Fighting Fortree Gym again!

Although unwilling, Winona reluctantly agreed to Terrance's request.

However, the next battle wouldn't happen today; the previous Gym Leader of Fortree Gym was not in the Gym. So, Terrance was arranged to have the battle a week later.

Receiving the Feather Badge from Winona, Terrance temporarily bid farewell to Fortree Gym and took up residence at the Pokémon Center.

At the Weather Institute, everyone, including Steven, was extremely busy as the research had reached a critical stage. They temporarily don't have time to entertain Terrance. But, Terrance left Castform behind to assist with the research, joining the group of Castform at the laboratory.

***************

One week later.

Terrance stepped into Fortree Gym once again.

This time, the challenger was the former Gym Leader of Fortree Gym and Winona's mentor, Miss Hana.

Unlike Winona, Miss Hana looked exceptionally wise. Recalling Steven's description of her, Terrance confirmed that he had found the right person.

"I must say, I was quite surprised when I heard someone want to challenge me," Miss Hana remarked as she welcomed Terrance.

Upon learning from Winona that a challenger wished to duel her Altaria, Hana's initial thought was that this person must have been recommended.

Moreover, there was a good chance that this challenger also possessed a Pokémon like Altaria.

Fortree Gym wasn't renowned in Hoenn, and Miss Hana wasn't a widely known Gym Leader. Since handing over the Gym to Winona some time ago, Miss Hana rarely faced challengers.

Ordinary Trainers, and even Fortree Gym's Gym Trainers, often didn't know who she was, let alone that her trump card was an Altaria.

Miss Hana's guess was indeed correct. However, during the battle, she was surprised to find that Terrance did not send out an Altaria like she had imagined.

"Growlithe?" Miss Hana inquired.

"Yes, I hope you'll use Altaria to battle," Terrance replied.

After a brief pause, Gym Leader Hana smiled and said, "I see. In that case, I'll indulge your request."

"Soar through the sky! Altaria——"

This time, Winona served as the referee. Watching the two Pokémon in the arena, she couldn't help but feel a bit bewildered; wasn't this a replay of their previous battle?

Except this time, Swablu was replaced with Altaria...

And even after her Swablu lost its fighting ability, she still harbored the thought... if it were her teacher's Altaria, the outcome would surely have been different.

"And...I've already told teacher everything about the previous battle," Winona thought to herself.

The beginning of the battle was quite similar to Winona and Terrance's battle. Altaria launched attacks from the sky while Growlithe continuously evaded on the ground.

Although the power and frequency of Altaria's attack was higher than Swablu's, this time Growlithe was faster and dodged more skillfully.

In the continuous high-frequency barrage of countless tennis balls, Growlithe, relying on muscle coordination, was always able to find escape routes in the most efficient way. Right now, Altaria's attack should not be more difficult to dodge than the high-frequency attacks of countless tennis balls.

However, Altaria's attacks packed a significant punch, emanating fluctuations unmatched by the tennis balls.

But even so, Altaria initially couldn't do anything against Growlithe. The reason behind this was that Gym Leader Hana, after hearing Winona's account, deliberately kept Altaria at a distance from Growlithe, creating too much distance between the two Pokémon, giving Growlithe ample time to react.

"It seems this won't work..." Gym Leader Hana chuckled, not bothered. Then, Terrance saw her lower her arm, and Altaria, noticing this, slowly decreased its flight altitude.

"This should put Altaria within Growlithe's attack range, right?" Hana watched the sprinting Growlithe, wanting to see what Winona meant by the incredible burst of power.

"Trying to bait me, huh?"

Terrance didn't mind. Instead of changing the battle strategy from the previous battle with Winona, he repeated the same scenario.

Agility——

Flame Wheel——

Boom!!

In an instant, Growlithe erupted with astonishing power, leaving a trail of flame as it shot straight towards the sky.

With the speed of Agility combined with the explosive force from its leg muscles, Growlithe was like an arrow shot from a bow, heading directly towards Altaria.

Terrance wasn't worried that Altaria would use a move to knock down Growlithe at this moment. If Altaria wasn't hiding anything when it attacked just now, then Altaria's speed and reaction time in releasing a move would definitely not be faster than the sudden burst of Growlithe.

In fact, this was the case. Hana didn't let Altaria counterattack, instead the next moment, countless cotton shed from Altaria's body, wrapping layer upon layer around it. Growlithe's Flame Wheel seemed to collide with a huge ball of cotton. Although it continued to advance, it seemed to be lacking strength.

The speed and strength were all offset by Cotton Guard, and Altaria emerged unscathed from this assault.

Altaria's use of the Cotton Guard was swift, which was unlike Swablu. Swablu's physical growth didn't support it in creating such a large obstruction like Altaria's Cotton Guard to block the Flame Wheel.

In the air, Growlithe, blocked by Cotton Guard, fell from the sky just like last time.

Seeing this scene, Winona looked pleasantly surprised. That's how Swellow lost, and since Growlithe also lacked flying ability... if the teacher attacked at this moment, victory would be assured.

"Altaria, Dragon Breath."

The melodious voice rang in Winona's ears. Following the sound, she saw Altaria, under Gym Leader Hana's command, exhaling a green Dragon Breath towards the anticipated landing spot of Growlithe.

But.

As Dragon Breath headed towards Growlithe's landing spot, Growlithe gradually stabilized its descent during the fall, controlling its pace by reversing the rotation of the Flame Wheel. Then, it suddenly spewed out a flame, deviating from its original trajectory.

Winona exclaimed in surprise, looking astonished at Growlithe, who landed smoothly.

"Hmm..." Hana was also somewhat surprised; this seemed to differ from Winona's account of the battle.

It was quite simple: after the battle with Winona, Terrance suddenly realized that Growlithe hadn't undergone any specific training to deal with Flying Type Pokémon. If it used its usual fighting style, then being affected by gravity during a fall from high altitude would be unavoidable.

Terrance didn't want a repeat of the situation from last time, where it couldn't control its balance in the air, thus losing control of its body and ultimately injuring itself.

So, during this week, Terrance swiftly began training Growlithe for falls, aiming to provide Growlithe with a method to land smoothly.

The unique features of Fortree City provided Terrance with excellent training grounds; tall trees were everywhere here, and with Altaria's help, Growlithe spent the entire week practicing falling simulations.

The results were very successful; Growlithe completed the training, managing to land almost perfectly each time during the simulations.

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