Pokémon Court

Chapter 494 - Battle Hotel

Boarding the ship from Snowpoint City to the Fight Area, Terrance also planned to have Little Vulpix gain some battle experience there.

Little Vulpix had only been born recently. Although Terrance intended for it to focus on Pokémon Contests, it still needed to grow.

And the fastest way to grow was through battle.

"Key points for learning Shadow Ball?"

Terrance hadn't expected a student to suddenly approach him.

"Um... my Haunter is having some trouble learning Shadow Ball. Senior Terrance, do you understand this move?" Lirica asked nervously.

"Tell me about it." Terrance sighed in his heart. Oh well, he might as well give a little pointers.

The specific method for learning Shadow Ball was something he had extracted from the information he exchanged at the academy, tailoring it to suit Mismagius. To find the most suitable learning method, he had put in considerable effort, so he did have some understanding of the move.

For some moves, the publicly available learning methods only allowed certain Pokémon to barely grasp them, but they often lacked power and fluency.

However, the truly coveted ways to learn moves were closely guarded secrets of some forces.

The move-learning methods in the Crown Academy's database weren't the lowest level, but they weren't top-tier either—just mid-tier at best.

Even so, they were still an invaluable resource. Thanks to the academy's resources, Terrance's Pokémon had never faced major difficulties in learning new moves.

"Bring out your Haunter," Terrance said.

"Okay, Senior Terrance!" Lirica responded in surprise and immediately released Haunter.

"Haunter, try using Shadow Ball," Terrance instructed as he looked at Haunter.

Haunter, with its pair of detached hands floating in front of its body like a wandering spirit, seemed to try hard to condense energy into its hands after receiving its Trainer's approval. However, it took a long time before a small dark purple sphere was finally formed, only to quickly pop and disappear.

"Every time Haunter tries to use Shadow Ball, it ends up like this..."

After watching Haunter use the move once, Terrance already understood its situation completely.

Looking at Haunter, Terrance couldn't help but shake his head: "There is no problem with your Haunter's method of learning Shadow Ball."

"No problem?" Lirica was confused. "But then why..."

"It's too weak." Terrance looked at Haunter and said, "Do you feel especially exhausted after every battle? Like your entire consciousness is about to fade away?"

"Hau~nter!" Haunter nodded.

"That's the issue," Terrance said.

"It's normal for Pokémon to feel tired after a battle, but your Haunter's exhaustion is much more severe. It has only just grown to the level where it can grasp Shadow Ball, but due to its body, it's having difficulty executing the move."

"You haven't consulted a teacher about this?" Terrance asked.

"No, I only had Haunter start trying to learn Shadow Ball in the past few days..." Lirica admitted. "Senior, what's wrong with Haunter?"

"It's nothing serious, but if this continues for too long, it won't end well for Haunter." Terrance explained, "Haunter fears bright light and prefers the darkness. Even in the middle of the night, in a brightly lit metropolis, it could be at risk of vanishing... Do you understand what I mean?"

"Senior, you're saying... Haunter has been exposed to too much light?!" Lirica's heart trembled as she suddenly realized the problem.

"Yeah... It seems like your training method is lacking in this aspect. When you return to the academy, find a dimly lit environment for Haunter to rest in for a while. I'd suggest placing it in the Haunted House." Terrance advised.

"I understand now. Thank you, Senior Terrance." The girl, Lirica, looked at Haunter with regret. Realizing her mistake, she felt immensely guilty, but fortunately, she had found a way to remedy the situation before it became a bigger problem.

"It's fine. If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask me anytime." Terrance smiled.

Lirica thanked him again before leaving. Watching her take Haunter away, Terrance thought of Mismagius, wondering how it was doing on Nightmare Island.

"Mismagius..." Terrance took out Mismagius's Poké Ball, momentarily lost in thought.

...

...

Upon arriving at the Fight Area, Terrance took out the guidebook he had received on the ship and started reading it again. The Fight Area had many battle facilities, offering every type of match one could ask for—singles, doubles, attrition battles, and more.

"Let's go. Before you all begin your battles, we need to find a place to rest first," Terrance said to the students.

Most of these students had rarely traveled far from home, so after arriving at the Fight Area, Terrance ended up handling most of the arrangements for them.

However, the first problem awaiting the five of them was that the hotels were fully booked. Only a few luxury suites remained, with prices so outrageous that none of them, including Terrance, were willing to waste money on them.

The hotels were at full capacity... all because of the upcoming Gem Tournament.

"We could stay at the Pokémon Center..." Terrance wanted to suggest this to the students, but since even the hotels were full, the Pokémon Center was even less likely to have available space. Even the sofas and floor spots should have already been reserved by other Trainers.

Standing on the bustling street of the Fight Area, Terrance and the four students stared at each other, momentarily at a loss.

"Senior Terrance, how about... we try that Battle Hotel?" Kota suddenly suggested.

"That..." Terrance looked at the four of them.

The Battle Hotel was one of the accommodations mentioned in the Fight Area's guidebook. However, staying there came with a condition: you had to defeat the previous occupant in a battle to earn the right to stay.

Terrance hesitated slightly. If it were just him, he was confident he could secure a room. But when it came to the four students, he wasn't sure of their strength and didn't have much confidence in them...

"The rooms at the Battle Hotel are quite large. If we get just two, we can squeeze in," Lirica said. "I don't mind."

As the only female in the group, Lirica had spoken up, and only then did Terrance nod in agreement. If five of them could fit into two rooms, their chances of securing accommodation would be much higher.

In other words, as long as just one of the four students managed to win a battle, they would have a place to stay.

"No worries." Terrance thought of something and a small smirk crossed his lips. "Let's check it out first. If things don't go well, I can temporarily lend you my Pokémon..."

Altaria, Gallade, Castform...

With those, wouldn't winning one or two rooms be effortless?

"This..." The four students were stunned, looking at Terrance in disbelief. They hadn't expected him to come up with such a devious idea.

"What's with those expressions...? I'm doing this for your sake." Terrance sighed helplessly.

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