Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 705: What Did You Do to Tapu Bulu? (Two-in-One - )

"Uh..."

Anabel was stunned for three seconds before understanding what Teacher Johan meant by "requisition."

Having worked as a Frontier Brain at the Battle Frontier in Hoenn, she understood some of the Hoenn League’s "customs," plus having known and worked with Teacher Johan for so long, she’d heard some "rumors."

So after a brief moment of stunned silence, she immediately said:

"I’ll write it, I’ll approve it."

With the strength Kartana had displayed, it really wasn’t something any random Master-level trainer could handle. Anabel herself had no confidence at all, even with all her Pokémon out.

Moreover, though Teacher Johan wasn’t yet a Champion, Anabel could still recognize Champion-level strength.

Just using some relatively precious materials, metals, or funding to "hire" such an existence to solve their troubles - this was simply a godsend.

If other leagues knew about this, believe it or not, dozens of phone calls would immediately blow up Teacher Johan’s phone?

"Alright then, you keep busy and try to develop Poké Balls that can capture UBs as soon as possible." Johan said with a gentle smile, then ended this "livestream."

Most of the data about Kartana had already been sent to Anabel and Dr. Burnet through the Rotom Pokédex.

Dr. Burnet became busy again as well.

Meanwhile.

Johan put down the Rotom Pokédex, fed Ceruledge some stamina-restoring energy cubes, handed it over to the "heartbroken" Tinkaton, then walked toward Kartana.

"Swish..."

Kartana had regained consciousness, though it still looked quite listless, sitting dejectedly on the ground.

Noticing Johan approaching, it called out softly to indicate that once it recovered its condition and stamina, it would leave.

It had come to the Alola region to find opponents worth cutting.

Now that it had found one, it was satisfied.

However, while it could easily slice through space, cutting through the spatial barrier between the Pokémon world and Ultra Space wasn’t something it could do casually with a single sword strike - it needed to find weak points between the two spaces.

"No rush."

Johan crouched down, taking out some condition-restoring energy cubes. "If you’re willing, you can stay longer and spar more with Ceruledge on swordsmanship."

Having already gotten one Buzzwole, Johan didn’t mind having another Kartana.

The "UB Task Force" would cover the feeding costs anyway.

At least from the clash between Kartana and Ceruledge just now, Johan had seen room for Ceruledge’s improvement.

Training partners - the more the merrier.

Especially training partners funded by someone else.

Ceruledge could still learn some moves from Kartana, like X-Scissor and such.

"Swish?"

Kartana looked toward Ceruledge.

"Goka!" Ceruledge raised its blade in respect.

Though these two Pokémon had just fought intensely, neither had gotten truly angry. Instead, they both seemed to appreciate each other.

Seeing Ceruledge’s stance, Kartana thought briefly, then nodded as well.

As it had indicated earlier, first it needed to recover its condition.

Second, slicing through space required timing - it couldn’t just wave its hand and open a passage between the Pokémon world and Ultra Space. There needed to be spatial pathways first.

Otherwise it wouldn’t be Kartana, but a sun/moon deity - even the space deities didn’t have that kind of ability.

Seeing Kartana agree, Johan was in a very good mood.

Look, he’d gained another assistant for food prep.

After handling this, Johan finally looked toward Tapu Bulu.

He found it sitting lazily with Gengar, eating... popcorn?

Johan: "..."

"Moo..."

Noticing Johan’s gaze, Tapu Bulu showed a friendly smile.

It had witnessed the entire Ceruledge VS Kartana process and was equally amazed by both Pokémon’s strength.

Since Johan had helped it solve its biggest "trouble," it naturally wouldn’t go back on its word.

"Ninetales." Johan called softly.

"Oowoo~"

Ninetales half-closed its eyes, and island aura belonging to Ula’ula Island, guided by its Fairy Aura, slowly formed pink threads that wrapped around.

At the same time.

Tapu Bulu’s stance also indicated its agreement for Johan to retrieve the "Fairy Plate."

With just one more guardian deity to "convince," Johan could complete the main objective of this Alola trip.

Crunch— crunch—

Tapu Bulu’s popcorn-eating motion suddenly paused as it looked toward Ninetales with some puzzlement and curiosity.

The puzzlement was the same as Tapu Koko’s - how had Xerneas taught this technique?

The curiosity was wondering what kind of benefits Ninetales would gain if it could truly borrow the aura power from all four islands.

Others might not know how the island aura of the Alola region came to be, but as an island guardian deity, Tapu Bulu was very clear about it.

At this moment, Tapu Bulu felt someone beside it and looked back to see Johan with a full smile.

Tapu Bulu’s heart skipped a beat.

With such a shady smile, what are you planning?

"Ahem." Johan coughed lightly. "Tapu Bulu, let’s discuss something."

"Moo?"

Tapu Bulu instinctively put a little distance between itself and Johan.

It felt that smile wasn’t simple, and what he wanted to say wasn’t simple either.

Johan said with a relaxed expression:

"Actually it’s nothing major, just want to ask for your help planting some seeds, simple germination and growth is fine."

[Really?]

Tapu Bulu’s voice echoed in Johan’s mind.

[Just this one thing?]

It thought Johan was going to ask it to help train Snivy.

As a Grass-type legendary, Tapu Bulu could naturally sense Snivy’s uniqueness.

But honestly, Tapu Bulu disliked trouble, and teaching Pokémon was the kind of troublesome thing it usually wasn’t willing to do.

But stimulating seeds to germinate and grow was much simpler - this was also what it was best at.

"Right, just this one thing." Johan’s smile became even more gentle.

After staring at Johan for a long while and confirming he wasn’t lying, Tapu Bulu relaxed slightly and waved its thick arm.

[That’s simple.]

"Gengar!" Johan looked uncommonly excited as he called out.

"Ka-kaah!"

The well-prepared Gengar immediately brought out a box, but it wasn’t filled with energy cubes - it was seeds Johan had prepared long ago.

Originally intended for planting on his own island.

Now it seemed...

He could completely have Tapu Bulu first make these seeds germinate and grow, at least to the sapling stage, then transplant them to his own island.

Even, if Tapu Bulu was willing, it could directly mature these seeds, saving him considerable time.

[Um, there are quite a few...]

Looking at the whole box of seeds, Tapu Bulu said somewhat helplessly.

[But it’s fine, considering you helped...]

"Ka-kaah!"

Before it could finish, Gengar brought out another box of seeds.

[Uh...]

Then.

"Ka-kaah~ Ka-kaah~"

In Gengar’s happy humming, box after box of seeds was brought out.

Tapu Bulu: "..."

"Ka-kaah!"

Gengar seemed to suddenly remember something, held up one finger, then carefully took out a more special box from the shadows.

Clearly, it was a box of "Revival Herb" seeds!

Revival Herb was a medicinal plant that could pull Pokémon back from "near-death" status, working similarly to Max Revive, or rather it was one of the materials for making Max Revive.

However, Revival Herb was extremely difficult to cultivate and had very high requirements for environment and nutrients.

The Unova region produced Revival Herb because it had Landorus, who governed fertile soil, and Johan had tried growing Revival Herb before but always failed.

Of course, back then he didn’t have his island yet.

Gengar had long wanted to taste what Revival Herb was like.

Tapu Bulu’s eyes widened.

[Are you treating me like an old bull?]

Right after saying this, it saw Gengar point at the wooden bull horns on its head, the meaning unmistakable.

Tapu Bulu: "..."

"Thank you so much, you’re working hard, Tapu Bulu."

Johan very thoughtfully brought out many boxes of energy cubes.

"These can help you restore and replenish energy."

How considerate of you.

Tapu Bulu couldn’t help but grumble internally.

But having agreed to something, not doing it properly wouldn’t be the style of an island guardian deity...

So.

Tapu Bulu picked up some seeds and began planting and nurturing them. Plump seeds quickly took root and sprouted, soon becoming lush green saplings.

"Sni?"

Snivy watched Tapu Bulu’s movements and couldn’t help approaching to observe its every action.

It thought of the "Miracle Berry" tree in the center of the island. If it could learn something from Tapu Bulu, it might be able to better help that tree.

"Sni..."

Grassy Terrain plus Grass Knot?

Plus... reverse Giga Drain?

Giga Drain could be reversed?

Snivy pondered thoughtfully, also mimicking Tapu Bulu’s actions by burying a seed, then channeling Grass-type energy as grass spread from its feet.

Grassy Terrain!

Then came Grass Knot.

The seed slowly wriggled, roots and buds growing, breaking through the ground and slowly extending.

Not "Grass Seed" or a pure move, so the seed’s growth speed was undoubtedly much slower than imagined.

Watching Tapu Bulu already nurture five seeds while the seed in front of it had only grown a few centimeters, Snivy pursed its lips.

"Sni..."

Reverse Giga Drain...

How to reverse this move?

It looked at Tapu Bulu again, watching it quickly nurture energy while thinking and mimicking.

In terms of learning ability, Snivy was quite outstanding.

Originally it didn’t know Giga Drain, but now it had learned it.

Suddenly.

After learning Giga Drain, Snivy had a sudden realization.

"Sni..."

Reverse Giga Drain, reversing, going opposite... isn’t that Contrary?

As if a light bulb went off, Snivy grasped the key, green light emanating from its hand, then through Contrary, bit by bit infusing Grass-type energy into the small sapling that could barely be called a berry tree.

For a moment.

The grass around Snivy’s feet began growing rapidly, the originally two-three centimeter grass gradually growing to over ten centimeters.

And the sapling in front of it also grew at visible speed, quickly surpassing Snivy’s height, exceeding one meter!

Though this growth speed couldn’t compare to Tapu Bulu’s, the commotion still caught the attention of both Johan and Tapu Bulu.

After a brief moment of surprise, Johan showed a gratified smile.

"This little guy..."

Ula’ula Island.

Atop Mount Lanakila.

Snow flew through the air, the entire world seemingly wrapped in silver, with a figure and an agile snow spirit walking leisurely through the blizzard.

"The temperature here is almost as cold as the Crown Tundra, isn’t it?"

Johan pressed down his hat to prevent it from being blown away, looking at the white expanse before him and speaking softly.

The howling cold wind carried goose-feather snow, making it difficult for ordinary people to walk in such conditions, let alone survive.

This was a paradise for Ice-type Pokémon.

"Oowoo..."

Ninetales’ azure eyes flickered as its gaze swept around, seeming to search while also reminiscing.

A slightly melancholic emotion spread from its body.

Johan didn’t speak.

He just gently placed his palm on Ninetales’ neck, stroking slowly and gently.

"Oowoo~"

Ninetales came back to its senses, gently nuzzling Johan with its head, its tail curling around his arm.

Breathing out slightly, ice crystals floated in the air.

No matter what its past had been, no matter what it had experienced, now it just wanted to stay with Johan, protect him, and grow and improve together with him.

If needed, it would spare no effort to help Johan achieve his goals and fulfill his wishes!

This was what it most wanted to do now!

As if hearing Ninetales’ call, or perhaps sensing extremely strong Ice-type energy, the snow on the ground shifted slightly, and a crystal-like head poked out.

Blinking pure eyes with some curiosity.

It was clearly an Alolan form Sandshrew.

Like Alolan Vulpix and Ninetales, Alolan Sandshrew had originally been ordinary Sandshrew, but due to environmental changes and survival needs, they had been forced to migrate to the snowy mountains.

To adapt to the snowy mountains and extremely cold weather, Alolan Sandshrew gained Ice-type attributes.

Their originally rock and soil-adapted tan hard shells became ice-crystal covered, slowing their movement speed, but on ice or in snow, they became much faster than original Sandshrew.

Besides Ice-type, to be able to dig through solid ice, Alolan Sandshrew also gained Steel-type attributes.

However, their overly hard armor made them lose the ability to curl up and protect themselves, making their bellies their greatest weakness.

"Oowoo~"

Ninetales smiled with crescent eyes, greeting it friendly.

Rustle rustle—

A larger Alolan Sandslash suddenly emerged from the ice cave, showing little reaction to Ninetales, but immediately pressed the curious Sandshrew back down upon seeing Johan.

With some snow tumbling, the opened ice cave was buried again.

The mother protected her child very well...

Johan smiled, not minding.

He just looked at Ninetales and asked: "Want to look for your family?"

Though Ninetales had only followed Johan for a year, it had been wandering for many years before that.

With so many years passed, the seemingly unchanging peak of Mount Lanakila had actually undergone great changes.

"Oowoo~"

Ninetales seriously shook its head.

It had always wandered alone, until it met Johan and Gengar and the others.

Pulling Johan’s hand, Ninetales walked toward the mountain’s base.

Its family had always been by its side!

"Hm?"

Johan was startled, then understood Ninetales’ thoughts and showed a gentle smile.

"However, should we go look at the ’Never-Melt Ice’?"

Under the warm farewell of Sophocles’ parents, Johan stood at Sophocles’ family doorstep saying goodbye.

"Sophocles has been trouble for you, thank you for taking care of him, Teacher Johan."

"This child is usually rather lazy, please supervise him more, Teacher Johan. If he causes trouble, please don’t hesitate to discipline him strictly so he can learn his lesson."

Little chubby Sophocles stood between his parents, feeling somewhat indignant listening to their words but not knowing what to say, only struggling to maintain his smile.

"Sophocles is a very outstanding child." Johan smiled. "He’s extremely talented with electronics. I believe he’ll definitely become a remarkable inventor in the future."

Maybe Sophocles didn’t have as much talent as a trainer as Penny, Flannery, Roxanne and others, and couldn’t compare to Steven, but in electronics... his talent was no less than Volkner’s.

"Really? Thank you so much, Teacher Johan."

Hearing Johan’s praise of their child, though Sophocles’ parents still seriously hoped Teacher Johan would teach strictly, they couldn’t help showing heartfelt smiles.

No parents didn’t want their children to succeed.

Though there wasn’t so-called cramming or oppressive education, parents’ expectations for their children to improve wouldn’t change.

It’s just that before the big goal of hoping children could become better, they added the premise of hoping children could be happy and joyful.

After repeatedly declining Sophocles’ parents’ invitations to stay, Johan walked on the fields outside Malie City’s outskirts in a very good mood.

Actually.

His home visit purpose was partly to go to various islands and also for the artificial island where the Aether Foundation was located, and partly hoping to get parents like Sophocles, Kiawe, and Mallow to respect their children’s own choices more.

Being trainers was certainly good, but their hobbies were equally important.

Now it seemed.

Their parents were all much more open-minded than he had imagined.

"Dragonite."

After walking some distance, Johan threw out a Poké Ball.

"Draaa~~"

"Let’s go see how Tapu Bulu’s ’work’ is going."

Dragonite flapped its wings, happily carrying Johan back to above the Ruins of Abundance.

From far away.

He could hear huge thunder-like snoring sounds and see a patch of lush green scenery.

Johan’s expression was strange.

Tapu Bulu was currently lying on the ground fast asleep, with several scattered energy cubes and seeds nearby, as if it had suddenly fallen asleep while "working."

"Ahem."

Landing beside Tapu Bulu, he coughed lightly with some embarrassment.

However, Tapu Bulu still showed no signs of waking up.

"Ceruledge." Johan called out. "How long has it been sleeping?"

"Goka?"

Not far away, Ceruledge, who was sparring swordsmanship with Kartana and had also been left by Johan to "supervise," shrugged.

I don’t know.

"Swish!"

Kartana was equally unclear.

Well then.

It seemed Tapu Bulu was truly exhausted.

Though he still had a large batch of seeds that hadn’t been planted, just from Tapu Bulu’s diligent labor this one day, the harvest of berry tree saplings was quite substantial.

Even more than the saplings transplanted from the Crown Tundra’s Ballimere Lake grassland.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Johan sighed lightly, his conscience seeming to stir as he put away the remaining seeds, then placed several more boxes of energy cubes.

With his own Pokémon, he dug up these varied berry tree saplings one by one.

Just this digging work was no small project.

"Phew—"

As the moon rose, Johan straightened his back, wiping sweat from his forehead and breathing out deeply.

All the saplings had been stuffed into Gengar’s shadow, waiting to be planted once they returned to Hoenn.

Then he would truly harvest a large berry orchard!

"Getting closer and closer to becoming a berry tycoon."

Johan was in quite a good mood.

"Let’s go, time to head back."

Looking at the moon hanging high in the night sky, Johan thought briefly but decided to return to Melemele Island.

Buzzwole was still at the Pokémon school on Melemele Island. Though Professor Kukui was watching it, it was better to return.

After placing the sleeping Tapu Bulu on what looked like a softer patch of grass, he dismissed the thought of waking it up.

He left several boxes of energy cubes as thanks.

"Thank you, Tapu Bulu." Johan said sincerely.

"Moo~ Moo~ zzZ"

"We’ll come again next time."

The sleeping Tapu Bulu might or might not have heard this, as its snoring suddenly stopped, then resumed after a while.

Melemele Island, in the "bear-infested" forest.

"This kind of life is comfortable, but... it’s really boring~"

Jessie lay on a pile of berries with messy hair, her whole belly seeming to have grown a size.

"And every day it’s just berries and Honey, I’m getting a bit tired of it."

James took a bite of a crisp Sitrus Berry, saying while chewing.

"Wobb?"

At this moment, Bewear, who was collecting firewood in the forest, raised its head, looking in a direction with some puzzlement in its eyes, then realization.

Immediately, it dropped the firewood in its hands and rushed toward the tree hollow at incredible speed.

Under the shocked gazes of the trio, it picked them up.

"Wait, wait! What are you doing?!" Jessie cried out in alarm.

"Flying! We’re flying—" James suddenly had a feeling both familiar and strange.

"Where are we going, meow?" Meowth gripped the thick arms tightly.

"Wobb~ buffet—↓"

Falling!

"We’re going to fall into the ocean—"

Splash!!

Large splashes immediately rose from the sea surface.

However, the expected feeling of being surrounded by seawater didn’t come. When they cautiously, slowly opened their eyes, they saw...

"Water, water walking!" ×3

It was actually holding them and running directly across the sea surface at incredible speed.

Melemele Island.

Pokémon School, Teacher Johan’s faculty residence.

"Buzz! (′▽`〃)"

Buzzwole faced a mirror, admiring its own figure full of violent aesthetics with satisfaction.

Perfect! Too perfect!

Professor Kukui held the mirror, yawning loudly with tears squeezing from his eyes.

Then he saw... a bear-like Pokémon suddenly leap into the middle of the full moon, seemingly holding something in its arms.

Hm?

Professor Kukui rubbed his eyes.

"I must be too tired, I’m actually seeing a Bewear flying in the sky? And holding several people?"

While muttering, he looked toward the moon again.

Sure enough.

Besides the full moon, there was nothing there.

"Teacher Johan hasn’t returned from his home visit yet? What a conscientious and responsible teacher..."

Professor Kukui sighed with admiration.

Such a good teacher, why wasn’t he from their Alola Pokémon School?

If Teacher Johan was from Alola... Kukui didn’t dare imagine how wonderful that would be.

He wouldn’t have to worry himself sick over the Alola League anymore.

Bang—

The door was pushed open.

He’s back?!

Professor Kukui perked up, looking toward the door.

Along with him was Buzzwole, who had been admiring itself for over three hours.

However.

It wasn’t Johan who appeared at the door, but Dr. Burnet.

"Buzz! (′▽`〃)"

Dr. Burnet gasped heavily, first instinctively striking a pose and responding to Buzzwole: "Buzz!"

Then she looked at Professor Kukui.

"Teacher Johan hasn’t returned yet?"

"No." Professor Kukui was startled, seemingly sensing Burnet’s urgency and couldn’t help asking: "What’s wrong?"

Dr. Burnet pursed her lips and said gravely:

"I’m afraid... something big is about to happen!"

Ula’ula Island, high altitude.

"Slower, Dragonite, we’re not in a hurry..."

Johan lay on Dragonite’s back, gripping the harness tightly and keeping his voice low.

"Draaa~"

Dragonite obediently called out, slightly reducing its speed.

At this moment, Johan’s phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID showed an unfamiliar number.

But considering he didn’t have the habit of giving his number to people casually, after brief hesitation, he still pressed the answer button.

Soon, a voice he’d heard just this morning came through the phone.

"Don’t tell me you stayed on Mount Lanakila until now and just came down? Your phone was unreachable the whole time!"

It was actually Ula’ula Island’s Island Kahuna Nanu!

"Eh? Mr. Nanu has my contact information?"

Brief silence.

Johan continued:

"The Alola region’s communication network is still a bit poor, especially in more dangerous places with complex environments. I know a very good construction team, I wonder if..."

The entire Alola region hadn’t been extensively developed, which for Team Rocket was undoubtedly an excellent development location.

"I know who you know too!" Nanu said irritably.

Right.

Johan realized.

When Nanu was an International Police officer, he had a rather complex relationship with Team Rocket’s leader Giovanni. Even after retiring from the front lines, they still had contact.

Nanu quickly realized he’d said too much.

So he quickly changed the subject and asked gravely:

"What did you do to Tapu Bulu?"

"Uh..."

How did this involve Tapu Bulu again?

"It’s fine." Johan laughed awkwardly.

Sleeping so soundly.

The kind that couldn’t be woken no matter how hard you tried.

"What happened? How does Mr. Nanu know that Tapu Bulu is, um, sleeping?"

"Sleeping?" Nanu was somewhat bewildered.

At this moment, the Rotom Pokédex suddenly floated out of Johan’s pocket.

"Incoming video call, Rotom!" the Rotom Pokédex said.

Hm?

Was it a no-signal area just now?

Why did both phone calls and video calls come in as soon as they flew over?

Bzzt—

After brief blurriness, Anabel’s image appeared on the Rotom Pokédex, with a tall woman with long blonde hair and a mature aura standing beside her.

Aether Foundation President, Lillie’s mother, Lusamine?!

"Teacher Johan, your phone was busy, so I could only video call you."

Anabel spoke quickly, as if something important had happened, not even introducing the Aether Foundation President Lusamine beside her.

With a phone call on one side and the Rotom Pokédex floating in front of him, Johan finally realized that something big might have happened without his knowledge.

It couldn’t be...

That Necrozma had awakened, could it?

This soon?

However, Anabel didn’t give Johan much time to guess, instead switching the screen view.

He saw:

Under the cloudless night sky, beneath the bright moonlight, jagged rocky mountains stood tall, with a towering massive altar particularly prominent.

A cross-shaped giant altar with a circular disc at its center, bathed in moonlight and faintly emanating a soft glow.

Below was a bottomless water pool surrounding the altar’s location, with special carvings and structures on the platform beneath the altar.

Altar of the Sunne!

At first glance, Johan recognized it as the ancient Altar of the Sunne located in Poni Canyon on Poni Island in the Alola region!

This was the entrance to Ultra Space’s Ultra Megalopolis, and also where Solgaleo and Lunala first arrived in the Alola region.

However.

At this moment, on this seemingly peaceful altar, three Pokémon of different appearances were flying.

They were the guardian deities of the Alola region!

Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini!

Only Ula’ula Island’s guardian deity Tapu Bulu was missing.

Embarrassment flashed across Johan’s face for a moment.

No wonder Nanu thought he’d done something to Tapu Bulu - so this was why...

Three of the four island guardian deities suddenly gathering at the Altar of the Sunne, with Tapu Bulu not appearing, was itself a very strange thing.

However...

The island guardian deities gathering together.

Something big was about to happen!

"At least it’s not Necrozma awakening." Johan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Speaking of which, when Necrozma awakened, the "widespread lethargy" debuff it brought was quite an obvious characteristic.

"Ahem."

Johan said: "I’ll bring Tapu Bulu with me."

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