With a group of tired Cutiefly in tow, Terrance walked into the Gym and lazily stretched. Although his body wasn't really tired, the act of stretching was a good form of self-suggestion for him, and afterward, Terrance immediately felt energized.
"What are you doing?"
Seeing Terrance and the Cutiefly return from outside looking as if they'd just gone through a tough battle, Kotoko, who had just stepped out from the battle arena room, revealed a suspicious expression.
"Oh, Sister Kotoko, nothing much. What about you, what are you up to?"
Noticing Kotoko emerging from the battle arena room without a challenger by her side, Terrance asked curiously.
"Oh, it's that apprentice you brought over. I just finished teaching him a lesson," Kotoko shrugged, casually pointing behind her without turning her head. "He's fairly clever, but a bit unstable. Sometimes he even seems a little foolish."
"You'll get used to it. Overall, he's actually a pretty decent rookie," Terrance laughed. He couldn't possibly deny his own judgment.
"So, I'll be troubling you a bit, Sister Kotoko. You'll be guiding him for a while, I have to catch a flight soon."
"Are you planning to groom him to be Gym's successor?" Kotoko suddenly asked.
"Uh... I don't know. Depends on how far he grows. Besides, he's only ten years old. It's too early to talk about that. Even if he just ends up as an outstanding Gym apprentice, that's fine. After all, training apprentices is something every Gym has to go through. Troy…think of him as a starting point."
Terrance said this casually.
"Whatever you say… Oh, right, about those flower fields," Kotoko was about to leave, but suddenly remembered the flower field issue and asked.
"Hmm, in any case, I'll be relying on you. I've already written out a detailed plan. I'll give it to you in a bit," Terrance said with a laugh.
"Alright, that's all for now. No, wait, there's one more thing," Kotoko said helplessly, covering her forehead as if she'd become some sort of worker, or practically Terrance's personal secretary.
"Now that Fallarbor Woods has been fully developed and the trial period of a few months is over, everything is running smoothly. There probably won't be any issues in the future. Since you've put so much effort into it, when do you actually plan to officially open Fallarbor Woods as a scenic area?"
"In two months. The day before the Fallarbor Contest. By then, a new batch of Cutiefly should have arrived, and the flower fields should be fully completed. We'll open both the scenic areas at the same time!" Terrance decided. "Oh, and before then, we should send out invitations. Invite a lot of people to come and visit and make the place lively."
Compared to the development plan for Fallarbor Woods, the plan for the flower fields was much easier. After two more months of refinement, removing some unsuitable flowers and introducing new floral combinations, it should be on the right track.
And with the next… and final batch of Cutiefly arriving, the development plan for Fallarbor Town would essentially be complete!
"Mm, I'll leave it to you then," Kotoko nodded, waving her hand. "I'm heading home for a bit. Don't miss your flight."
"Don't worry," Terrance replied.
After Kotoko left the Gym, Terrance went to the entrance of the battle arena room, where he happened to see Troy training with two Beedrill.
One was Troy's own, and the other was a Beedrill that Terrance himself had trained for a few months in the Gym.
Terrance didn't disturb Troy; he just watched for a bit before leaving for his study room. After taking care of a few remaining affairs for Fallarbor Town, he began to pack up his things, planning to set off for Kanto.
Before leaving, Terrance also said his goodbyes to everyone at the Old Green House and left a few of his main Pokémon behind. Then he headed straight to the airport.
This time, Terrance brought along five Pokémon: Altaria, Carbink, Ninetales, Kirlia, and Pupitar.
As for Beautifly, Mismagius, Gallade, Arcanine, and Castform, Terrance left them behind in Fallarbor Town.
Because he had foiled Team Rocket's plans, Terrance still felt a bit uneasy. Even though Agatha was convinced that Giovanni wouldn't resort to revenge against acquaintances of his enemies, it never hurt to be cautious, so Terrance left almost half of his main team behind.
As for his own safety, with Altaria's strength surpassing most Elite Four's main Pokemon and even their aces, Terrance believed he could take care of himself. After all, Team Rocket couldn't afford to act too brazenly.
...
...
A day later, Terrance arrived at Kanto Airport and got in touch with Researcher Nero.
"Beep... beep... beep..."
On the other end, there was nothing but silence.
After a long while, a zombie-like figure finally appeared on the video call.
"Hey, come on now..." Terrance's eyes twitched. How long had it been, and Nero already looked like this again?
"So it's Researcher Terrance. Ahem, you must be calling about the Light Ball, right? Haha, let me tell you, ahem, I've been researching it for a long time, and I even caught a few Pikachu with good potential, but…."
"All right, Researcher Nero... I think I get what you mean. Don't be discouraged. Setbacks are normal in research," Terrance comforted him.
"I'm glad you understand..."
Terrance shook his head helplessly. "So it's still because those Pikachu can't withstand the intense stimulus when merging with the Light Ball, and it ends in failure?"
"That's right." Researcher Nero's eyes shone. "So lately I've been studying special breeding methods for Pikachu, planning to raise the strongest Pikachu starting from Pichu. Anyway, I'm determined to achieve a successful fusion at least once!!"
"That sounds good. By the way, Researcher Nero, I might bring a Pikachu over to try fusing it with the Light Ball, so I'd appreciate your help then," Terrance got to the main point.
"No problem, I promised you that before. But are you really going to try?" Nero asked, a bit resentful. Before digging deep into the research, he'd thought there was a chance for a successful fusion. But the more he learned, the more he realized that while the Light Ball is a perfect match for Pikachu, it also puts a tremendous burden on it.
Even the Pikachu he recently caught with decent talent couldn't fuse with the Light Ball, would Terrance's Pikachu really manage it?
That was Nero's concern. He was afraid that Terrance would come all this way with nothing to show for it.
"Let's give it a try," Terrance said firmly, his eyes gleaming.
The two chatted a bit more and then hung up.
But before long, Terrance suddenly received new messages...
Glancing at them, Terrance felt extremely awkward. They were from Jade and Lan.
Now that Master Victor's situation had been resolved, Terrance had contacted Mr. Looker to dismiss the two of them. Although he had sent messages to explain, it seemed the two were still quite upset about it...
Terrance had already discarded the communication number he used to contact the two of them. Yet, they were so persistent that they somehow managed to track down his personal number... and were now calling again.
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