Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 444: A Visitor from Galar

Rustboro City was quiet under the night sky. A soft early spring breeze rustled through the courtyard.

Finally home, Johan plopped onto the sofa and let out a long sigh.

"Finally, home."

No matter how comfortable it was to stay elsewhere, nothing compared to the peace of his own home.

No golden palace or silver nest could compare to his own little den.

Thanks to the care of the Indeedee siblings and Alcremie, Johan didn't have to clean up every time he came back. A simple sweep from Rotom was enough.

"So this is what it feels like to have someone waiting for you at home."

"Draaa~"

Dragonite let out a relaxed cry as it settled on the sofa next to Johan.

But with its size, the moment it sat down, Johan felt himself bounce up slightly, experiencing a brief moment of weightlessness.

"Draaa!"

Seeing this, Dragonite quickly grabbed Johan's arm and pulled him back down before letting out a relieved sigh.

Johan was already used to this, so he didn't mind.

At worst, he could just push off the ceiling to get down.

"Aii~"

Big Sister Indeedee, ever considerate, brought him a steaming cup of coffee.

Given Johan's long-time habit of drinking coffee, he could sleep just fine even after having a cup before bed.

"Thanks."

As he thanked her, he also took out the gifts he had bought in Petalburg Town.

Since the Indeedee siblings and Alcremie had returned early to tend to the café after the Lily of the Valley Conference, they had missed the festival in Petalburg Town. So, Johan brought them a little souvenir—a melodica.

Bringing back small gifts every time he traveled had become a habit of his.

"Aii~ (≧▽≦)"

Big Sister Indeedee happily took the melodica and eagerly tried playing it.

To Johan's surprise, it actually sounded pretty good.

It seemed like the café would soon have another musical attraction.

Meanwhile, Gengar and Ninetales were busy showing the little Larvitar around the house—a tradition for any new addition to the team.

Usually, Gengar led the tour, while Ninetales acted more as a supervisor...

A supervisor to make sure Gengar didn't "steal from the house."

And also to stop Larvitar from chewing on things it shouldn't.

After taking a sip of coffee, Johan pulled out a book to read.

As his Pokémon grew stronger, he, as their trainer, couldn't afford to lag behind either.

Given his team's unique traits, Johan had some strategies in mind.

Most of them focused on doubles battles but could be adapted for singles as well.

For example, the "Rain Song KO" strategy.

Typically, the core of this strategy was a Politoed with Drizzle and Perish Song.

But with Gengar's Perish Song and Dragonite, the same concept could work.

In fact, with Dragonite's "Fortune Balance" ability, it didn't even need Rain Dance to secure quick knockouts.

This strategy focused on quickly sweeping teams while using Perish Song as a backup. Combined with Dragonite's Thunder and Hydro Pump, it had high burst potential.

However, since Perish Song affected both sides, it wasn't the most friendly tactic for either team. So Johan only kept it as an option.

Other strategies, like "Trick Room" or "Gravity Hypnosis," required Indeedee or Rotom's support, so he didn't use them as often.

If Charcadet evolved into Armarouge, he could consider adding it to the regular strategy. If it became Ceruledge, then things would be different.

That said, Gengar and Ninetales were already excellent at hypnosis without Gravity.

It was just that, without Gravity, their accuracy wasn't always reliable.

The strategy Johan used most was "Hail Hide-and-Seek," centered around Ninetales' Snow Warning, supported by Aurora Veil and "Permafrost Barrier."

It created an absolute defense, allowing Ninetales to work with any teammate.

In full-team battles, this was currently his go-to approach.

Another strategy he kept as an option was "Hail Baton Pass," also built around Ninetales.

The idea was to maximize Ninetales' defensive utility, stack boosts, and then Baton Pass out to sweep.

"Once Larvitar evolves into Tyranitar, I could even try mixing Hail and Sandstorm."

Others had "Sunny Sand Teams," so why not a "Hail Sand Team"?

In the past, "Sunny Sand Teams" usually consisted of Charizard, Venusaur, Torkoal, and Tyranitar as the core.

Adding Trick Room made them even trickier to deal with, offering absolute versatility.

Against single-weather teams, they could dominate.

Johan's "Hail Sand Team" could include Ninetales, Tyranitar, Gengar, and either Tinkaton or Urshifu, providing solid defensive synergy.

He could even combine it with hypnosis tactics for extra disruption.

Even Rotom could play a surprise role if needed.

"If Hail and Sandstorm can be perfectly combined, then Raihan would be nothing more than a toy."

Johan chuckled at the thought.

"No one can use weather against my 'Hail Sand'—no one!"

"Too many strategies isn't necessarily a good thing," Johan mused, feeling quite pleased with himself. "There's not enough time to use them all!"

"Ka-kaah~"

"Yoji~"

Gengar and Larvitar, after finishing their tour of the house, were now sitting on the floor, trying to see who could open their mouth the widest.

Did Larvitar really think it could win against Gengar?

Maybe in its normal state, it had a chance... but Gengar had an unfair advantage.

Gengar grabbed its own jaws and stretched them wide, instantly doubling the size of its mouth.

"Ka-kaah~"

It smugly raised an eyebrow at Larvitar.

"Yoji!!"

Larvitar, looking serious, placed its tiny hands on its own mouth, as if preparing to "tear itself open."

Johan panicked.

"Larvitar, stop! If you dislocate your jaw, you won't be able to eat, and I can't help you with that!"

"Yoji?"

Hearing that, Larvitar immediately gave up.

Thus, Gengar won the "Household Wide-Open Mouth Contest," with Larvitar as runner-up.

"Gengar, lead the team to wash up," Johan instructed.

It was still early, but being back home made him feel sleepy.

"Ka-kaah!"

Gengar's eyes lit up.

Yes! The sooner he went to bed, the sooner it could check on its "little underlings" in Rustboro City.

"Tinkaton, still working?"

While Gengar took the others to wash up, Tinkaton was still at its forge, deep in thought.

"Cha~~"

Tinkaton nodded while stroking its hammer.

Johan had to admit, its forging skills had improved tremendously.

Not just because of the "Red Chain," but also from crafting brass knuckles for Urshifu and protective gear for Dragonite.

At this point, Tinkaton was a true blacksmith.

Its next challenge was integrating Dialga's scales into its hammer... and forging armor for Charcadet.

Honestly, making armor wasn't that hard for Tinkaton now.

The tricky part was... it wanted to make something special.

Johan had once told it about a fun fact: Slowking's crown was removable.

Not only could Slowking's crown be taken off, but even people could wear it.

For example, Ash once wore it and became "King Ash"—in the most ridiculous way possible.

But that gave Tinkaton an idea...

If Charcadet's armor were also removable, wouldn't that mean... it could have two forms?

At first, this was just a fun theory between Johan and Tinkaton.

But after crafting Dragonite's detachable armor and the Red Chain, Tinkaton felt like it might actually be possible.

Dragonite's armor was incredibly easy to equip and remove—one second, one hand, done.

And the Red Chain's automatic extension and binding functions gave Tinkaton another idea.

"Can't do it all in one go. Go wash up and rest first," Johan patted its hammer.

"Cha."

Tinkaton nodded obediently.

—Meanwhile, at Rustboro City Airport—

A private jet landed, and the cabin door opened.

A middle-aged man with a scruffy beard, wearing an orange hiking outfit and carrying a massive backpack, peeked out.

Looking around warily, he quickly stepped aside as a girl with fluffy pink hair in a navy school uniform pushed past him.

"What are you looking around for? This is a city; nothing dangerous is going to happen."

—Galar's Champion, Peony, has arrived!—

Peony chuckled awkwardly, scratching his head. "Haha, yeah, yeah, I forgot."

Seeing the girl step off the plane, he quickly called out, "Peonia, don't run off."

Then he turned and waved to the person behind him.

"Uncle Peony, Peonia isn't a child anymore. You don't have to be so nervous."

Stepping off the plane next was Sonia, Leon's childhood friend and a Pokémon researcher.

"But still—"

Sonia shot a glance at the person still sitting inside the plane, dressed in a dark gray hoodie with the hood pulled up, carrying an Eevee backpack while typing on a laptop.

Peony sighed and nodded, then softened his expression as he walked over to the girl in the hoodie, speaking gently. "Briar, we've arrived."

"Mm."

Briar gave a small nod, closed her laptop, and put it away in her Eevee backpack before standing up.

Her head remained low, most of her face hidden beneath the oversized hood.

Peony's eyes flashed with deep concern. He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before leading her off the plane with Sonia.

The four of them had all come from Galar. The middle-aged man, Peony, was none other than the reigning Galar Champion!

Aside from Sonia, the other two girls were his daughters—his eldest, Peonia, and his youngest, Briar.

When they disembarked, a car was already waiting nearby. The driver was someone Johan was quite familiar with—Martin, the head of the school's administrative office.

"Champion Peony, welcome to Hoenn." Martin greeted them with a polite smile.

Peony let out a hearty laugh. "Hahaha! No need to be so formal, Director Martin! I'm here for personal reasons, no need to make a fuss, no need to make a fuss—hahahaha!"

Peonia sighed and lightly kicked him. "Dad, you're too loud!"

"Eh? Am I? Hahaha—"

Several airport staff turned to look at them with curious expressions.

Briar lowered her head even further, pulling her hood down as if she wanted to disappear, clearly embarrassed.

Martin also looked somewhat awkward.

He quickly changed the subject. "Let's get in the car first. The principal has already arranged temporary accommodations for you all."

Truth be told, when Martin first heard from the principal that Galar's Champion Peony would be coming to Rustboro City, he was beyond surprised.

After all, this was a regional champion!

But once he learned that Peony had come specifically for Johan, he understood.

Especially in recent days, despite the fact that school was about to start, the academy's admissions office had been flooded with calls.

It wasn't just from regular students and parents—there were even officials and high-ranking members of the Pokémon League asking about admissions.

In the past, Rustboro Pokémon Academy had never lacked students, and there had always been a fair share of talented ones. But this was the first time the school was seeing an overwhelming influx of "geniuses" being sent through the doors.

And this was just for the second semester.

Summer was the true enrollment season.

Yet, even now, a champion had personally come.

Not to mention Sonia—she was already a Pokémon researcher, and her grandmother was a famous professor. Yet, she was now coming to Rustboro Pokémon Academy to continue her studies.

Truly an honor for the school!

He could only say—Professor Johan's "recruitment ability" was unmatched!

After everyone got in the car, Martin said, "Champion Peony, Miss Sonia, classes don't start until the day after tomorrow, so you'll have to wait one more day."

"That's fine," Peony waved his hand with a grin. "What's another day or two? It just means we get to meet this Johan guy sooner."

"That works."

Peony looked out the window at the bustling city and smiled.

A teacher who had gone head-to-head with Dialga and Palkia... Just thinking about it got him excited.

January 31st, Early Morning

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

One day remained until the start of the new semester at Rustboro Pokémon Academy.

On the riverbank, fresh green sprouts had begun pushing through the soil. In the water, Lotad floated along the current while Poliwag gently nibbled at their feet, making them giggle.

Johan jogged along the riverside behind his house, greeting the local residents as he passed.

He didn't actually jog that often—he usually just took leisurely walks. More than anything, he liked to take his Pokémon out for a stroll to burn off excess energy.

But today, he decided to run.

With the new semester starting soon, word was that many of the academy's training and battle facilities had been upgraded!

The latest protective barriers had been installed.

His Pokémon would finally have a new place to unleash their energy—ah, no, a place to train and sharpen their skills.

So, he was in a great mood.

As he was about to reach his usual turnaround point, another jogger came into view.

It was early spring, yet the man wore only a tank top and shorts, showing off his lean but well-defined muscles. He had a scruffy beard and looked vaguely familiar.

Johan assumed they'd just pass each other without interaction, but to his surprise, the man suddenly picked up his pace and ran toward him.

"Morning, Professor Johan!" The middle-aged man greeted him enthusiastically.

"Uh... morning."

Johan smiled politely and returned the greeting.

Maybe this was a new neighbor?

"Wanna race?" the man suddenly asked, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Johan chuckled.

A grown man challenging him to a footrace?

What was this, kindergarten?

"You're on!"

And so, the two started running at full speed.

To Johan's surprise, the middle-aged man was in incredible shape—he could actually keep up! It almost made Johan want to use his Aura to boost himself.

"Stop, stop—I can't keep going," the man finally gasped, bending over with his hands on his knees, drenched in sweat.

Johan was also breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling. He instinctively reached into his shirt, touching the Rainbow Wing he carried.

Good thing it helped with stamina recovery, or he might've actually lost.

Man, the people in the Pokémon world were built differently. Even a random middle-aged guy had crazy endurance.

As the man caught his breath, he grinned and said, "No wonder Master Mustard spoke so highly of you... I'm actually starting to believe you really did punch Dialga and Palkia into pieces."

Johan's face darkened.

That rumor again?

It had been days! Why were people still talking about this?

At this rate, they'd say he one-shot seven Legendary Pokémon and forced Groudon to drink water next.

Wait.

Master Mustard...

Johan looked at the man more closely. He did seem familiar.

Could he be—

The man grinned widely, flashing his white teeth, and gave Johan a double thumbs-up.

"Name's Peony. I'm a Champion, y'know?"

Johan: "..."

This was insane.

Who could've predicted that he'd run into a Champion while jogging behind his house?!

And not just any champion—Galar's Champion, Peony!

Johan's knowledge of Peony came mostly from the games.

Like how Mustard lived on the Isle of Armor, Peony was only found in the Crown Tundra DLC, where he was busy researching Legendary Pokémon.

Not only was he Galar's former champion, but he was also the younger brother of Chairman Rose, the president of Macro Cosmos.

Though... his relationship with his brother wasn't exactly the best.

As people often said—having an outstanding older sibling usually meant the younger one would always be known as "so-and-so's little brother."

From what Johan knew, Peony had resigned as champion sometime after Rose became chairman of the Galar League.

A champion showing up here was surprising enough.

But why did he have that "I'm very satisfied with my future son-in-law" expression on his face?

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Powerstones?

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