Pokemon: Spiritual Master

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the live 'Pokémon World Championships' 'Master Replacement Battle' venue!!"

The "Master Replacement Battle" had been going on for several days, with some succeeding and others failing, but the excitement level needed no words.

This could be seen from the cheers echoing through the sky at Wyndon Stadium.

Moreover, this match had not only regular spectators but also two legendary Pokémon from the distant Unova region—Black Dragon Zekrom and White Dragon Reshiram!

This made this battle even more anticipated and topical.

After confirming the twin dragons wouldn't suddenly fly down, the host secretly sighed in relief while his voice became excited again.

"The contestants facing off today are Johan from the Hoenn region and N from the Unova region—"

"Let's welcome both contestants to the stage!"

The audience erupted in stadium-shaking cheers again, completely drowning out even the entrance background music.

In the contestant tunnel, a green-haired young man playing with a Rubik's Cube heard this, exhaled softly, then smiled and said to his companions beside him:

"It's time to go. I'll be troubling you all again this time."

The Pokémon surrounding N called out affectionately, transforming into red lights and flying back to the Poké Balls at N's waist.

Honestly, N didn't actually like using Poké Balls to carry Pokémon, but tournament rules required contestants to register Pokémon in Poké Balls—at least there had to be capture records.

So when N learned of this situation, he had considered withdrawing from competition.

But all the Pokémon he knew very actively touched the Poké Balls to be captured, which moved N greatly.

However, after the tournament ended, he would also release these Pokémon.

Taking a deep breath, N steeled himself and walked onto the green field under spotlights, accepting cheers from the audience.

But N was still somewhat shy, only waving somewhat stiffly as his response to the audience's cheers.

Perhaps because of this, many girls screamed for N.

On N's opposite side, Johan in a black suit with a grinning Gengar beside him also entered the arena.

Compared to N, the already-famous Johan undoubtedly received more cheers...

Though not all for Johan—some were for Gengar too.

"Ka-kaah~ヾ('▽')"

"How can there be such a cute Pokémon as Gengar!"

"Ahhh—Gengar!"

"I want to take Teacher Johan's Gengar home!"

Go ahead and try—guaranteed one hug, one silent treatment, Johan silently complained.

"Roar—"

"Roar—"

As both entered, the Black and White Dragons standing atop Wyndon Stadium's dome also moved to the dome's edge, looking down from above.

White Dragon Reshiram stood above Johan's side, while Black Dragon Zekrom stood above N's side.

This gave Unova region spectators quite a feeling of... historical recreation.

"Eh? The Black Dragon is on N's side?" Flint asked in surprise from the audience.

In his impression, didn't both Black and White Dragons have good relationships with Teacher Johan?

"You want both Black and White Dragons to go to Teacher Johan's side?" Lucian glanced at him.

Flint understood and said with realization: "I see!"

They couldn't leave N to face everything alone, right?

But Flint quickly added: "Isn't it worried about Teacher Johan giving it a hard time?"

Rustle rustle—

People sitting near Flint all moved away from him, looking at him with "fearful" gazes.

You dare say such "brutal truths"?

"Hey, Teacher Johan isn't here," Flint waved casually.

Then everyone looked at little Jirachi nestled in Cynthia's arms.

Flint's expression changed.

Oh no!

Little Jirachi held a feather pen from who knows where, "writing furiously" on paper, recording Flint's every word and action.

Flint quickly leaned over to look, discovering...

Little Jirachi wasn't writing words but drawing—a very realistic explosion-head figure, then an open mouth saying something, with stick-like things coming out...

"What's this? Scallions? Eggplant? Bananas?" Flint pointed at Jirachi's drawing and asked.

Little Jirachi glanced at him, unhappily turned its head away, unwilling to acknowledge him.

Tattling on Johan behind his back, hmph!

Cynthia held little Jirachi, smiling as she explained: "Those are tusks."

"Tusks?" Flint was stunned.

What did that mean?

Lucian teased: "Saying you can't spit ivory from a dog's mouth."

Flint: "..."

And indeed... Black Dragon Zekrom was also worried about exactly that.

After all, Teacher Johan was the "Person of Truth"—sometimes just that truthful.

Meanwhile on the field, Johan and N smiled at each other.

"Teacher, I don't actually like battling much, but... I've been looking forward to this battle for a long time," N said.

With his personality, battling indeed wasn't what he enjoyed.

But if he wanted to achieve his "ideal nation," wanted to help more Pokémon, wanted to help those in Team Plasma with true ideals, he had to step forward and show sufficient strength and ability.

Become Unova League Champion!

Only then could he do more.

Battling Teacher Johan, receiving his teacher's evaluation, confirming his ideal's direction—N saw this as a necessary step.

"Then let me see your growth, N!"

Though Johan didn't want to be challenged... since he was already on the battlefield, there was no need to think about irrelevant things. Just enjoy the battle!

The referee, wearing regulation uniform and riding Aegislash, entered the arena.

The match used 6v6 full rotation format. According to both sides' drawing results, the first half's field would be grass field. When one side's Pokémon losses reached three, the field would change to rock field.

Both contestants and spectators were already familiar with these rules.

Rumble—

After both sides confirmed, the entire stadium was covered with thick arena barriers to ensure spectator safety.

The referee raised two flags.

"Contestants, please take your positions!"

N somewhat awkwardly took a Poké Ball from the chain at his waist.

"Please, Ninetales!"

Red light flashed as a Ninetales with golden fur and flowing tails appeared on the field.

Hum—

The sun in the sky immediately became scorching as intense sunlight baked the field, wisps of water vapor gradually rising and disappearing.

Sunny Day!

At the same moment, Johan's Poké Ball also landed on the field, opening with a "bang." What appeared was Urshifu with closed eyes and a snot bubble.

"Garruu zzZ"

"Ninetales? Sunny Day team?" Seeing the appearing Ninetales, Johan raised an eyebrow.

During the "points stage," N had demonstrated all four weather tactics plus other tactical displays and reserves, earning the nickname "little Johan."

So no one knew what tactics N would use in this "Master Replacement Battle."

Sunny Day team...

Champion Alder seemed quite skilled with Sunny Day teams too, right?

It seemed Champion Alder was indeed properly training N.

Seeing both had summoned their respective Pokémon, the referee's flags fell heavily as he shouted:

"Battle begin!"

The battle officially started!

N's expression immediately became serious. The Rubik's Cube at his waist rotated with his body movements as he swung his arm and shouted:

"Ninetales, Will-O-Wisp!"

"Oowoo—"

Ninetales' nine tails spread like fans, each tail tip manifesting blue-purple ghostly flames. As the tails swayed, they all shot toward the sleeping Urshifu.

A very standard opening move.

As one of the Sunny Day team enthusiasts, if this were a game, Johan could guess Ninetales' nature, moves, and EVs with his eyes closed.

Facing a physical attacker, Will-O-Wisp as an opener was indeed a very good choice.

But the problem was... this wasn't a game!

Johan had more than once or twice had opponents directly eliminate Will-O-Wisp.

So when N gave his command, Johan wasn't much slower.

"Urshifu, Aqua Jet!"

Splash—

Water surged from around Urshifu's feet, flowing upward, immediately enveloping Urshifu and rushing toward Ninetales at high speed.

Those ghostly Will-O-Wisps were directly extinguished upon touching the water surrounding Urshifu.

Bang!!

With the speed boost from "Aqua Jet," Urshifu directly reached Ninetales.

The water's impact sent Ninetales flying.

Unfortunately, under Sunny Day's boost, Aqua Jet's power was greatly reduced.

However, Urshifu didn't rely on this move for damage output anyway. Moves like Aqua Jet and Sucker Punch were more about giving it mobility to approach opponents faster.

Once Urshifu got close, opponents would face storm-like attacks!

And now, N's Ninetales had already been approached by Urshifu.

"Surging Strikes!" Johan showed no mercy.

Since N wanted to test his progress, then as his teacher, Johan naturally had to show sufficient respect.

"Garruu zzZ"

As Ninetales was knocked back, the grass beneath Urshifu's feet exploded with soil as it leaped forward, water swirling around its fists.

However, before Urshifu's fist could hit Ninetales, a red beam enveloped it and recalled it.

Pokémon switch!

Catching Ninetales' Poké Ball, N exhaled slightly with a grave expression.

Teacher was indeed teacher. Just the first round and he'd almost seen through his strategy. If his movement had been even slightly slower, Ninetales would have lost fighting ability under Urshifu's storm-like attacks.

Even with halved Water-type move power under bright sunlight, it probably couldn't stop Urshifu.

No matter how well he planned before battle, when actually facing Teacher Johan, it was hard to proceed exactly as envisioned.

Looking at Urshifu on the field with water still swirling around its fists, N pondered briefly before throwing his second Poké Ball.

Thud!

On the big screen, a Poké Ball next to N's portrait also showed a Pokémon's appearance.

"Please, Talonflame!"

"Contestant N's second Pokémon is the Fire and Flying-type Scorching Pokémon, Talonflame!" the host's voice was high and excited.

However, as soon as Talonflame appeared, it would face Urshifu's Surging Strikes!

"Talonflame, Tailwind! Fly up!" N urgently shouted.

Whoosh—

Blade-like blue winds appeared around Talonflame as it flapped its wings rapidly, displaying extreme speed!

Gale Wings!

[Gale Wings: When HP is full, Flying-type moves have priority +1]

This allowed Talonflame to display such fast speed.

This ability was actually quite similar to "Prankster."

Once Talonflame successfully used Tailwind, combined with its Gale Wings ability, that speed...

So after Talonflame appeared, the water swirling around Urshifu's hands disappeared as its eyes suddenly opened.

"Snarl!"

"Garruu!!"

Urshifu roared at the ascending Talonflame, rolling black sound waves that Talonflame couldn't avoid no matter how it dodged.

The resulting damage broke Talonflame's "Gale Wings" ability.

However, for N, Talonflame's "mission" was already mostly complete.

Enough.

"Talonflame, U-turn!"

"Screech—"

The screeching Talonflame rode Tailwind currents, bathed in light blue glow, struck Urshifu once, then immediately withdrew, transforming into red light and returning to N's Poké Ball.

Another Pokémon switch!

"Why keep switching Pokémon? This is almost the third one, right?"

"What do you know? Sunny Day, Tailwind—all necessary preparations are done. N's Sunny Day team setup is almost complete."

"But... Teacher Johan seems to have done no preparation?"

"Just watch. Teacher Johan is the 'Tactical Person' and N's teacher too. He surely won't lose to his student, right?"

"Let him lose! Let him lose!"

"..."

Meanwhile, in the contestant viewing area:

"This N has made quite thorough preparations," Lucian, also skilled in tactics, was qualified to comment.

"Why isn't Johan reacting much?" Caitlin blinked innocently while asking with "malicious" intent.

Steven leaned forward against the railing, smiling: "Because he's the teacher."

"Hm?" Caitlin was stunned.

Cynthia smiled and said: "As a teacher, he should first see the student's 'answer sheet.'"

"Ultimately," Lucian said with crossed legs and a book on his lap, "N's Pokémon's raw strength still has quite a gap compared to Teacher Johan's Pokémon's raw strength."

Everyone nodded.

Indeed.

Though N "owned" at least thirty to forty Pokémon that weren't particularly weak, they couldn't be called very strong either.

In terms of individual raw strength, these Pokémon might be somewhat weaker than any person present here.

Others didn't know the reason, but Johan was clear.

Because N hardly trained those Pokémon—he purely viewed Pokémon as his companions and family.

That these Pokémon could possess their current strength, Johan speculated, was perhaps because they trained themselves to help N.

This point was confirmed by Champion Alder.

"Hahaha—" Champion Alder laughed happily while somewhat smugly bragging to his old friends: "That child N, his Pokémon all voluntarily followed him. He has great talent in Pokémon affinity!"

Drake pursed his lips: "Our Hoenn falls far short—only three talented ones: Johan, Steven, and Wallace. Sigh, so worrying."

Stare!

A group of "old folks" stared at him with "resentment."

Keep bragging!

Who could brag more than you?

Granny Agatha struck her cane, face grim, voice hoarse: "Tactical literacy is acceptable..."

"Right? Hahaha, I put quite some effort into it," Alder laughed.

Among the elderly present, only Alder and Drake were most smug.

Granny Agatha glanced at him sideways, finishing her unfinished words: "But too shallow. Against that Johan boy, it's quite insufficient."

Pryce in his wheelchair smiled gently: "Little Agatha, don't be so harsh. The young man has done very well. With a few more years of growth, he'll surely stand on his own."

Alder knew Granny Agatha spoke truth, but Pryce also spoke truth. He said frankly: "Strength-wise, it's a bit lacking, but I should be able to persist a few more years."

"Today's young people are really something, lou~" Mustard put his hands in his pockets with a "Kizaru scared" expression.

About time to hand things over to the young folks.

This was the thought of several older people here (excluding Agatha).

On the field:

"You did very well, Talonflame."

After speaking to the Poké Ball, N threw his third Poké Ball.

"Then next, please, Leafeon!"

Thud!

On the big screen next to N's portrait, after Ninetales and Talonflame, the third Pokémon was Leafeon!

One of Eevee's evolutions, Grass-type Leafeon.

"Leafeon~"

Under the scorching sunlight, Leafeon's body immediately emitted a green glow, radiating a natural aura.

Chlorophyll!

Obviously Leafeon's ability was "Chlorophyll."

[Chlorophyll: Pokémon with this ability have their Speed doubled under intense sunlight!]

Combined with the Tailwind left by Talonflame, Leafeon's speed was almost quadrupled!

Under Sunny Day, Leafeon was indeed one of the very good physical attacker choices.

Insufficient strength, make up with buffs.

"N's tactics..." Johan couldn't help wanting to complain, "...why do they also give me a dirty feeling?"

Though it was also one of Sunny Day team's standard tactics, Johan vaguely sensed something.

"Come back, Urshifu."

Johan took out a Poké Ball and recalled Urshifu.

Actually, even with Leafeon's speed quadrupled, Urshifu could still fight, but...

Johan wasn't the type to stubbornly stick to opponents' tactics in battle—that might bring unnecessary harm to his Pokémon.

He was better at "borrowing" opponents' weather.

Nice tactics.

Let me borrow them!

"Your turn, Serperior!"

After Serperior evolved from Servine, this was its first appearance on the battlefield!

"Sni—"

Serperior raised its chin high, looking down condescendingly at the opposing Leafeon.

"Contestant Johan has also switched Pokémon. His second Pokémon is—Serperior!"

"Using Unova's 'sword' to cut Unova's 'officials'—my goodness, Teacher Johan has such authority!"

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Powerstones?

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