The wager

"A wager?" Terrance asked.

"Yes, it's a small matter. Altaria still bears a grudge against me and refuses to entrust Swablu to me, but I can't give up my research on Swablu. So I agreed to find a Trainer with outstanding potential to look after Swablu. I originally chose Jun, but now I've chosen you instead."

"Me?" Terrance was taken aback.

"That's right. This trial would be rather difficult for a girl like Jun, who grew up in a large family, but you should have a slight chance," Master Katsumune said.

"As long as you take Swablu's Egg, successfully hatch it, and earn its mother's approval together with Swablu within one month, you'll have completed the trial."

"You'll stay here alone for that month. I'll prepare food and living supplies to last you for a while. After that, you'll face the environment here on Mt. Chimney by yourself. During that time, you can't bring any other Pokémon. You and Swablu can only... rely on each other to survive. Those are Altaria's conditions," Master Katsumune said. He had originally thought Altaria's conditions were shameless too, but when he thought of his experiment, he couldn't worry about that.

Hearing this, Terrance immediately froze.

Was he kidding? Living here alone for a month would be the death of him!

Never mind the aggressive Pokémon; boredom alone could torment him to death.

More importantly, that wasn't all. He still had to earn Altaria's approval?!

"It looks like they've fought enough. Now it's your turn."

As the two traded blows, Terrance could feel the intense waves high in the sky even from the ground.

Terrance looked up and gradually saw Altaria and Pidgeot descend, finally landing in front of the two men.

"Long time no see." Master Katsumune greeted Altaria, but Altaria ignored him and looked at Terrance instead.

"He's the Trainer I chose..." Master Katsumune said calmly.

"As you requested, I've brought the person who'll take the trial. Next, he'll complete a month-long trial with your offspring. Don't worry. I guarantee on my reputation as a top-tier Breeder that your descendant will never disgrace your bloodline. Its growth will astonish you."

Altaria was a proud and graceful Pokémon. After mating with Pidgeot, it had no idea that Pidgeot had already been caught, and had fallen into Master Katsumune's scheme...

Only after everything was settled did Master Katsumune appear before it.

Then a conflict broke out.

Master Katsumune asked for the Pokémon Egg to no avail. After a battle, the wager was made.

In the end, Altaria didn't fall out with Pidgeot, though it resented Pidgeot somewhat for not telling it beforehand.

Altaria let out a long cry and turned its head. Understanding what it meant, Master Katsumune said directly to Terrance, "Are you ready? You can still refuse."

Refuse?

Things had already come to this. How could Terrance refuse now?

"What should I do?" Terrance glanced at Altaria, then asked Master Katsumune.

"It's simple. Come back with me first. By this time tomorrow, everything will be ready, and you'll begin your month of survival in the wild."

Getting everything ready meant Terrance would leave his Poké Balls behind, pack emergency supplies and food, and return here alone.

In that month, Terrance not only had to successfully hatch Swablu, but also act as its Trainer and raise it to be stronger, thereby earning Altaria's approval.

Originally, Master Katsumune had wanted to catch Swablu himself, but Altaria's stubbornness had forced him to give up on that option.

So Master Katsumune settled for the next best thing and found Terrance to complete the wager for him. His main purpose was simply to verify and conduct research.

Although it was a shame he couldn't catch Swablu himself, that was no longer so important to someone of Master Katsumune's standing. Now, all he cared about was his dedication to researching new things.

"Whether the trait is successfully inherited across generations is all up to you, Terrance," Master Katsumune said solemnly. He was nervous too; he couldn't guarantee whether Swablu would inherit its mother's and Pidgeot's moves.

"Dragon Rush... the other moves don't matter, but as long as it can master this move as a newborn, it will mean Swablu's Dragon-type talent has been fully activated. Its Dragon-type potential will surpass Dragonite's and undergo a qualitative change."

On the private plane, Master Katsumune explained the precautions to Terrance, along with the key points of the experiment.

The chance of inheriting a move like Dragon Rush was extremely slim even for offspring Altaria had with Dragonite, let alone through inheritance across generations. Master Katsumune himself was also very concerned about whether the formula he had prepared would work.

This Altaria was the overlord of Mt. Chimney.

According to Master Katsumune, even compared with Pokémon trained by the Elite Four, Altaria's strength was not inferior.

His Pidgeot was still somewhat weaker than Altaria, so Terrance had a long and difficult road ahead if he wanted to earn Altaria's approval.

The reason Master Katsumune didn't have Terrance start the trial immediately was that he still needed to teach him some things about training moves, raising young Pokémon, hatching Pokémon Eggs, and bringing out a Pokémon's potential more effectively.

Fortunately, Terrance's learning speed was enough to keep up with Master Katsumune's instruction.

This wager was very important to Master Katsumune. The process of Terrance training Swablu would also be the process of verifying his results. How far Swablu could progress in one month and how much potential it could unleash were also things Master Katsumune cared about.

Now that he had Terrance, an outstanding Breeder, one of Master Katsumune's worries had been put to rest.

As for the wager itself, if he didn't carry it out personally, there were many promising young Trainers who met Altaria's requirements, but to varying degrees, they didn't meet his.

Terrance's appearance had indeed given Master Katsumune hope.

After a night of preparation, Terrance had memorized the precautions Master Katsumune had given him.

Terrance had also learned the general lay of the land here. Once he ventured in, there would be no shortage of Pokémon aggressive toward humans. At the start, Terrance could barely take a step.

Fortunately, the nutrient solution Master Katsumune had prepared for it could make the Pokémon Egg hatch as quickly as possible.

A long container held an ample supply of pale blue nutrient solution. Master Katsumune had personally formulated this liquid based on Altaria's and Pidgeot's circumstances, and it could bring out this new life's potential most efficiently.

It was also the main thing to be tested in this trial.

If Terrance successfully completed this trial, not only could he enter Coronet Academy, the cradle of geniuses, but this new life that had endured a month of trials alongside him-Swablu, which Master Katsumune said would possess exceptional talent-would also become Terrance's Pokémon once they earned Altaria's approval!