As the two of them charged forward, a faint, almost invisible light shimmered in Terrance's eyes. At that moment, his meditation method activated, working in tandem with the special breathing technique. He felt his mind become crystal clear, his vision sharpened, and his reflexes reached its peak. As the two rushed toward him, Terrance felt as if their movements had slowed considerably.
This was the benefit of entering a meditative state. Not only could it help Terrance observe the flow of Pokémon battles, but now it could also be applied to his own hand-to-hand combat.
Just as Terrance focused his mind, waiting for his opponent to make a move, Lan Jenny suddenly accelerated straight toward him, leaping into the air and delivering a powerful double kick aimed at Terrance's head. If it landed, the force behind her kick, strong enough to whistle through the air, would surely give Terrance at least a mild concussion.
"Your movements are fast and skilled, but they aren't quite precise due to your clothing, and you held back out of concern for hurting me, which made your execution less fluid."
Even so, an ordinary person would never be able to react to this move. Even if they could, their body wouldn't necessarily keep up with her movements. And even if they were faster, they wouldn't have the strength or technique to neutralize her attack. In short, this attack was a ruthless one.
Even Terrance was startled. She was going all out.
But Terrance, after all, had a cheat. As the wind from her kick whipped toward him, he quickly regained his composure. With the advantage of his meditation method, tracking her movements was not difficult.
In fact, she never imagined Terrance would be able to keep up. After all, this attack was too abrupt.
"It's over," Terrance thought. His own combat skills were far from weak.
Not to mention, during his time at the academy, Terrance had undergone physical and combat training of the International Police. And more recently, thanks to the special Mega Ring gifted to him by Albus, his physical capabilities had been greatly enhanced.
Because Mega Evolution with Altaria consumed both stamina and psychic power, Terrance had maintained strict standards for his physical strength during this period.
He hadn't gone through devil-like training, but he had never neglected physical training either. And during the moments of sustaining Mega Evolution — a state that continuously drained stamina and psychic power — Terrance's body endured what felt like high-intensity training every second. It was exhausting, but at the same time, the strain effectively tempered his physique. After several such evolutions, his body had gradually and subtly grown stronger. Combined with the natural advantage of male strength, Terrance's strength was not necessarily inferior to his opponent's.
Moreover, the amplification brought by the meditation method was not limited to psychic power alone. The enhancement of psychic power also meant improvements in memory, vision, and reflexes. For example, at this very moment, Terrance's dynamic vision had been greatly enhanced, allowing him to effortlessly track his opponent's movements.
This keen perception was the key to Terrance's confidence in facing both of them.
As the kick came at him, Terrance's eyes flashed as he took a slight step back, and seized the perfect moment to suddenly grab hold of her leg. While neutralizing the force of the kick, Terrance also kept track of Jade Joy's movements. Though she was a step slower, she clearly intended to take advantage of the opening and launch a surprise side attack on Terrance alongside Jenny. Without hesitation, Terrance planted his feet firmly, channeled all his strength into his arms, twisted his body, and hurled Jenny violently toward Joy.
The moment her leg was caught, Jenny was shocked. She had always been confident in her kicking technique, yet never expected this new captain to so easily spot and exploit its weakness. As she was hurled through the air, Jenny knew instantly that she had lost this fight.
"Lan-chan!"
Jade Joy cried out in alarm. In order to keep Lan Jenny from getting hurt, she had no choice but to catch her, becoming her human cushion. The force behind Terrance's throw was far greater than Joy had anticipated. The moment she caught Lan Jenny, the momentum sent both of them tumbling and crashing hard onto the ground. If they hadn't clenched their teeth and endured it, the two of them would have screamed out in pain.
"Not bad, it seems neither of you sustained any serious injuries," Terrance narrowed his eyes. For Jade Joy to have caught such a large, living person head-on and remain relatively unharmed despite absorbing both their impacts showed that her fundamental strength wasn't bad at all.
"Captain… you really don't hold back…" Lan Jenny hissed through her teeth, rubbing her thigh with an innocent-looking expression. The pain in her leg felt as if her muscles had been torn apart. It was easy to imagine how much force Terrance had used just now.
"Mm." Jade Joy glanced down at her reddened hands, feeling a bit of regret for ever agreeing to spar. Why had she been so foolishly overconfident? Terrance's confidence when proposing this test should have been warning enough. Now her hands throbbed, and sitting on the ground, she realized she'd be sore for quite a while.
"If I don't use my full strength, how could I possibly take on the two of you at once?" Terrance said evenly. "Get up immediately. Remember, never underestimate anyone. Next comes the final test, and it will be the most difficult one. During this test, there is a chance that you may die."
Since battling Team Rocket was no laughing matter, Terrance's standards were strict, and he had no intention of going easy just because they were women. If they couldn't adjust their mindset, he wasn't about to let two unrelated people get hurt because of him.
"Yes, sir!" the two of them replied in unison, quickly standing to await Terrance's next instruction.
It was fortunate that Terrance had already parted ways with Ash and his group. If Brock had been here and seen how Terrance treated the beautiful Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny, he probably would have rushed over to fight him to the death.
"The next test is to locate a Team Rocket base and thoroughly investigate all its deployments, including personnel distribution and combat strength," Terrance said.
"You can begin your investigation from Mt. Moon."
When they heard the assignment for the final test, Jade Joy and Lan Jenny's eyes lit up with excitement. This was exactly the kind of mission they had been waiting for. They might not be outstanding in direct combat, but when it came to investigation and disguise, their confidence was high.
"I won't be accompanying you during this test," Terrance continued. "You'll act independently. But if you're discovered by the enemy, you can imagine what the consequences will be. So, do your best not to put yourselves in danger."
After giving them all the necessary instructions, Terrance exchanged contact information with the two of them to better monitor their situation, and he also set a specific time for their mission.
"I want results within fourteen days. Incomplete data will be considered a failure. When that happens, I'll personally send you both back to International Police headquarters. So take this seriously. Team Rocket, as the cancer of the Kanto Region, is far from a simple organization."
The short deadline Terrance gave them put enormous pressure on the two. Even though they only needed to locate any one Team Rocket base, investigating and gathering all the necessary information with just the two of them would not be an easy task.
However, despite the severity of the challenge, neither of them backed down. They both sensed that this new captain was far from ordinary; there was something special about him. That feeling made them believe that following Terrance might make the next stage of their detective careers quite an interesting one.
After a few final reminders, Terrance, citing time constraints, sent them off directly, ordering them to begin preparations for the test immediately.
As he watched their figures fade into the distance, Terrance couldn't be sure whether they would succeed or not.
Still, he hoped they would show him some truly impressive professionalism, something that could surprise him. Otherwise, bringing two burdens along to investigate Team Rocket wouldn't be anything close to fun.
"Mismagius, record all of their actions related to this test. Report everything to me later. If necessary, you may intervene to protect them; use your own judgment on how far to go."
As Terrance finished speaking, Mismagius appeared beside him. Clearly, Terrance had kept one last card up his sleeve to ensure this final test could be properly observed and completed.
"Mis~magius" Mismagius nodded lightly before vanishing into the void, closely following the departing Jade Joy and Lan Jenny.
…
…
After sending Mismagius off, Terrance transferred over Vulpix, Carbink, and Larvitar back. Once the three Pokémon rejoined him, Terrance suddenly noticed that Larvitar had reached the threshold of evolution. In other words, with just one command, if Larvitar stopped suppressing its evolution, it could immediately evolve into Pupitar.
Normally, a Larvitar would need to consume vast quantities of minerals to accumulate enough energy to evolve, but that applied only to wild ones. What they ate, over 90% of it, were ordinary, nutrient-lacking rocks.
Terrance's Larvitar was different. Ever since being captured, it had enjoyed nothing but high-grade and even top-tier minerals. As for the specialized breeding method used later, the resources consumed were on another level entirely. That was why the speed at which a Trainer's Pokémon accumulated the foundation for evolution far outstripped that of a wild Pokémon.
After making some preparations, Terrance was ready to let Larvitar evolve, to begin its mid-stage phase of training.
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