Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 430: Johan: Me? A Master? (BONUS)

The Lily of the Valley Conference championship battle had finally come to an end.

Johan, alongside his Pokémon, stepped onto the podium to receive the champion's trophy and medal from President Damalanche and Elite Four Bertha.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Fireworks burst into the sky once again, and Johan, along with his Pokémon, couldn't help but smile.

That smile meant many things—snacks, ice cubes, dragon scales, metal, charcoal, minerals, and so on...

But regardless of all that—

This was undoubtedly a perfect outcome.

"Let's give another round of applause for Johan and his Pokémon!!"

"Ka-kaah~!"

Standing front and center, **Gengar—wearing sunglasses—completely shoved Johan out of the spotlight.

"Oowoo~"

Ninetales wrapped itself around Johan's right arm, while on the other side stood Tinkaton with her massive hammer and Urshifu, arms crossed in a dramatic stance.

"Draaa~~"

Dragonite hugged Johan's head, grinning goofily.

Beside it, Charcadet was holding onto Larvitar to keep it from running off, while Alcremie and the nosy sibling duo stood close by.

In the shadows, a faint glimpse of Marshadow could be seen holding a wooden stick.

The entire stadium erupted in deafening cheers, as multicolored ribbons rained from the sky.

Click—

Rotom snapped a picture.

And just as the camera captured the moment—

At Gengar's command, all the Pokémon tossed Johan into the air.

Johan: !!?

This "beautiful" moment was immortalized perfectly by Rotom.

With the award ceremony complete, the Lily of the Valley Conference officially came to an end.

Now, it was time to collect the prize money—

Ahem, no—time to celebrate!

Although the tournament had ended, the buzz surrounding it had not faded.

One only had to look at the massive crowds still lingering on Lily of the Valley Island to know this tournament had made an impact.

People couldn't stop talking about Johan's battle against Tobias, where he had toppled a "Legendary Pokémon trainer."

Yes, Tobias—**who had both Latios and Darkrai—**had inevitably earned the nickname "Legendary Pokémon Guy."

Throughout the entire battle, there had been many controversial moments.

But two things stood out the most—

Dragonite's pseudo-legendary triumph over Latios and Darkrai getting put to sleep by Gengar.

Latios: Losing sucked, but seeing Darkrai suffer made it feel so much better! Thanks, Darkrai!

This led to a heated discussion among fans.

"Johan's strength... must be at least Elite Four level, right?"

"Elite Four? Master Mustard already got destroyed by Johan ages ago!"

"At minimum, he's Champion level. His true limit? Unknown. Possibly capable of taking down Arceus itself."

"Damn, and he's competing in a league tournament?"

"New fans, huh? Hey! Listen up—our dear Johan just loves competing in 'baby tournaments'! What are you gonna do about it?"

"..."

The debate over Johan's actual strength had drawn in countless fans.

After all, many believed he wasn't even fighting at full strength against Tobias.

With endorsements from Mustard and Bruno, speculation about Johan's true power ran wild.

Tobias: Sorry, Johan... I wasn't strong enough to make you go all out.

That said, Johan himself had a pretty good grasp of his own level.

He was definitely stronger than most Gym Leaders—

Not just in terms of raw Pokémon strength, but also in terms of strategy and tactics.

But against a true Elite Four?

Maybe... Gengar could match a standard Elite Four ace.

Honestly, Johan hadn't seen Gengar go all out in a long time.

As for Ninetales, Tinkaton, Dragonite, and the newly evolved Urshifu—

They were a little behind Gengar in raw power.

Of course, that was under normal conditions.

But Pokémon battles are never just about normal conditions.

Ninetales had absolute defense.

Tinkaton had insane strength.

Dragonite had Outrage mode.

Urshifu had form switching.

If they truly pushed beyond their limits... it was hard to say what might happen.

For now, Johan used Gengar as a rough comparison.

Charcadet was a bit behind them.

Larvitar... was still just a baby.

"Maybe... in Alola, I could already qualify as an Elite Four member?"

But in Alola, the Island Kahunas held more power than the Elite Four.

Not much point in taking that job.

Besides, the pay wasn't great.

As for Hoenn and Sinnoh...

Hoenn had money.

A lot of money.

Second only to Kanto in terms of wealth.

But being an Elite Four in Hoenn?

That was no joke.

At any moment, Groudon or Kyogre could wake up and ruin your day.

And then you'd have to fight them head-on.

Sinnoh, on the other hand...

Not as rich as Hoenn, but just as chaotic.

Arceus, Dialga, Palkia—

Any of them could start trouble at any time.

"Wait, now that I'm the league champion, doesn't that mean I qualify to challenge the Elite Four?"

And this qualification never expired.

Flint had taken this route to become a Sinnoh Elite Four member.

And then there were Red and Blue, who had blazed through the whole thing on their first try.

But most challengers... never made it past the Elite Four.

Not everyone was lucky enough to run into a Champion actively looking for a successor—like Iris did.

And the gap between different regional Champions was massive.

As night fell, fireworks lit up the sky over Lily of the Valley Island.

Thousands of tourists gathered in the plaza, celebrating together.

Meanwhile, Johan and Cynthia headed to the Sinnoh League headquarters.

No special reason—just to collect the prize money.

"Ka-kaah~"

Gengar and Garchomp trailed behind, watching the latest episode of Meowth & Pichu on a phone.

Along the way, Cynthia asked,

"The exhibition match invitation has arrived. Have you decided yet?"

"Already?"

Cynthia had mentioned earlier that a noble family was organizing a grand festival and inviting strong, well-known trainers to participate in an exhibition match.

With Johan's rising fame and recent championship, he was finally getting paid to just show up.

Cynthia smiled.

"They sent it during the middle of your battle."

It was obvious—

As Sinnoh's most famous young trainer, Cynthia had also been invited.

"I heard they're inviting an Elite Four?"

Which region's Elite Four had this much free time?

"Yes, apparently they've already secured one."

An Elite Four just for hype?

Well, whatever. It was just for show.

Winning or losing didn't really matter.

"What's the appearance fee?"

Cynthia held up five fingers.

"Fifty thousand?"

Cynthia paused, then smirked.

"Add a zero."

Five hundred thousand.

Hiss—

That appearance fee...

"You just won the championship. Your popularity is at its peak."

Johan immediately understood.

The exhibition match was all about hype and audience engagement.

And fresh off a championship win, he was at peak popularity.

Plus, it was just one match.

Not like the Lily of the Valley Conference, where he had to fight multiple rounds and several battles per round.

This was way easier.

He accepted on the spot.

The prize money from the league, combined with the exhibition fee, should keep his Pokémon well-funded for a while.

If necessary, he still had the 500,000 Pokédollar League fund and the Special Task Force budget.

Arriving at Sinnoh League HQ, they were greeted by Elite Four Bertha.

It was clear—

She had been in charge of organizing this conference.

"Congratulations, Johan." Bertha smiled warmly.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Bertha." Johan replied politely.

Then—out of nowhere—

"What do you think? Interested in challenging an Elite Four seat?"

Huh?

Johan laughed nervously.

"Uh... I don't think I'm strong enough for that..."

Bertha sighed, shaking her head.

"Ah... I'm getting old. My energy's fading... my strength's declining..."

Then she gave Johan a very meaningful look.

Johan: ???

She was definitely hinting at something.

Sinnoh's 'Elite Four Retirement Plan.'

Bertha could see Johan's true strength.

With more training, he could easily become an Elite Four-level trainer.

Johan coughed awkwardly.

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

"Bertha, you work too hard. Take care of your health!"

Bertha: "..."

Cynthia, meanwhile, smirked in amusement.

Johan was a master of playing dumb.

But Bertha wasn't done.

"Oh, right."

She smiled knowingly.

"The League has officially promoted your trainer ranking... from Beginner to Master."

Johan froze.

Master Rank?

He knew what that meant.

He could no longer enter standard League tournaments.

Because he was now eligible for the Masters Tournament.

Johan: I'm screwed.

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Powerstones?

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