Lively internet

Pokémon Contest, alongside the official League competitions and the Champion League under the Pokémon League, is currently one of the most influential competitions.

Those small competitions and events organized by rich businessmen or regional organizations still can't compare in scale to the Pokémon Contest.

Pokémon Contest has developed to this point, so it naturally possesses its own unique charm, attracting a significant number of supporters. The rise of the internet has also provided these fans with an excellent platform for communication.

In the Hoenn Region, there's a regional Pokémon Contest online forum.

Lulu is also a supporter of the Pokémon Contest. Today, as usual, she entered the forum, and suddenly, a pinned post on the forum caught her attention.

Large, bright red letters stood out conspicuously.

[Coordinator Terrance wins the Mossdeep Ribbon, confirming his qualification for the Grand Festival.]

"???" Lulu bit her lip, pondering the purpose of the post, then recalled the name mentioned. "Terrance? Who is Terrance..."

With curiosity, she clicked on the post, only to find that the comment section was already exploding.

The first comment was a video link. A few seconds later, someone with the username "GodspeedDog" immediately commented: "I'm first! Leaving my name before it blows up."

Among the comments, there were also people asking about Terrance's identity.

After scrolling through more than a dozen comments, Lulu finally found a somewhat useful answer. A user named "Tachibana Family's Little Ghost" replied: "Looks like the above commenters are newbies. There was intense discussion about Terrance on the forum a while ago. Here, this is Terrance's personal info card."

Some users who had seen interview videos also shared their opinions.

JynxLover: "Friends with the Champion? Riding the wave, probably? Just publicity? Where are the admins? Why is this pinned?"

Otakubird: "Wow, finally seeing Lord Terrance again. I want to give birth to a Mankey with Lord Terrance."

SilentPrettyGirl: "Wait! Are Terrance and Steven really just ordinary friends? I remember… Master Wallace once said that Steven was his friend too! Both Master Wallace and Terrance are Coordinators. Could there be some secret here?"

LoveMeAgainWallace: "Agree with the above. Selling top-secret art books, freshly made. Interested? PM me quickly. Admin, have mercy."

ElegantMilotic: "Above, aren't we straying off topic here?"

The video of Terrance's interview was posted on the Pokémon Contest forum. With Steven being a hot topic and Terrance already having some fame in this circle, even more people began to take an interest in learning about Terrance.

Perhaps even Terrance himself didn't realize that just by accepting an interview, so many people would start paying attention to him.

Of course, on such an official forum, many of the moderators are likely official staff members from the Pokémon Contest organization. The fact that this post was pinned must have been instructed by someone for a specific purpose...

…

As the saying goes, "Sharpen your sword before battle; even if it's rushed, it'll still be sharp!"

Terrance clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and planned to find a quiet place to do his final special training before the Grand Festival.

First, the location must be somewhere that would greatly help him train his Beautifly.

Second, it couldn't be too remote; at the very least, there should be a populated area with a Pokémon Center nearby.

Hoenn's Grand Festival was being held in Slateport City, so ideally, it shouldn't be too far from there, which would save a lot of time and allow for more special training.

"Mauville City it is then..."

After careful consideration, Terrance decided on his destination, planned his itinerary, and prepared to head to Mauville City for his final training.

This time, the main focus of the training is, of course, Beautifly. In the Grand Festival, the other four Pokémon won't be participating. They weren't born for the Pokémon Contest; the only one that has always been striving for it is Beautifly.

So naturally, the most important stage is reserved for Beautifly.

Mauville City is just a stopover in Terrance's mind. Where he truly wants to go is the desert region of Hoenn.

The harsh environment there would be perfect for enhancing Beautifly's training. The finishing move Beautifly is preparing for the Grand Festival is still a bit lacking in proficiency, and using the powerful external pressure to push its potential further is the best approach.

In a sense, the Hoenn Desert is absolutely a dangerous place. Fortunately, in this world, there are these magical creatures called Pokémon who can accompany humans, allowing Trainers to venture into places that, in Terrance's past life, would've been impossible to survive in.

Since the Regirock incident that Terrance and his group triggered, many people have flocked here. But as time passed and Regirock never showed itself, this matter gradually faded from people's minds. Now, few people even talk about it.

However, there are still some lingering effects. Some Trainers have stayed in the desert, as there are still plenty of rare Pokémon to capture, the kind that can't easily be found elsewhere.

After arriving in Mauville City and resting for the night…

"Goggles… water… uh… just about ready."

Before entering the Hoenn Desert, Terrance made all the necessary preparations. Having had plenty of experience venturing into the desert before, he could now be considered "quite seasoned." After taking into account various factors, Terrance set off.

As he made his way stealthily, Terrance gradually approached the nearest ruin.

If he was going to train here, a shelter where Terrance could stay was essential. The well-made ruins, though filled with sand and dust, could be cleaned up enough to serve as a temporary resting spot.

With his current team, Terrance wasn't too worried about encountering aggressive Pokémon. Unless it was something on the level of Regirock, he would be able to escape easily, even if he couldn't win.

"We'll rest here for now. Further ahead should be the habitat of other Pokémon," Terrance said. "Just to be safe, Mismagius, go scout around and make sure not to be noticed."

The purple figure vanished, following Terrance's command to observe the surroundings. Terrance then opened his backpack and released two Pokémon.

"Beautifly, Castform, come on out."

Beautifly fluttered in the air, awaiting Terrance's orders, while Castform first surveyed the surroundings.

Seeing all the sand around, Castform shuddered and showed an expression of disgust, its mood clearly dropping.

"Try to overcome it," Terrance said.

"I know you're not comfortable with sandstorm weather, but you've already learned Rain Dance, Sunny Day, and Hail. Don't you want to give the Sandstorm move a try?"

"Our research on the Smooth Rock...we've already fallen far behind compared to the other three."

Hoenn Desert is from where the Smooth Rock originates.

They'll be training here until the Grand Festival!

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