Pokémon Court

Early in the next morning, Fallarbor Town was peaceful. Kotoko, sticking to her usual routine, planned to head to Fallarbor Woods for training. Despite her decision to return to a peaceful life, she couldn’t shake the habits she’d maintained for so long.

After her battle with Terrance and witnessing the opening ceremony of the Fallarbor Gym, where Terrance assumed his role as Gym Leader, Kotoko realized that she and Terrance were not the same, and that the other party was the kind of gifted person that everyone envied.

Both hailed from Fallarbor Town, yet their achievements differ so greatly. This thought made Kotoko sigh softly.

“Are these Trainers really planning to challenge him?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Even in the early morning, Kotoko noticed many Trainers heading toward the Fallarbor Gym. Remembering the rumors she’d heard over the past two days, she couldn’t help but fall silent.

“Even though I don’t expect them to win, the sheer number of them…”

Kotoko paused in her steps as she was about to leave the town. Turning her gaze toward the direction of the Fallarbor Gym, she took a deep breath and decided to see for herself how Terrance would handle so many challengers.

Meanwhile, someone else was watching the challengers with a disinterested observer’s perspective. A Trainer leaned against a building, watching the other Trainers passing by, and chuckled softly, “Maybe someone can defeat him?”

This was the same Trainer who had been the first to battle Terrance. After his match against Gallade, he’d completely given up on further challenging him. He had realized, deep down, that he was no match for Terrance. Giving up had been the best choice at that time. Otherwise, his entire team would have been wiped out by Gallade, a defeat that would’ve been even harder for the runner-up of the Ever Grande Conference to accept.

“Hello! We’re reporters from Marshtomp Daily. Could we ask how confident you are going into this challenge?”

By the roadside, the bustling atmosphere wasn’t just from the Trainers. The hype surrounding the Gym’s opening ceremony had drawn in even more media attention. The news value of this challenge event had doubled—tripled even—since yesterday’s opening ceremony!

“Maybe I can win?” one Trainer said to the camera as they passed by.

After asking several others, the reporters began to understand the situation. Among the challengers, only a few truly wanted to challenge Terrance, taking the matter seriously and having great confidence in their abilities. The majority, however, were simply here to join in the fun.

Perhaps after witnessing Terrance’s battles with one or two powerful Trainers, some of the challengers, who were simply here to join in the fun, would lose confidence without even battling.

…

…

This battle, in terms of scale, was no small event. Nor could it be considered a private battle, as evidenced by the presence of numerous media outlets hidden among the crowd of Trainers entering the Fallarbor Gym. The challenges had clearly garnered significant attention.

Just the day before, the Fallarbor Gym had been officially legalized, and today, Terrance, as the Gym Leader, was already facing challenges from many of Hoenn’s outstanding Trainers due to other circumstances. How could such an event not attract widespread interest?

Those with foresight speculated that once the results of this challenge were reported, it might spark a new round of commotion across Hoenn.

If Terrance could successfully convince all challengers of his strength through this battle, he would solidify the evaluation given by Master Phoebe: the most outstanding Trainer under the age of fifteen in all of Hoenn. Such an accolade wasn’t something just anyone could earn!

The battle was set to take place in the arena within the Fallarbor Gym. Terrance had long anticipated this day. When designing the Gym, he had specifically planned the arena to have two levels. The combined area of the upper and lower level was enough to accommodate hundreds of people without issue.

“Nurse Joy, I’m sorry for the trouble.”

Inside the Fallarbor Gym, Terrance apologized to a woman dressed in a nurse’s uniform. “Your workload today might be quite heavy.”

Because of today’s challenges, Terrance had invited Nurse Joy to the Gym to provide medical support, ensuring that the battles could proceed without any worries.

“It’s no trouble; this is my duty,” Nurse Joy replied with a smile.

In addition to Nurse Joy, Terrance had also invited Fallarbor Town’s Officer Jenny to help maintain order. With so many Trainers gathered, it was essential to prevent any disputes.

As the official Gym Leader of the Fallarbor Town’s Gym, Terrance found it easy to request cooperation from the local Pokémon Center and police station for certain matters. This eased Terrance’s mind considerably about the upcoming challenges.

Now, he only needs to face the challenges with peace of mind and give his best effort.

The arena itself was constructed from recovery rock, the most traditional and widely applicable material. The arena was rectangular, meeting the official dimensions for League matches. The ceiling was about ten meters high and could be opened to allow ample light and optimal performance for Flying-type Pokémon.

The arena was located in the center of the battle room, making it easy for spectators on both the upper and lower level to see every move made on the field. However, the seemingly endless stream of people entering the Fallarbor Gym made the children from the Old Green House wince slightly.

“There must be hundreds of people here. Is Brother Terrance really going to battle every single one of them?” Taiga said, his round face scrunched up in worry. While he had confidence in Terrance, the number of people was just too many.

“Don’t worry,” Chisana reassured him. “Can’t you see Brother Terrance is still perfectly calm?”

Scarlet was taking on the role of referee for the first time in front of such a large crowd. It was also his first official appearance as a battle referee, and he seemed more nervous than Terrance.

By 8 a.m., the battle arena at the Fallarbor Gym was completely packed!

“Terrance, be careful during the battles,” Grandma Arlan was most worried about Terrance. She gave him another reminder just as Terrance was about to step onto the arena.

“It’ll be fine, don’t worry.” Terrance replied with a smile, reassuring everyone.

Rina and Myu clenched their small fists nervously. The scale of this event was overwhelming for them. They had also learned from Chisana how important this challenge was for Terrance. Unfortunately… they don’t know a way they could help Terrence.

“Terrance…” Ayan began, but then hesitated.

“It’s fine. I’ll be careful,” Terrance just nodded. There wasn’t time for a long conversation now. He decided he’d ease everyone’s worries with the results of the first battle.

Since he had accepted the challenge, he wasn’t going to cower.

Inside the Fallarbor Gym’s battle venue, even though Terrance hadn’t yet appeared, the room was filled with a constant buzz of chatter, creating an overwhelming din.

Even when some suggested quieting down, it was impossible to silence so many voices at once.

But suddenly, the room fell into an unexpected hush.

“Quiet?”

Many were taken aback by the sudden silence. As a heavy atmosphere settled over the venue, everyone noticed a figure slowly walking towards the arena.

With short, brown-colored hair tinged with gold, who else could it be but Terrance?

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