After the Verdanturf Conference ended, Terrance slipped away immediately. Even Sora, who wanted to look for Terrance, couldn't find his whereabouts.
Terrance, having left Verdanturf Town, set his next destination as Rustboro City.
In the short term, Rustboro City will continue to hold Pokémon Contests.
North of Rustboro City lay Meteor Falls, Petalburg Woods to the south, and Rusturf Tunnel to the east. With the establishment of the Rusturf Tunnel in Verdanturf Town, the journey to Rustboro City became quite convenient.
Although Rusturf Tunnel is man-made, it still retains traces of nature, with some shattered rocks being casually strewn along the roadside.
Moreover, mist permeated the cave, creating a slightly gloomy atmosphere. However, the mist doesn't significantly affect navigation; it's still possible to see the road clearly.
Rusturf Tunnel was a lone tunnel situated within a massive mountain. For convenience, there are quite a few people who traverse this route between Rustboro City and Verdanturf Town.
As Terrance entered Rusturf Tunnel, he coincidentally encountered two other Trainers.
These two Trainers seemed unfamiliar. The three exchanged greetings and decided to travel through Rusturf Tunnel together.
"There's a lone Geodude."
While progressing through Rusturf Tunnel, Terrance noticed a Pokémon behind several piles of rocks. Geodude resembled a gray, round stone with well-developed muscular arms, almost indistinguishable from an ordinary rock when appropriately concealed.
Before entering Rusturf Tunnel, Terrance held an internal meeting with his Pokémon while feeding them, primarily focusing on Mismagius.
"Though troublesome, we need a new team member."
"Mismagiuss~~" Mismagius expressed understanding, and it now had an additional task—to keep an eye out for wild Pokémon appearing nearby.
In the Haunted House, Mismagius had observed many student Pokémon. Additionally, since Terrance is a Breeder, it has developed its own methods for observing Pokémon.
At the very least, it could use illusion skills for some probing.
If he could attain the title of Top Coordinator, Terrance planned to apply for the graduation exam at Crown Academy. After successfully graduating, he still had one more thing to do.
This task might not be easier than achieving the title of Top Coordinator, but its significance was on a different level.
Unlike Pokémon Contests, which only required one Pokémon, the Grand Festival demanded a Trainer's standard team of six members.
So, Terrance's upcoming task involved ensuring his team was full, at least reaching the maximum number of Pokémon, so that there were no vacant spots in his team.
Currently, Terrance had Beautifly, Altaria, Mismagius, and Growlithe, totaling four Pokémon.
In other words, within a year, before the Grand Festival concludes, he had to collect six Pokémon. Moreover, these six Pokémon couldn't be too weak; they needed to complement and enhance Terrance's lineup rather than hold it back.
"Mismagiuss~~" Mismagius expressed its confidence, as it usually roamed outside, and observing Pokémon was just a piece of cake for it. However, what worried Mismagius more was whether Terrance's finances could handle the new Pokémon's food after capturing them.
This issue wasn't just Mismagius's concern; even Altaria and others had opinions on it.
"Haha... don't worry," Terrance chuckled, avoiding a direct response to the Pokémon's questions.
Capturing Pokémon is also an art. If an ordinary Trainer captured a Snorlax, no matter how rare or powerful that Snorlax may be…
It's likely that the burden of feeding such a Pokémon will drag down that Trainer.
However, if the Trainer had a Tangrowth, as long as they solved Tangrowth's energy supply needs, around eighty percent of Snorlax's food problem would be resolved.
Tangrowth, being a Grass-type Pokémon, had the significant advantage of absorbing sunlight to supplement energy.
So, while it didn't guarantee complete nutrition, at least it wouldn't be worse than growing up in the wild. Plus, it could solve the Pokémon's hunger problem, making this approach commendable.
In theory, Pokémon with inherently stronger species tend to be more difficult to raise, but it's not an absolute rule.
Pokémon like Heracross, which belong to the Bug Type, have a gentle nature and are suitable for Trainers to raise. Additionally, their food requirements are simple, and they aren't picky eaters.
Despite being powerful Pokémon with robust waist strength, leg strength, and sharp claws, they can live quite happily by simply feeding on tree sap and nectar.
The wild environment in this world was excellent; in almost any random place, lush trees and clusters of flowers could be found.
However, Pokémon like Heracross were destined to be rare, and since they lived in groups, they weren't easy for Trainers to capture.
"Is there no one with better strength than Geodude?"
Receiving information from Mismagius, Terrance nodded. This was within his expectations. Without exaggerated luck, finding and capturing a potentially outstanding Pokémon in the wild was indeed challenging.
Generally, Pokémon with good potential... aside from some genetic mutations and unexpected changes caused by the environment, most of it was due to genetics. Considering the low proportion of powerful Pokémon in the wild, the chances of encountering a wild Pokémon with tremendous potential, inherited from its parents, were even lower.
The reason why families with better financial conditions usually apply for Starter Pokémon provided by the League is because of this. Regardless of the Trainer's later nurturing, even if these Starter Pokémon grew normally, they wouldn't turn out to be too incompetent.
As for wealthier families, some were even willing to spend resources to contact Trainers like Gym Leaders or Elite Four members, seeking to obtain descendants of their main Pokémon.
In this case, Terrance was lucky. He obtained Altaria, a Pokémon with good potential, without spending much, which greatly assisted him on the path ahead.
"In that case, there's no need to focus on growing Pokémon anymore..." Terrance said.
The most significant difference between mature Pokémon and growing Pokémon lies in their evolutionary forms.
Except for very few Pokémon that don't follow the theory of getting stronger by evolving, evolution is the simplest, most direct path for Pokémon's growth, a fact acknowledged by everyone.
Mature Pokémon and growing Pokémon have a notable difference. The probability of encountering such Pokémon in remote places is low, and even if a Trainer encounters them, they need to consider whether they have the strength to capture these Pokémon.
Pokémon like Altaria on Mt. Chimney and the Exploud leader in the Rusturf Tunnel's mountain range were examples of such Pokémon.
Growing up in the wild was not easy, but at the same time, it molded their strength.
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