Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 494: Inventory and Arrangements

March 24, Tuesday, Afternoon.

Kanaz City – "A Ray of Sunshine" Café.

"Phew—"

Johan sank into the reclining chair in the courtyard and let out a long breath.

Finally, a moment to rest.

But as soon as he relaxed, he sat upright again and looked forward.

His Pokémon were all neatly seated in front of him—either on chairs or sitting on cushions they had who-knows-where found, even grass mats. Each one held a coconut, picked from Lugia's island and brought back via Gengar's dimensional space.

It wasn't just Gengar and the usual gang. Also present were the Gallade siblings, Alcremie, the Salt King, and even Jigglypuff.

Jigglypuff, who had been out wandering for a few days, had returned for a break. According to it, the recent "concert tour" wasn't going so well, so after a day or two of rest, it planned to try its luck down south.

Johan had no reason to stop it.

"Ahem." Johan cleared his throat. "Family meeting."

"You all know, the Youth Masters World Championship is coming up. Just the prize money alone is 50 million Pokédollars!"

"Ka-kaah?!"

How much?!

Gengar cried out. The others were equally shocked. Larvitar, who had no concept of money, reacted a beat late, copying everyone's surprise.

"This tournament's going to be the toughest one yet," Johan continued. "But our household is democratic. Raise your hand if you want to compete!"

Shoop-shoop-shoop—

A variety of hands instantly went up.

Gengar and the rest, naturally, were eager. Even Ninetales raised her tail-hand.

"Yoji! Yoji!"

Larvitar shot its little paw high, chirping nonstop. It didn't get the chance last time, but this time, it was determined to go.

Seven of them in total, plus the older Gallade sister raised her hand without hesitation.

What surprised Johan most... was that Rotom raised its hand too.

"So, does raising your hand mean you want to battle?"

"Lo...Loto? d(д)"

Rotom was stunned. Wasn't the vote just about entering the tournament? Does raising your hand also sign you up to fight?!

"Well then, we'll need to intensify our training. Be ready!" Johan said with a grin.

"Ka-kaah!"

Gengar led the charge, clenching its fist with high morale.

Training? No problem.

Gengar had never pushed itself to the point of exhaustion before. It wanted to try at least once.

...which earned it a knock on the head from Johan.

He wasn't letting them overdo it. Training should be balanced, steady progress, step by step.

As the saying goes—you can't eat a [Sirfetch'd] in one bite.

"Alright then, meeting adjourned!"

Once everyone scattered off to their own fun, Johan began reviewing their recent haul.

Originally, he just wanted to explore some "Sea God" ruins to maybe find ancient relics or gems to sell—but instead, he found the Sea Temple itself.

The temple had plenty of gems and crystals, all massive in size.

But... he couldn't take any of it.

Fortunately, they found some great items on Lugia's island and inside the Ghost Pirates' giant submarine.

Among the loot: Miracle Seeds, Energy Roots, Dusk Stones, Razor Claws, ores and minerals—dozens of useful items.

Some were gathered from the wild—tide-pooling, or foraging on Lugia's island. Others came from scouring the Ghosts' sub.

Besides what they could use themselves, Johan estimated that selling the rest would bring in at least 10 million Pokédollars.

Huge profit!

If only he could've hauled off the entire submarine, the profits would be even crazier.

That thing was worth billions just in construction costs.

No wonder Gengar didn't find much treasure inside—it probably all went into building the sub.

Still, for Johan, this was more than enough.

And the League couldn't possibly keep the whole thing without compensating him—especially since his own sailboat was destroyed.

Such a massive submarine also hinted that the Ghosts had serious backing. A bunch of Pokémon hunters couldn't possibly build something like that on their own, no matter how rich.

Aside from all this, two things particularly caught Johan's attention.

One was a black strand of hair from the Ghost pirate—most likely from Spectrier, the ghostly steed of the Galarian Crown King, Calyrex.

Riding Spectrier or Glastrier greatly empowered Calyrex. The "Reins of Unity" required Spectrier's mane and a black carrot.

Johan wondered if Tinkaton, master of metals, could forge soft materials like hair and vegetables into equipment...

If so, riding a ghost horse might not be impossible in the future!

Forget white horses—black horses were way cooler, right?

The most important find, of course, was the Earth Plate shard Lugia gifted him.

He carefully took it out of his pocket and placed it in his palm.

The Ground-type energy was overwhelming.

"All those minerals on Lugia's island... maybe this Plate had something to do with it," Johan murmured.

But that was a process that took who-knows-how-many years. Hard to replicate.

As for Ground-type users in his team? No need to think hard.

He looked up—and saw Larvitar drooling, practically radiating "I wanna eat that" from its face.

Johan twitched.

This shard was absolutely best suited for Larvitar... but should he give it now?

Not that he was stingy.

Just...

If this little guy already treated Plate shards like snacks, what happens next?

What's even higher-grade than a Plate fragment?

Nothing!

If Johan spoiled its taste now, would he have to rob Arceus next?!

But...

Looking at Larvitar's pitiful expression, Johan chuckled and waved it over.

"Yoji! Yoji!"

Larvitar scampered over, legs wobbling in excitement.

"Heh..."

Johan handed it the Plate fragment.

Oowu!

The little guy opened its mouth and popped the shard in without hesitation.

Damn.

No hesitation at all, huh?

"Yoji... glug glug..."

But the shard wasn't exactly easy to eat.

Larvitar bit and bit but couldn't make a dent in it.

"Yoji?"

It spat it back out and turned it over in its hand, confused.

How was there a stone it couldn't bite through?

Even the axe-scyther obsidian-like rocks it could eventually crush with some effort.

But this? Not even a scratch?

Still...

It did taste kinda good. Like a hard candy.

Larvitar tossed the shard back into its mouth and rolled it around with satisfaction.

Johan sighed with relief.

Good. Even as a "fragment," the Plate was too hard for Larvitar's baby teeth to crack yet.

"How does it feel?" Johan asked.

"Yoji!"

Larvitar raised its tiny fist, feeling stronger than ever.

Power!!

It was thrilled.

Exactly how much stronger it would become... they'd have to wait and see.

A Ground-type pseudo-legendary gifted by the "Giovanni of Earth" himself, now empowered by the Earth Plate... it was going to be terrifying.

Perhaps one day, it'd become truly unstoppable on solid ground.

"Alright, off you go."

He patted its dull horn.

"Yoji!"

Before Larvitar could bound off, Johan added: "No using moves in the house."

It froze mid-step and chuckled nervously.

It was just about to test its leg strength...

Boom!

Even its casual stomp left a visible footprint.

Johan winced.

If it had really gone full force, he might need to renovate the whole house...

"Ceruledge, Gallade."

He called over Ceruledge and the older Gallade sister.

Ceruledge had been practicing Solar Blade in the courtyard. Gallade had been tidying up.

"You'll be learning Psychic Terrain and Expanding Force from her," Johan said to Ceruledge.

"Goka!"

Ceruledge nodded and rotated its armor knob. In a swirl of heat and fire, it transformed into Armarouge.

"Eeye~"

The Gallade sister bowed politely, and Armarouge quickly returned the gesture.

"These will help you." Johan handed them two Dawn Stones—not looted, but traded for through Drake and the League.

These stones would enhance their psychic abilities and aid in learning those two key moves.

As they went off to train together, Johan pondered a thought.

"Urshifu switching styles mid-battle isn't banned since the form change isn't too drastic... but Ceruledge switching forms—will that be banned?"

That ability was arguably OP.

It changed typing, moveset, and even switched between physical and special attack styles.

No one else could replicate it.

Even Tinkaton couldn't reproduce that armor—its materials were too rare.

"Meh, I'll ask the organizers later."

Then—

Johan brought out his laptop and summoned Rotom to connect.

He uploaded, sorted, and analyzed all the training data from the past few days to prep for their future training plans.

Now that they were entering the tournament...

Time to get serious.

After all, the opponents were absurdly strong, but—

There was one thing that mattered most:

Make. That. Money.

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Powerstones?

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