Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 497: Courtyard Renovation!

Early the next morning.

Mew reluctantly said goodbye to Johan and the rest of the little ones, carrying its stash of snacks and its favorite drama series—probably enough to last it until the Spring Festival.

Wearing pajamas and standing on the second-floor balcony, Johan looked down at the small courtyard below.

To be honest—

The courtyard was a bit small.

Big guys like Garganacl, Dragonite, Urshifu, and Gengar squeezed in just fine for daily life, but if friends came over for a gathering, it would start to feel cramped.

Not to mention, with Dragonite being nearly three meters tall, the house's bathtub had long become inadequate—now it could only shower.

Same with Urshifu—the tub was a no-go.

So, Dragonite, Urshifu, and Gengar had already suggested to Johan more than once—

How about building a swimming pool in the garden?

But the garden was already small—adding a pool would shrink the space even more. And even if they did build it, it probably wouldn't be big enough for the three of them to enjoy.

So, the idea of expanding the garden had been simmering in Johan's mind for a while.

"Let's do it today!" Johan declared boldly for once.

The money he made last time—after buying ores for Yoji the Larvitar and various items for the little ones—still left him with over 2 million Pokédollars.

He hadn't dared spend it yet, just in case he needed it in an emergency.

But that recent trip—with Lugia's island and the giant ghost submarine—had been lucrative. Though not all payments had arrived yet, the total earnings were estimated to exceed 20 million Pokédollars.

With wealth came comfort.

Johan decided to invest 2 million Pokédollars into expanding and remodeling the garden, digging a swimming pool, cultivating farmland, and building a small basic training area for everyday use.

"Not sure if that's enough..."

The garden renovation alone would be fine, but building a training ground was expensive—even a basic one.

Still, for this kind of project, contacting Devon Corporation was a no-brainer.

And the plot of land behind his house? It was already owned by Devon, so he'd need to rent it anyway.

So—

After breakfast, Johan hopped on his bicycle, with Gengar in tow, heading straight to Devon Corporation's headquarters.

"Ka-kaah~~"

Gengar stood with hands on hips, craning its neck at a near 90-degree angle to look up at the towering building.

So tall... Jumping down from there would look epic!

Johan adjusted his consultant badge on his chest.

As a special consultant to Devon Corporation, this was his first actual visit to their headquarters.

Though in the game, he'd been here countless times...

Inside the building—

Many eyes turned toward him immediately.

But once they spotted the consultant badge on his chest, the stares quickly withdrew.

Special Consultant!

How many consultants did Devon even have?

The front desk girls started whispering excitedly.

"He's so handsome—rivaling young master Steven."

"Different vibes, though. This one has more of a scholarly aura."

"Wait, isn't that Johan? Professor Johan? He's our Devon consultant?!"

"He's coming this way—he's here!"

While they whispered, Johan smiled and approached the front desk.

But Gengar beat him to it.

"Ka-kaah!"

The purple chubby ghost popped up in front of the receptionists, startling them. Thankfully, they were trained well and didn't scream.

Johan pressed a hand on Gengar's head, apologizing with a sigh.

"Sorry. I have an appointment with President Joseph Stone."

"Oh! Right!" One of the girls, face slightly pale, hurried to call the president's office.

Once the details were confirmed, she replied, "M-Mr. Johan, the president will see you. He's waiting upstairs on the top floor."

"Thank you."

Johan didn't linger. He dragged Gengar along, kneading its head flat as he scolded:

"Behave, or no training for you today!"

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"Ka-kaah..."

Gengar laughed sheepishly and crossed its chest, swearing an oath.

Using "no training" as a threat—Johan was probably one of a kind.

As for Gengar scaring people?

That's just its nature—look at Bertha, who's worked with her Gengar for decades, and it's still mischievous as ever.

Johan always respected a Pokémon's nature—Gengar's pranks, Tinkaton's bird-smacking, Dragonite's love for flying, etc.

Of course, there was a line. Cross it, and punishment followed.

But the little ones knew Johan's limits—they never went too far.

The glass elevator ascended. The whole of Kanaz City slowly unfolded—coast to the west, forests to the east.

Ding—

The elevator stopped. The doors opened.

And there stood Joseph Stone himself, smiling warmly, waiting.

"Old man!" Johan was a bit surprised but quickly greeted him.

"Hahaha—Johan, your first time at Devon HQ, huh?"

"Yep."

They chatted as they walked toward the office.

"Ooh?" A Castform floated out from behind Joseph, spotting Johan and Gengar—it recognized them instantly.

"Ka-kaah~~"

Gengar grinned and waved at Castform.

In the office, Johan spotted an Aron napping in the corner and a Beldum pretending to be a desk ornament.

Though Joseph wasn't a Trainer, he loved Pokémon and kept quite a few.

In the Pokémon world, many people raised Pokémon as family or friends, even if they weren't Trainers.

The difference was—Joseph was loaded.

The office was big but modestly furnished. A massive desk, a wall of bookshelves, and some potted plants.

The floor-to-ceiling windows and the view beyond were its best features.

Gengar, Castform, and Beldum gathered at the window, quietly gossiping as they gazed outside.

"No problem!"

After hearing Johan's ideas, Joseph Stone waved it off casually.

For a company like Devon, this was nothing.

If Johan wasn't so insistent on not accepting gifts from "student parents," Joseph would've just handed him the land and built him a mansion too.

With Devon's construction team, the renovation would take at most two or three days.

"Actually, I have a few more questions," Johan said after the courtyard plans were sorted.

If that were his only concern, a phone call would've sufficed. No need to waste Joseph's precious time.

"You want to ask... about the 'Rayquaza Capture Project'?" Joseph guessed.

He knew about the recent incident in Verdanturf Town—especially after discovering remnants of Greater Mauville Holdings.

To Johan, the so-called "Rayquaza Capture Project" sounded like a joke.

The Sky Dragon, caught with a few high-tech gadgets and some Elite Four members? Please.

Unless Rayquaza let itself be caught, there was no chance.

Still, the real game-changer in this plan was Devon's "∞ Energy"—the true wild card.

Johan smiled but didn't answer directly.

He wasn't sure if he had the clearance to know these things yet.

Joseph understood.

Johan—his son's most respected mentor, a future Elite Four member without a doubt, the guy who could punch Palkia, kick Lugia, and ride Rayquaza...

After a moment of thought, Joseph said:

"The project was shut down because, first, we realized we couldn't control the risk. If it failed, it could spell disaster for all of Hoenn."

"Second... the remnants of Greater Mauville tried to use the collaboration to steal Devon's secrets."

When Devon and Greater Mauville, two of Hoenn's top tech giants, worked together, secrets inevitably surfaced.

And those secrets? Specifically—Devon's "∞ Energy."

Joseph's words made it clear: Johan's current clearance level was quite high—he could be told a lot.

So Johan asked many questions.

Like whether a girl named "Sygana" appeared during the project. Or who, besides Greater Mauville, was spearheading the operation.

Not for anything in particular—

Johan just wanted to be prepared, in case Team Magma or Team Aqua started something again.

With his current relationship with Rayquaza—it wasn't exactly warm, but probably good enough to summon it when needed to keep its two rowdy brothers in check.

After the talk, Johan felt much more informed and got ready to leave.

"Not staying for lunch?" Joseph asked.

Johan politely declined.

Because by the end, the conversation shifted—

"You really don't want a Pokémon? I could give you a Beldum."

Johan sweatdropped.

Joseph had already gifted him a Tinkaton once. He'd only just managed to raise it properly, and now a Beldum?

And he still had Yoji, the unevolved pseudo-legendary.

Raising two baby pseudo-legendaries, both needing rare ores? Johan thought it best to spare himself.

"N-No thanks! I won't take up more of your time—I'll visit again next time!"

With that, Johan grabbed Gengar and fled the Devon building like a man being chased by a gold-devouring beast.

"Tsk."

Joseph clicked his tongue as Johan disappeared.

Such a shame.

With Johan's ability to raise powerful Pokémon, having him adopt a Beldum could seriously improve the future generations of his family's Beldum line.

"Next time, I'll ask again..."

Once Johan left, his secretary entered with a stack of documents.

"President, this project is still waiting on your signature."

She placed the files on his desk.

Joseph sighed, rubbing his temples.

Johan's visit had been the perfect excuse to take a break—now it was back to work.

If Johan were still there, he would've seen the photo on the file's cover—it was the massive ghost submarine he'd recently "confiscated."

The title? ∞ Energy Submarine Project Proposal.

After reviewing it, Joseph signed without hesitation.

The Pokémon world's exploration of space and the ocean was still limited—Devon was launching both rocket and submarine projects powered by ∞ Energy to explore unknown realms.

As he signed the last page, the secretary adjusted her glasses and left with the documents.

Her movement caught the attention of a few individuals lurking within Devon's building.

Viridian City, Kanto – Team Rocket Base.

Ever since Porygon2 evolved into Porygon-Z, the base's data and network processing skyrocketed.

Researchers had adapted to Porygon-Z's weird gestures and speech.

No matter how odd it was—

It worked!

Everything became more efficient.

Even its random muttering of "Gastly."

Now, the Porygon project was back on the table.

When it was just Porygon, the improvement was minor—Rocket's computers were already advanced.

But with Porygon2 and now Porygon-Z, they realized its potential was massive.

If they could produce dozens of Porygon-Z...

They wouldn't need to fight the League—they could just hack it all.

But the real question was—

How exactly did Porygon evolve?

And then, that day, the usually active Porygon-Z suddenly went quiet.

The researchers were surprised, but not concerned.

It was weird to begin with—being quiet was just another kind of weird.

But to Porygon-Z, this was because while "surfing" the network, it received a strange SOS signal.

Strange coding, unfamiliar symbols, undecipherable language—it had never encountered any of it.

Even more bizarre—the signal came from Unova.

And Porygon-Z was now busy decoding it, trying to extract meaning.

As Mewtwo's "terminal," Porygon-Z sensed—

That even the sleeping Mewtwo seemed intrigued by this signal.

Bzzzz...

Porygon-Z buzzed faintly in the digital realm—its internal systems running at full throttle.

And finally, after countless attempts, it began to decode the message:

[■■■■■]: I want to go home. Please help us. We want to go home.

[Who Am I]: Home.

Devon moved fast.

Maybe because Johan was a Special Consultant.

Maybe because Joseph personally arranged it.

Or maybe Devon was just that efficient.

Johan wasn't even home yet when Devon's construction crew had already started.

As for the design—Penny had already drawn it up per Johan's instructions and handed it off to the crew.

The money was transferred in full—Johan didn't need to worry about anything.

His plan was to expand the courtyard by two to three times.

But Joseph insisted on doing it right—no more future expansions.

So he included the entire space from Johan's backyard to the riverbank.

Without altering the original setup, the expansion added a pool, training ground, planting area, and gravel zone.

It met all needs—swimming, bathing, training, gardening—and gave Garganacl a comfy spot to rest.

The whole process took just two days!

Thanks to Pokémon-world tech, they didn't even need to wait for concrete to cure—by day two, the pool was filled and ready to use.

Speed was everything.

So when Saturday came and Johan brought the little ones to see the transformed backyard—now seven or eight times bigger—they were all wide-eyed with joy.

"Draaa~!!"

Dragonite dove into the pool without hesitation.

Built to Johan's specs—8m deep zone, 4m medium, 1.5m shallow—plus drainage and filtration systems.

There was even a hot zone—Ceruledge could light a fire underneath to turn it into a pseudo-onsen.

The training ground? Perfect for regular training. The reinforced ground wouldn't crack easily.

Garganacl finally had a resting place he adored—and it doubled as Yoji's dining hall.

The entire garden was ringed with greenery, and a central planting patch.

Johan planned to move the Ice and Black Radishes there, plant sunflowers and corn—for self-sufficiency and ambiance.

So, on Saturday, they all got to work.

In the end, Johan and the little ones were very pleased with the transformation.

"That money... totally worth it!"

"...Just not sure why my chest hurts a bit."

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Powerstones?

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