Clearly, trying to persuade Pryce now was not going to work. The incident Tetsuya had planned should arrive soon enough. For now, all he could do was wait patiently. During this time, he needed to focus on improving his Pokémon's power.
Neither Matsuba nor Pryce could conveniently travel to Kanto. When the time came, only he would be able to go. What would happen during the journey was impossible to predict, but if he wanted to earn the chance to make his voice heard, he first needed the power to secure it…
Since Sheila was something of a well-known figure in Mahogany Town, having her with him made it the perfect opportunity to buy some TMs for his team.
Tetsuya and Sheila arrived at the largest TM shop in Mahogany Town. It had only been established after Pryce stepped down as an Elite Four and returned to Mahogany to serve as the Gym Leader.
At least Pryce's return had indeed boosted Mahogany Town's economy, and Mahogany Gym had practically become the most popular Gym in the Johto Region…
When the owner of the shop saw Sheila, he naturally treated her as an honored guest, cheerfully calling her "oneesan" over and over. 'Ugh…'
"This is Tetsuya, Pryce's student. He's here to buy some TMs, so make sure you give him a good price," Sheila said.
"Hohoho! So this young man is Elite Four Pryce's student? Mm mm~ Truly impressive for someone so young. As for the price… h-hohoh… I'll definitely give you the l-lowest one."
Tetsuya had already decided exactly which TMs he needed!
For Golurk, he wanted to add Stone Edge, increasing its offensive coverage. More importantly, it was a long-range physical move, making it an excellent option for countering interference and disruption.
Beedrill could learn many moves. Since it was currently focusing on strength training, once its progress became noticeable, it would be time to teach it Swords Dance. It was an extremely practical move for boosting physical attacks.
Not only did Swords Dance increase Attack, but when used skillfully, it also had many tactical applications. Using Swords Dance while dodging or confronting an opponent's attacks was entirely possible.
Of course, that required long-term practice. Whether Beedrill could achieve a major improvement with this move would determine whether its strength could rise another level. Otherwise, it would truly begin to fall behind.
The other move was U-turn. Although its power was not especially high, it had unique value at critical moments, allowing Beedrill to attack before immediately retreating and switching with another Pokémon, potentially avoiding a fatal KO.
As for Houndoom, it could learn Overheat. Although using this move consumed a great deal of energy, it was incredibly powerful and could serve as a decisive finishing move at crucial moments.
Houndoom could also learn the Dark-type move Dark Pulse. Although it already knew Beat Up and Foul Play, those were both physical Attacks.
Tetsuya intended to raise Houndoom as a mixed attacker, and since Dark Pulse was a special Dark-type move, it perfectly covered Houndoom's weakness. Both of these moves would be extremely important in increasing Houndoom's combat power.
Houndoom was the type that hated to lose. As long as it was given a goal, it would naturally train with everything it had. If it encountered the right opportunity, it would surely take another big step forward.
As for the Four-headed Weezing, the two additional heads gained through Evolution could learn Fire Blast, further increasing the power of the move combination Tetsuya had designed. Adding Fire Blast to the explosion created by Poison Gas and Flamethrower would naturally make it even more powerful.
As for Skorupi, it had not yet undergone systematic training for its level-up moves, so there was no need for it to learn any new ones at the moment.
"I'll take these six: Stone Edge, Swords Dance, U-turn, Overheat, Dark Pulse, and Fire Blast," Tetsuya said.
The owner was taken aback. Buying six TMs at once definitely qualified Tetsuya as a major customer. "Oh? Hohoho! You're buying six TMs all at once?"
"That depends on whether you're willing to give me a discount," Tetsuya said.
Sheila also asked, "Do you have that much money on you? If not, I can go back and get some."
"No need. The inheritance my parents left me is more than enough," Tetsuya said.
Sheila nodded, and the owner quickly went to retrieve the TMs. Before long, he returned with all six of them.
"Go ahead and calculate the total," Tetsuya said.
"Hai hai! The original price for Stone Edge is 10k, Swords Dance is 20k, U-turn is 8k, Overheat is 12k, Dark Pulse is 8k too! Fire Blast is 10k. That comes to a total of, umm… 68,000 Pokédollars! I'll give you a 20% discount, eh…? Just pay 54,000 Pokédollars," The owner said.
Neither Tetsuya nor Sheila had anything to say. The price was already extremely cheap, and such a discount could not be found anywhere else. Naturally, that was mainly thanks to Pryce's and Sheila's reputation.
Tetsuya took out his card and paid. The "mobile" function of his Pokédex was linked to his bank card, so a balance notification arrived immediately. The balance was over 2.64 million Pokédollars. He could not even be bothered to look at the remaining digits.
Fortunately, Mahogany Gym had a TM device, saving him another expense. Playing the TMs one by one so the corresponding Pokémon could learn them would still take two days.
As for Beedrill, there was no rush to teach it Swords Dance. It would not be too late to do so after completing its training at the glacier falls. Given Beedrill's current physical condition, it would only be able to use Swords Dance at most twice.
As for Houndoom, it only needed to learn one move first. After weighing the options, Tetsuya decided to have it learn Dark Pulse before anything else.
Golurk's three-month inactive period had also come to an end. Bright Powder had completely fused with its body. The light reflecting off Golurk's body was exceptionally dazzling✨. Under the blazing sun, Golurk was practically a giant mirror…
Bright Powder combined with Sunny Day, Golurk's presence was simply overpowered!
Although Bright Powder would be banned from competitive battles many years later, "competitive battling" was merely a passing experience for Tetsuya. Real battles were far more than simply reducing an opponent to "unable to battle" in an arena.
---◓---
By the time Tetsuya and Sheila returned to Mahogany Gym, it was already evening. Sheila had also bought quite a few ingredients. By then, Pryce had sobered up and was in the courtyard training his Pokémon.
"Eh? When did you get here, Tetsuya?" Pryce asked, setting aside what he was doing.
"Humph! We've already walked all around Mahogany Town. See!? Tetsuya really does care about you. It's only the third day of the New Year, and he already came to Mahogany Gym to see you!
You two talk. I'll go make dinner! Tch, it's just a shame that Farfetch'd was designated a rare Pokémon at the end of last year and is now protected by the League; hunting them is no longer allowed… che, that means one delicious dish is missing from the dinner table!
Sigh~ I should've stocked up last year while I still could," Sheila said before heading into the kitchen.
"…"
"…"
"…What are your plans for this year?" Pryce asked.
"I'll train at the glacier falls for a while first. Once you've found a way to deal with the Shadow Team, I'll naturally do my part without hesitation," Tetsuya said.
"Mm. That's a good plan. As long as the Shadow Team still exists, you'll never truly be safe. After all, you're one of the survivors from that island. …Oh, right! How's your companion? She's not in any danger, is she?" Pryce asked with concern.