Two days before the Pokémon Contest, Mr. Norman, having learned from Max that Terrance was also a Breeder, invited Terrance to visit Petalburg Park.
While chatting with Max, the clever little boy, Terrance's solid foundation as a Trainer impressed Max.
Despite being only five years old, Max, having such a father, looked down on Trainers who came for the League Conference or Gym challenges, especially those who often made basic mistakes.
However, when Max deliberately asked Terrance strange and difficult questions, he was thoroughly impressed by Terrance.
After all, Max was still a child, and despite being raised in a Gym family, how much can he really know at this age? At least Terrance's near-Intermediate Breeder level of expertise can still easily suppress him.
But Terrance felt somewhat ashamed comparing himself to such a young child.
"Ha~~ Today is one of those rare times when Dad has time to massage his Pokémon. My sister and I often help him," Max said.
Terrance smiled wryly. May was more reserved as a girl, but Max, having few friends his age besides his sister, often played with Terrance's Pokémon during his stay and quickly became familiar with each other.
As for Mr. Norman's invitation, Terrance suspected that it was mostly due to Max's antics.
...
"Slakoth, eat this," Mr. Norman said, placing food in front of several Slakoth.
Afterward, he massaged two Linoone for 15 minutes before attending to other tasks.
"Mr. Norman." Seeing him approach, Terrance, who was helping distribute food to the Pokémon, stopped.
"Good job," Mr. Norman praised Terrance as he observed his organized work. With dozens of Pokémon here, even sorting ready-made food requires a keen eye.
"Dad, is that Vigoroth going to give birth?" At this moment, Max ran over, looking puzzled.
"Oh, that one, yes," Mr. Norman nodded with a smile.
However, Max was a bit exasperated. "We already have enough Slakoth at the Gym! This never ends!"
Terrance looked around, feeling the same. Petalburg Gym housed dozens of Pokémon, all Normal-type. The Gym was known for its Normal-type Pokémon, with Norman's ace being a powerful Slaking known for its immense destructive power.
However, even so, the Gym had over a dozen Slakoth and Vigoroth. Not just Max, but even Terrance felt a bit envious—not of the number of Pokémon, but of the resources to raise so many.
Supporting just one team has nearly overwhelmed Terrance, let alone raising so many Pokémon.
"Capturing Pokémon is fundamental for Trainers."
This saying was more suitable for Trainers with abundant resources.
Terrance had long known that Trainers at the level of Gym Leaders and Elite Four didn't just have six Pokémon.
Norman, for example, raised many Pokémon at the Gym. One reason is to select suitable Pokémon to face challengers, and the other is to enrich his own experience.
That's right. At the level of the Elite Four, it's common to raise several Pokémon of the same kind. Although Pokémon can learn many moves, their energy is limited, so they can only truly master 4 or 5.
In the Champion League, there is a phenomenon where contestants select Pokémon with expertise in different moves based on their opponents' information. This strategy can effectively counter their opponents and aim for victory. Although it may seem unscrupulous, it is a way for Trainers to climb to the top.
Of course, the prerequisite is that the Trainer has the resources to raise so many Pokémon with similar levels of strength. However, very few people can afford to do this.
It's probably only someone like Norman, who is openly recognized as the Gym Leader closest to the Elite Four, who can afford the luxury of hiring many Breeders to care for his Pokémon.
Today was one of those rare days when Mr. Norman took time out of his busy schedule to personally tend to and inspect the growth of his Pokémon. Terrance got a chance to see this firsthand. There were Vigoroth skilled in fighting moves, Slakoth focusing on practicing Thunderbolt, Flamethrower and Shadow Ball, Slaking showcasing its strength with Normal-type moves, and even a Pokémon capable of using Blizzard. Each Pokémon in the Gym had its own unique abilities.
"This is another form of strength..." Terrance marveled as he watched.
Some moves were very difficult for Slakoth to learn. Norman, who trains the same Pokémon to excel in different areas, is truly a visionary and ambitious individual.
Norman's strength wasn't without reason.
Terrance couldn't spread his efforts as widely, so he focused on specialized techniques like "Erase" and "illusion skill" to train Pokémon and find his own breeding methods and training concepts.
"Mr. Norman, what's that Castform wearing?" Terrance suddenly noticed a Castform in the Gym, the only one there, with a strange stone around its neck that even he couldn't identify.
"That?" Mr. Norman said. "That's an Ice Gem, a product from the Unova Region. When Castform uses an Ice-type move, it can draw all the energy from the gem at once to enhance the move. Plus, the gem slowly regenerates its energy over time. A friend from Unova gave it to me."
"It's so magical?" Terrance was taken aback. An amazing item from Unova Region...Speaking of which, the items Breeders use are mostly from the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh regions. Unova is on the other side of the planet, quite far from them, and they don't have much influence on each other. Apart from some Pokémon, Terrance doesn't know much about that region.
"Wait!" Terrance suddenly realized his thinking was too narrow. He had been training Castform and Altaria using the concepts of the mainland, but why couldn't he learn from more distant regions like Unova, Kalos, or even further-flung areas that the League hadn't even touched?
He has currently hit a bottleneck in training his Pokémon. Perhaps learning about other regions could offer new insights and help him find a fresh direction!
The concept of Ice Gem is different from the Never-Melt Ice from Kanto... Considering the differences and also Icy Rock, which can affect snowy weather, Terrance suddenly had a bold idea. But first, he needed to find more items like the Ice Gem to continue researching ways to strengthen Castform.
"Let's not think about that for now." Terrance shook his head firmly and continued to observe the details of how Mr. Norman trained Normal-type Pokémon.
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