Pokémon Court

Two months as a temporary Gym Trainer passed in the blink of an eye. With daily battles against challengers and training Pokémon, time flew by quickly for Terrance.

During his time as a Gym Trainer, Terrance believed he had done his job diligently. However, he also came to understand why some Gyms ended up facing various issues.

Honestly... the job of a Gym Trainer was a true test of patience.

In every battle, he had to adjust his performance depending on the challenger's level, essentially holding back his strength. He was also obligated to answer basic questions from challengers about the battle and mentally prepare himself to face endless challenges.

This type of guiding battle, where he couldn't unleash his full strength, might have been fine once or twice, or even for a week or two. But after two months of it, Terrance had absolutely no confidence that he could sustain this for two years!

He never saw himself as someone who could endure monotony. His four years at the Old Green House were purely out of necessity—if he hadn't done so, he would have been stuck in a small town forever. Life had forced him to move forward. But now, with more choices available, Terrance found himself uncertain about his future.

As for being a Gym Trainer... he realized he might not be cut out for the job.

It was a fundamental issue with his personality. While he could fulfill the responsibilities of a Gym Trainer due to professional ethics, the process was undeniably torture for him.

"Sigh~~" Terrance let out a deep breath.

"This isn't the time for sighing. No matter what the future holds, for now, I absolutely must secure the identity of Gym Trainer."

Over the past two months, Terrance had faced over a hundred challenges—most gyms wouldn't push this hard.

However, the number of Gym Badges he handed out was relatively low but still within a reasonable range.

By now, Terrance felt that the most significant achievement of these two months wasn't the assessment results that the two Inspectors are about to give, but rather the refined acting skills of Castform and Gallade.

These two months... had been hard on them.

Still, there were benefits. From frequently using Rainy Weather at first, Castform gradually tried battling solely using Snowy Weather and Sunny Weather. Although this caused its combat power to drop sharply at first, its overall strength improved over time.

Among the three —Sunny Weather, Snowy Weather, and Rainy Weather—Sunny Weather was the weakest, while Rainy Weather was the strongest.

Against particularly tough challengers, battles fought in the Sunny Weather even resulted in a few losses.

However, this allowed Castform to absorb a significant amount of experience. With a solid foundation already in place, while it might not be as powerful as in Rainy Weather, it is valuable that it can grow steadily in the other two weather conditions.

Of course, Castform's growth in the three weather conditions was closely tied to the four rocks. Unfortunately, Terrance had not yet been able to help Castform learn the move Sandstorm. If it could, Castform could transform between four types of weather from three weathers.

In Sandstorm weather, Castform's Weather Ball would gain Rock-type energy.

"Apart from Mystic Water, Castform can sense that the energy within the four rocks is gradually dissipating. Although the process is slow, over time, these rocks will eventually turn into useless rocks."

"The Damp Rock, in particular, has lost the most energy due to Castform's frequent use since we first acquired it..."

Terrance shook his head, still unclear about the full potential of these four peculiar rocks. If their energy dissipated entirely before he could make any progress, it would be a huge waste.

After all, these rocks were essential for Castform's rapid improvement in strength!

"As for Gallade... Over the past two months, it has begun to grasp the basics of energy control. It could now adjust the power of its Slash move and even increase the number of consecutive strikes to five. While this was progress, the increased strike count came at the cost of reduced power. Weaker strikes might allow opponents to endure and counterattack, which could be counterproductive. The training of energy control will stop here. The next step would be to enhance the power of each individual Slash while maintaining its current consecutive strikes."

Terrance had put in a lot of effort into this newly joined partner. Over the two months, he had set aside the most time for Gallade.

Still, Gallade had started late. Although its attack patterns are unusual and its strength is not weak, its shortcomings have gradually become evident in the past two months of battles against many Trainers.

Terrance, however, was still pleased. Despite Gallade's flaws being repeatedly exploited by challengers aiming to earn the Gym Badge, he didn't feel discouraged. Instead, he saw it as an opportunity to address these weaknesses one by one.

With so many people helping him identify Gallade's shortcomings, Terrance couldn't be happier.

As for his other Pokémon, they hadn't participated in battles during these two months. Arcanine and Beautifly were still doing the same training they did on the deserted island. Arcanine, however, resumed wearing the Macho Brace. Altaria, on the other hand, continued its basic training while in the Dragon Dance state.

Durability, stamina, energy control, reaction time, move proficiency...

The so-called growth of strength is achieved through the accumulation of daily basic training, combined with certain battles and fortuitous encounters. None of these factors can be missing.

Terrance was very satisfied with the growth he has achieved over the past three years.

"Examiners, has any information been provided about the next phase of the assessment?" On this day, Terrance met with the two examiners again, awaiting notification of the results for the assessment review he had submitted.

Over the past two months as a Gym Trainer, Terrance felt it was hard to find faults in his performance. Even if there were flaws, they are not to the extent of disqualifying him. At worst, he wouldn't receive a perfect score—but that didn't concern him. He had never expected his assessment to be perfect, not even once.

As long as he passed, that was all that mattered.

"Congratulations. Your two-month internship as a Gym Trainer has been recognized by the League. Your performance for these two months has been rated as 'Good,'" said Inspector Aida.

"Good, huh..." Terrance nodded. This indicated there were still many areas where he had fallen short.

"The Rogge Gym's qualification was officially revoked over a month ago. After your departure, this Gym will likely be closed. Its Gym Badges will be invalid starting next year. Additionally, the content of your next phase of assessment has been determined. You should start preparing as soon as possible."

"What is it?" Terrance asked.

"The next phase is to determine the Gym's specialized type and the core fundamentals that the Gym will test. This phase will be submitted in the form of a thesis. Once complete, relevant personnel will inspect the number, development, growth, and battle capabilities of the Pokémon corresponding to your chosen type," explained Lucy Joy.

"You just need to prepare the thesis according to your actual situation. Here is the specific format for the thesis," she said, handing over a booklet.

Terrance flipped through a few pages on the spot and nodded. It contained basic requirements and standards for Gym type, the number of Pokémon, and the testing criteria, which were not much different from the materials he had studied before.

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