Gains

First, Growlithe successfully activated its latent "Outrage" move through Salamence's "Bloody Wing". Salamence itself is known for its flames among dragon-type Pokémon, and coupled with its naturally violent temper, it made the evolved Arcanine's Outrage even more wilder. Secondly, evolving through a pure Fire Stone also made Arcanine's flames purer.

After evolving, Arcanine naturally mastered the "Extreme Speed" move. With the combination of Outrage and Flare Blitz, Arcanine has now become a formidable force of destruction.

It's worth mentioning that before the battle with the Castelia Club, after the final spots were confirmed, when Terrance went through two weeks of special training, Scott fulfilled one request of each of the five candidates.

Terrance chose the "Macho Brace." Thanks to this, Arcanine was able to adapt quickly to its new body in just half a month during the special training, demonstrating incredible explosiveness.

Now, the Macho Brace belongs to Terrance and Arcanine. Arcanine has to always wear it during training. Though it's unlikely that there will be any significant improvement in the short term, with long-term accumulation, he believed that Arcanine will become even more exceptional in many aspects.

Mismagius, after three months of honing its Flash and Dark illusion, has matured greatly. Most importantly, after battling Musharna, Mismagius successfully comprehended "Lucky Chant," a move it had been striving to learn since evolving.

After comprehending Lucky Chant, Mismagius's efficiency in stealth and illusion creation has improved significantly, making it an extremely helpful support move for Mismagius.

If Mismagius were to face Musharna again now, even without using any offensive moves, Terrance and Mismagius were confident in outplaying their opponent with high-frequency illusion skills.

Once Mismagius fully familiarizes itself with Lucky Chant, its illusion skills will experience a qualitative leap.

As for Altaria…there hasn't been any noticeable improvement, but with the Erase Technique, in addition to the "Water Gun" and "Hydro Pump", Altaria can now also successfully erase "Dragon Pulse" and "Ice Beam."

Terrance once again discovered a feature of the Erase Technique: besides the Water-type moves that Altaria first successfully erased outside the Weather Institute, the other two moves were ones that Altaria already knew. This led Terrance to reflect further, realizing that not only can the external environment affect Altaria's ability to find the frequency of a move, but after learning a move itself, Altaria's ability to locate its frequency using "Mirror Move" becomes much faster.

Although they lost to the Frontier Club, Scott's promise remains. Terrance successfully defeated four of his opponent's Pokémon. Despite having no intention of signing with the Frontier Club, Terrance gained the following rewards from this experience:

- Bloody Wing, one portion.

- Silver Powder, two portions.

- Bright Powder, two portions.

- Macho Brace, one set.

Originally, Terrance could have exchanged for a Dragon Fang, but after careful consideration, given Altaria's rate of growth, the treasure wouldn't have much long-term significance. Instead, increasing Beautifly's chances of dominating the Pokémon Contest seemed far more important.

Castform and Beautifly didn't stand out much during this Battle Tower experience, but the two Pokémon didn't come away empty-handed.

Castform's affinity with the Four Stones and Mystic Water has become much closer, while Beautifly is close to mastering that secret technique. Overall, this trip to the Battle Tower with all meals, free accommodation and treatment, and non-stop battles has further strengthened Terrance's foundation.

His luggage was already packed. Terrance probably won't come back to this place again. Even though he hasn't achieved the 100-win streak, and also has acquaintances here...

---

Mt. Pyre is a mountain located along the water routes in the western part of the Hoenn region, a place that ships from the LaRousse City harbor pass by.

Similar to Kanto's Pokémon Tower and Sinnoh's Lost Tower, Mt. Pyre is a resting place for the souls of deceased Pokémon.

It is said that since ancient times, experts with mysterious powers have performed rituals here, allowing deceased Pokémon to find their best resting place.

Although this has never been proven and is seen as superstition, many people still bring their Pokémon here. Even if it's just a rumor, some Trainers and Breeders hope their partners can have a better life in another world.

Even if it's not real, it at least provides some solace to them.

There were quite a few people at Mt. Pyre paying respects to their departed Pokémon. Inside one of the towers, a Trainer with short, light brown hair, tinged with gold, stood in front of a gravestone, staring at the inscription.

Vaporeon's Grave.

Among the small words on the gravestone, Terrance recognized a familiar name—Arlan.

When Terrance first arrived at the Old Green House, this Vaporeon was still alive, though it was in its twilight years and passed away not long after.

At that time, Grandma Arlan brought Vaporeon here alone. Even then, Terrance didn't fully understand how she felt. Perhaps it was because he had just arrived in this world and had never owned a pet before. But after having his own Pokémon—companions that stood by his side like friends or family—Terrance began to have a deep understanding of these emotions. After departing from the LaRousse City harbor, Terrance got off the ship at Mt. Pyre.

It took him a long time to find Vaporeon's gravestone. There were far too many gravestones here, and each one was quite small. Without clear classification, Terrance might have searched for days without finding it.

After saying a few words to Vaporeon on behalf of Grandma Arlan, Terrance didn't linger at Mt. Pyre. He boarded a ship once again.

The Mossdeep City's Mossdeep Contest was about to begin soon. It was the second-to-last Pokémon Contest in the Hoenn region before the Grand Festival.

In other words, if Terrance missed this contest, he would only have one more chance before the Grand Festival. Mossdeep City wasn't far from Terrance, so he would try his best to make it in time.

"This time is Arcanine's performance. It's been practicing that combo for a while, so there shouldn't be any problem."

"As for the Contest Battle, there's even less to worry about."

Standing on the ship's deck, Terrance enjoyed the sea breeze, leaning on the railing while gazing at the clear blue sky, feeling completely refreshed.

Most of the people on the ship were Trainers or Coordinators heading to Mossdeep City, some familiar, some unknown. For various reasons, they had gathered together and were discussing some intriguing topics.

Terrance hadn't been relaxing for long before a nearby conversation caught his attention.

At a small table on the ship's deck, five people—three men and two women—were gathered. Four of them were listening intently as a male Trainer explained something.

"Clair, even though you've collected all your Ribbons, this year's Grand Festival is said to be the toughest in history, with the most impressive lineup of Coordinators, so don't take it lightly."

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