, but with his Altaria not by his side, it seemed he'd have to take a ship.
Acapulco was the largest resort town in Kanto and a place with a thriving tourism industry. Flights from all over the country arrived here, and countless visitors came to enjoy their holiday time in Acapulco.
Getting off the plane, Terrance took in the lively atmosphere around him and let out a yawn.
He suddenly felt the urge to take a vacation himself. Doing nothing at all, just lazing around like a salted fish.
However, that was clearly impossible in the short term. Even though he was in Kanto's largest resort town, Terrance still had to go buy an S.S. Ticket for the trip to Cerulean City.
To take the ship, he would need to head to the small dock. But after leaving the airport, Terrance was subconsciously drawn to a commotion of the crowd.
"Annual Beach Beauty?"
"Pokémon Costume Contest?"
Terrance unexpectedly ended up with a promotional flyer in hand. Looking at the cover, he bit his thumb.
"Looks interesting. Why not take a short break in this city first? As long as I get to Cerulean City the day after tomorrow, there's more than enough time." Without another word, Terrance stuffed the flyer into his pocket and headed toward a nearby stall selling chilled drinks.
The weather here was rather hot, and Terrance was already thirsty after just stepping off the plane.
"Sir, what flavor would you like?" asked the mustached uncle selling the drinks, rubbing his hands together with a smile.
"You've got to be kidding me?" Terrance's lips twitched when he saw the prices.
"So expensive?"
The price of a single chilled drink here could buy him a decent lunch and dinner in most other places.
"Sir, this is Acapulco, prices are all like this here," the mustached uncle explained, noting Terrance's surprised expression.
"I see…" Terrance sighed. Popular tourist spots were always like this.
"So then, sir, which flavor do you want…" the mustached uncle prompted.
"This one, this one, and this one… oh, and this one too. One of each." Terrance pointed them out.
The drinks looked good, so he might as well try them all.
The mustached uncle froze for a long moment. Terrance had just been shocked at the prices, and now he was ordering one of everything? Was there really someone this fickle?
With a drink in his left hand, another in his right, and two more stashed in his backpack, Terrance felt refreshed after a few sips. By then, he had already reached the venue of the Annual Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest he had just heard about.
"Thank you all for waiting. Now the Annual Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest will begin! Up first, our first contestant is…"
A familiar voice reached his ears, and Terrance almost dropped his drink.
That dark-skinned, squinty-eyed host, wasn't that Brock?!
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