Pokemon: Spiritual Master

Galar region, Wyndon City.

Through Leon's efforts, most of the "parasites" within the Galar League had been basically eliminated.

The Galar region's largest corporation, Macro Cosmos, had also initially completed integration with the Galar League under Leon's supervision.

Macro Cosmos was simply too massive, affecting every aspect of Galar region residents' lives. Removal was impossible—integration with the Galar League was the best choice.

Actually, when Rose was chairman, Macro Cosmos and the Galar League were already closely connected, which reduced the difficulty for Leon.

Leon had been this busy, yet after the "points stage" ended, he still ranked third in "Master Ball Tier."

This showed just how many battles he'd fought and how many points he'd accumulated.

At this moment, in a villa within Wyndon City, Johan, Cynthia, Steven, Flint, and many others had gathered.

In the villa's garden, many long-unseen friends rarely had a chance to gather together.

"Hehe! Lucian didn't make the 'double elimination tournament,' hehe—"

Flint laughed with obvious smugness.

Lucian sat cross-legged under a nearby tree, holding a book. Hearing Flint's smug laughter, he glanced up slightly without much expression change.

He hadn't really participated much in the "points stage." With his Sinnoh League Elite Four status, he barely maintained a position in the top 200 of "Ultra Ball Tier."

Unless he had cloning techniques, with so many Sinnoh League matters to handle, where would he find time for "points stage" battles?

Fortunately, Lucian wasn't particularly interested in such battles—he wasn't a battle maniac.

Only because the "Pokémon World Championships" was starting did he reluctantly take time to watch.

"You've been grinding points for so long, yet didn't directly make 'Master Ball Tier,' and in the 'double elimination' you only have one life," Lucian smirked.

Flint had indeed grinded points for a long time, fighting many spectacular battles.

But... Flint called it point grinding, but actually just sought strong opponents to battle, so he won some and lost some. This not only prevented him from directly reaching "Master Ball Tier" but left him with only one life in the "double elimination" stage.

"Just say whether I made it or not," Flint said with hands in pockets, smugness overflowing.

Lucian adjusted his glasses, nodded slightly, and replied perfunctorily:

"You made it, you made it."

Wait until this "Pokémon World Championships" ends—then we'll see if I don't deal with you.

"Come on, Flint, try this new dish I developed," Johan suddenly approached wearing an apron.

"Coming!" Flint rushed over excitedly to see Johan holding an exquisitely presented dish that was entirely fiery red, as if about to burst into flames.

"This is..." Flint asked puzzledly.

"Charizard Special."

"Charizard Special?"

Flint took the spoon and put a mouthful in his mouth.

"How is it?" Johan couldn't help asking.

Flint bit the spoon, lips pressed together, saying nothing, but his face visibly reddened as his body trembled continuously.

The next second, Flint opened his mouth and breathed out "flames" like a Charizard.

"So spicy! So spicy! So spicy—"

"Ku?" Infernape looked strangely at its trainer.

Flamethrower?

Oh no!

The trainer had mastered Flamethrower too?

Watching Flint frantically search for water, Johan rubbed his chin lightly.

"Seems like the spicy 'Herba Mystica' really isn't suitable for solo use—too spicy."

Through "guinea pig" Flint's trial, Johan confirmed the spice level of the spicy "Herba Mystica."

He just didn't know if some spice-loving Pokémon could handle it.

"Teacher Johan, anything good to eat?"

Leon arrived late after a busy day. Seeing the food in Johan's hands, he rubbed his stomach and asked.

Teacher Johan's cooking was famous among their group.

"Oh, Charizard Special. Want to try?" Johan asked with an unchanged expression.

"Charizard? I definitely have to try that!" Leon immediately became interested hearing "Charizard."

But he paused while picking up the spoon.

"Right, Teacher Johan, I have an idea. Help me think it through."

Seeing Leon stop, Johan could only say: "Go ahead."

"Look." Leon raised his hand, pointing toward Wyndon's tallest Rose Tower. "Mr. Rose's Rose Tower is Wyndon's tallest and most iconic building."

"But now that Macro Cosmos has integrated with the Galar League, using such a tall building as Galar League headquarters would be too ostentatious. But demolishing or abandoning it would be too wasteful, so... I want to renovate Rose Tower."

With Rose gone, Rose Tower still towering there was indeed somewhat inappropriate.

"Then renovate it," Johan shrugged.

"Into what? That's what's troubling me now," Leon smiled helplessly.

Into what?

"Battle Tower," Johan said without hesitation.

In the storyline, after Rose resigned as League Chairman due to the Eternatus incident and left the Galar League, the succeeding Leon converted Rose Tower into a Battle Tower.

He even invited top trainers from around the world to serve as Tower Masters.

Even Blue was invited by Leon to serve for a period.

"Battle Tower?" Leon's eyes immediately lit up. "Great idea!"

Then he dropped the spoon and ran out of the villa.

Watching Leon leave, Johan holding the plate opened his mouth.

Forget it.

One "guinea pig" Flint was enough—he'd spare Leon.

Both the "double elimination" and "Master Replacement Battle" were held in Galar region, so Leon as Champion and Chairman would be quite busy.

"What did Teacher make?"

When Johan returned to the table with the plate, Steven asked curiously.

Like Leon, no—Steven trusted Johan's cooking even more than Leon did.

"Children can't eat this," Johan immediately dumped the "Charizard Special" in the trash.

Steven: "..."

He opened his mouth, momentarily unsure what to say.

He'd clearly seen Flint eat it earlier.

"Speaking of which, Steven, what's your ranking?"

Though Steven, like Lucian, had to handle Hoenn League affairs, he was better off than Lucian since he had Elite Four Glacia helping cover for him, making things much easier.

Moreover, Steven had also joined the point-grinding queue in the last half month before the "points stage" ended.

Another point was that Steven, like Cynthia and Leon, had participated in many tournaments before, with many rankings contributing Master tournament points.

After all, people like Johan who played in the "baby cup" were still a minority.

So Steven's ranking in "Ultra Ball Tier" shouldn't be low.

Steven smiled and said: "Didn't have time for too many battles, finally reached 20th in 'Ultra Ball Tier.'"

20th place?

Excluding five who directly entered "Master Ball Tier," Steven was 15th in "Ultra Ball Tier," having one mistake allowance in the "double elimination."

However, with Steven's strength, entering the "Master Replacement Battle" was definitely no problem.

As long as he didn't pick the most abnormal opponents in the "Master Replacement Battle," advancing to the real Master tournament wouldn't be an issue.

Johan patted Steven's shoulder with satisfaction.

It was time.

Time to pass the Champion position to Steven.

His student—no problem giving him more responsibility.

As a teacher, one must learn to let go...

Future days would be sunshine, beaches, Cynthia beach exclusives...

Tsk tsk, just thinking about it felt comfortable.

"It's out!"

"The 'double elimination' bracket and schedule are out!"

Red-faced Flint with fiery explosion hair, drenched in sweat, suddenly ran into the garden again.

"League information received, Rotom!"

The League had announced the "double elimination" battle contestant list.

It included not only Flint and Steven, but many well-known Elite Four members like Bruno, Karen, Caitlin, etc.

Of course, besides Elite Four members, the "double elimination" also featured many Gym Leaders, such as Janine from Kanto, Clair from Johto, Norman from Hoenn, Volkner from Sinnoh, Marnie from Galar, etc.

All were extremely strong among Gym Leaders.

In fact, to some degree, these Gym Leaders actually had qualifications or ability to compete for Elite Four positions in their regions.

Besides Elite Four and Gym Leaders, the "double elimination" also had "ordinary" trainers.

Like N, who somewhat surprised Johan, and the expected Tobias.

Scanning this list at a glance, not just the audience, but even Johan couldn't help looking forward to it.

It felt quite like... a celebrity battle royale.

"Lucian, the schedule is out!" Flint ran to Lucian again to show off.

Looking at Flint with his swollen face, sweating profusely, and most importantly, lips swollen like sausages, Lucian lowered his sunglasses, showing an exaggerated expression, and asked:

"Who are you?"

Flint was stunned, pointing at himself: "Me! Flint!"

Lucian shook his head definitively: "Nonsense, Flint isn't nearly as handsome as you!"

The "Pokémon World Championships'" points stage ended, and the "double elimination" proceeded intensely under audiences' eager attention.

Contestants decided the qualifiers for "Master Replacement Battle" through battles.

Some were within Johan's expectations.

Like Steven, Caitlin, Bruno, etc.—nothing surprising there.

As long as they didn't coincidentally face each other, advancement probability was relatively high.

Some were beyond Johan's expectations, or unexpected.

Battle Frontier's Brandon, with his three Regi legendaries, fought with overwhelming dominance!

Also like Paldea region Gym Leader Poppy.

Johan had thought Poppy was just playing around like Master Mustard, but unexpectedly she unleashed her full strength without reservation, successfully advancing to "Master Replacement Battle."

And Hoenn League's Drake!

The old man had actually secretly snuck to Paldea region to compete.

Thinking of both Steven and Drake participating while Elite Four Glacia maintained her icy expression, Johan couldn't help shivering.

Hopefully those two would fare well upon return.

What surprised Johan most was undoubtedly N's advancement!

How long had it been?

From Team Plasma's fall to now, N had already grown enough to compete with Elite Four-level trainers and even win.

Of course, due to tournament rules prohibiting "first-class legendary" Pokémon in battle, N couldn't bring Black Dragon Zekrom to the arena.

But precisely because of this, N's progress surprised Johan.

As for why tournament rules established "prohibiting first-class legendary Pokémon in battle"...

Cough cough.

N was probably "collaterally damaged."

However, this rule wasn't restrictive for Tobias with Darkrai and Latios.

Tobias was somewhat like... someone crazily testing BUG boundaries and profiting.

But his progress was also surprising enough.

"It's not just us who are improving..." Johan leaned against the railing, looking at the portraits on the big screen, sighing involuntarily.

"Ka-kaah!"

Gengar, Jirachi, Victini, and Marshadow—four little ones sat in a row on the railing from big to small, swinging their feet leisurely.

Regarding Johan's sigh, Gengar didn't completely agree.

Gengar indicated... no matter how fast others improved, could they be faster than it?

Don't worry!

Opponents were just some Champions and Elite Four members.

Weren't they just like babies?

Hearing Gengar's smugness, Johan was exasperated.

But sometimes... "Being slightly confident isn't bad," Johan smiled softly.

"Now let's welcome the final two contestants of the 'double elimination'! Both are from Sinnoh region! Respectively Elite Four Flint! And Gym Leader Volkner!"

Roar—

The arena erupted.

Interested parties had already secretly investigated Flint and Volkner's history.

Unexpectedly, these close friends and rivals would meet in the "double elimination's" final battle!

"Volkner, bring it on!" Flint's face showed pure excitement.

Facing Volkner excited him more than any previous opponent.

Compared to Flint, Volkner appeared much gentler.

However, the "fourth generation" still smiled at his close friend: "Don't cry when you lose."

"Hey!"

Both smiled at each other.

"Flint's got this..." Johan looked at Victini. The little one frowned—it couldn't tell whose victory aura was stronger.

Rubbing its head, Johan said: "Trust me."

"Vii?"

"In this state, Flint... believe it or not, he and Infernape could take down two or three Champion-level Pokémon?"

"Vii..." Victini seemed to understand.

The "Journey School" vs "Academy School" debate still hadn't reached a conclusion.

Actually, in Johan's view, so-called "Journey School" and "Academy School" could be simplified as "Ash faction" and "Paul faction"—namely "nostalgia faction" and "strength faction."

Honestly, normally the "Paul faction" was stronger than the "Ash faction."

But regarding upper limits... only one thing could be said—Ash rocks.

And Flint, in Johan's view, was like Ash's "replica."

Though Volkner wasn't as cold as Paul, he was much calmer than Flint.

Perhaps Volkner would have early advantages, but ultimately... Flint would definitely achieve comeback victory through "stand up," "hang in there," "dodge quickly," "our bond," and such methods.

So battling hot-blooded guys like Flint meant either extinguishing his passion from the start, having overwhelming strength, or being even more passionate.

The final result was as Johan predicted.

Flint, with Infernape, made a comeback against Volkner in two consecutive games, finally earning "Master Replacement Battle" qualification!

The sixteen-person list for "Master Replacement Battle" qualification was officially announced:

Steven, Flint, Wallace, Caitlin, Drake, Brandon, Raihan, Marnie, Bea, Bruno, Janine, Poppy, Agatha, Karen, Tobias, and N!

Sixteen total.

With the "double elimination's" conclusion, the "Master Replacement Battle" was about to officially begin!

"Time to battle..." Johan said softly.

"Ka-kaah!" Raising a juice cup, calling out fearlessly.

Then let's crush them!

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Powerstones?

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