Balancing and Head Start

When Terrance and Valor entered the first level of the Tower of Confusion, Teacher Lucas finally started paying serious attention to his notebook screen.

"Valor, new student, current score, one challenge attempt, recorded defeat on the first level in 2 minutes and 51 seconds."

"Terrance, new student, currently... no score."

"Still Murkrow, huh?" Lucas had saved all the videos related to the Tower of Confusion and, with just a quick investigation, found Valor's previous challenge record.

One month ago, Valor, the new student of the Speed Battle Class, had failed in his attempt to challenge the first level of the Tower of Confusion using Murkrow. A month later, he was once again using Murkrow for the challenge... [*TN: I am confused about this class name or what class this is. So, I will for now leave it as is. And I will also change the name of Valor's class in the last chapter.]

"Last time, it was due to mistakes in the commands he gave that he lost. I hope he has improved this time..."

"As for this Terrance, a Breeder Class student, right? Swablu... seems to be a Pokémon that lives in the Hoenn region." Teacher Lucas was responsible for monitoring the Tower of Confusion and taking care of the Ditto here, naturally bearing the responsibility of witnessing the students' growth.

If any student displayed outstanding performance, video footage would need to be further sent to the higher-ups at the academy.

At this moment, Valor, facing the Ditto transformed into Murkrow, took a deep breath.

"Come on, even though it looks exactly like Murkrow and knows the same moves... there must be differences. Besides, I'm here to give it commands... I can't make a mistake this time!! I must pass the first level!"

...

On the other side, Terrance also faced the guardian of the first level, a pale purple, gooey Pokémon, Ditto.

"Please give me guidance..."

Terrance sent out Swablu, which had undergone extensive training over time and had been eagerly anticipating real combat for a long while.

Upon seeing Swablu, as expected, Ditto transformed into Swablu. From the outside, the two of them looked almost identical.

Swablu seemed curious about this transformation and looked at "Swablu" in astonishment, its fighting spirit ignited.

He looked at the countdown on the background of the room. According to Teacher Lucas' warning, who used to previously guard the tower, the challenge will officially begin when the countdown reaches zero.

12... 11... 9... 5... 3... 2... 1...

Just as the countdown reached "0," Terrance gave the command, "Dragon Pulse!"

…

Lucas had always believed that Breeders were not skilled in battles. Having lived for half of his life, he had encountered many Breeders. They might excel at grooming Pokémon's outside appearance, handling their fatigue and injuries, or even proficient in crafting Pokémon food... but being proficient in both breeding and battles was a rare combination.

"If I recall correctly... that Trainer named Cynthia seems to be an Intermediate... Breeder!"

At this moment, nearly everyone in the Crown Academy knew about Cynthia. Regarding this female Trainer who had "trampled" on the dignity of Crown Academy, everyone has mixed feelings—on one hand, there was the bitterness of being a loser, and on the other hand, there was admiration for her talent.

"This kid..."

Originally, Lucas didn't have high expectations for Terrance's battle abilities. After all, he was only ten years old. Most students who have just gotten in contact with Pokémon, wouldn't find it easy to defeat the experienced Ditto.

However, Terrance's arrival immediately shattered the perspective of Lucas who has been guarding the tower for years.

"Trainer...? No, that's not it."

Lucas realized that Terrance's combat style, although a bit raw, wasn't that of a complete novice. At most, he was... someone who hadn't had enough battles to fully display his abilities.

In other words... he lacked experience!

"This fighting style..."

"He's a new student from Breeder Class?"

Terrance's rhythmic and planned commanding style, as well as his coordination with Swablu, didn't seem like something a rookie Trainer possessed. It was more like they had been longtime friends facing challenges together.

"This is the battle style of the Coordination Class..." Lucas looked somewhat surprised. "Does he want to dabble in both Breeding and Coordination? Is it greed, or does he have enough confidence in himself?"

A single person's energy is ultimately limited. Even if just being a Breeder; they will still find one path among many that suits them.

Not to mention, trying to balance breeding, coordination, and battling.

From Terrance, Lucas unexpectedly saw shades of Cynthia...

He just didn't know that, since four years ago when Terrance was only "6 years old," he had already embarked on his unique journey with a mindset and knowledge that differed from his peers due to him coming from the information explosion era.

This was Terrance's biggest Goldfinger—his head start was high, and there would be more time ahead to perfect his path.

After some time passed, inside the Tower of Confusion, Valor displayed a delighted expression because he had won.

Victory is within reach as long as you have a clear understanding of your Pokémon.

Seeing Valor pass the first level, Lucas shifted his attention and activated the staircase leading to the second level.

Meanwhile, on Terrance's side, Lucas squinted his eyes. He had a feeling that even though Terrance and Swablu could have quickly defeated their opponent, they chose not to and were enjoying the battle...

...

"Is the warm-up over?" Terrance asked.

"Huff, huff, huff..."

In the next moment, a bluish-purple flame erupted from Swablu, unleashing the Dragon Rush move.

On the other side, the Ditto-transformed Swablu also used Dragon Rush.

"That... that is..." Lucas watched the scene in the video and was stunned. The collision of the two powerful moves he had anticipated had been dodged by the real Swablu with a single dodge.

Driven by tremendous inertia, Ditto shot out, colliding head-on with the sturdy wall along with Dragon Rush.

Staring at the real Swablu, which had forcibly halted its movement, Lucas displayed an astonished expression. "Using its control over its own move to lure the opponent into losing their combat capability... this Swablu has pretty good control over its moves."

Ditto crashed into the wall, its eyes swirling with stars, and it transformed back into Ditto with dizziness.

Click!

Just as Swablu returned to Terrance's side, a door in the room opened. It was the staircase leading to the second level.

The first level... Terrance never considered that he would lose. Even if Ditto is experienced, it was only in terms of battle consciousness. When it came to Swablu's moves, it could only instinctively copy them. However, compared to Swablu who had practiced a particular move for a long time, Ditto, who was temporarily imitating the moves, could never deal with it no matter what.

As long as you grasp the strengths of your own Pokemon and amplify them, the first level wasn't difficult for the students.

The second level...

Facing two Dittos simultaneously.

The pressure on the second level had suddenly increased compared to the first.

Terrance, of course, wouldn't just give up. This rare opportunity for Swablu to gain real battle experience, especially against its "own kind," was an extremely valuable experience.

"Come on!!"

Cheering on Swablu, Terrance began to make his way to the second level.

Swablu's advantages currently lay in its evasion skills, honed over time, and its control over certain moves.

The Dragon-Type talent it took pride in didn't offer much to brag about when it was perfectly copied by Ditto.

With only these two advantages, whether Terrance could successfully lead Swablu through the second level was unknown.

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