Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 561: Battle Time!!

Unova Region, Castelia City.

"How much have we made?"

Two people dressed as servers, along with a Meowth and a Wobbuffet, were crouched down whispering to each other.

"Puh—puh—" Meowth spit twice into its paw and whipped out a calculator.

"Meowth, you're not even handling money—why spit on your paw?" Jessie frowned.

"It's a sign of respect for money, don't you get it, nya?" Meowth retorted.

"Sho~ nazzz~ ∠(°ゝ°)"

"Hurry up and count, hurry!" James was already fantasizing about all the rare bottle caps they'd rake in.

After fiddling for a while, Meowth came to a conclusion.

"We're raking it in, nya!" Tears welled in Meowth's eyes. "Mr. Johan is the best~~"

A 70-30 split!

Never had a gig this profitable in their lives!

Just then—

A staff member from the venue approached them. "It's almost time! What are you three whispering about?"

"Nothing!" ×3

They jumped up in sync.

This wasn't their only job—aside from running the outside booths, once the matches began, they were also in charge of selling snacks and drinks in the stands. The person before them was their team lead.

The lead actually had a lot of confidence in the Rocket trio's "business skills."

The three of them were worth at least ten pros.

"After the tournament's over, there's another gig. You guys interested?" the team lead asked as they changed.

"Another job?"

Their eyes lit up, seeing endless funds waving them in.

"There's a huge celebration in Eindoak afterward. Tons of tourists will be there. If you grab the chance, you could earn a lot," the lead explained.

A huge celebration?

Right after the tournament?

That meant trainers from all over the world would gather.

An opportunity to make a fortune!

"We're in!" ×3

"Sho~ nazzz~!∠(°ゝ°)"

"Great." The team lead grinned. "I'll take you guys with me then."

Couldn't let such good "workhorses" slip away.

"No problem!" ×3

"Why is it still the Queen again..."

Flint looked utterly defeated.

Meanwhile, Aaron and Lucian were quite cheerful.

Previously, when Aaron and Lucian had to face Cynthia, Flint was the one laughing the hardest.

And once again, proof that laughter doesn't vanish—it just changes hands. "The Law of Laughter Conservation" was alive and well.

"It's fine!" Flint suddenly pumped his fist. "So what if it's the Queen? My 148th challenge will be the one I win!"

Suddenly—

A shadow loomed over him.

He turned around.

"Garrr?"

Standing there, arms crossed, nostrils puffing white steam—Cynthia's Garchomp.

So... you wanna win, huh?

Flint shrank back. "I'm outta here."

Cynthia just smiled and shook her head.

"But seriously, the organizers really stirred the pot this time. All of us from Sinnoh ended up in in-fighting. The Queen just steamrolled us," Lucian commented, pushing up his glasses.

"In a full battle format, Flint's still impressive," Cynthia said, giving him some credit.

Starting from the quarterfinals, the format had shifted to a 6v6 full-team rotation—true tests of raw power.

Flint's strength wasn't just his bond with his Infernape. His other Pokémon could also go into "berserk mode." He was a veritable explosion master.

"Now that I think about it..."

Aaron's ahoge perked up like he'd noticed something important.

"If Mr. Johan wins today, then all the Galar Region's top picks will have lost to him!"

Everyone blinked at him in surprise.

Surprised that goofy, simple-minded Aaron had actually caught on to that.

From Nezu to Raihan, and now Leon. If Johan won, all the Galar champions would've lost to him.

A true "Galar Killer"!

"It's not that simple..."

Just then, Johan walked into the arena, catching the tail end of their conversation.

Defeating Leon?

Sure, Leon was dubbed "The Unbeatable Champion," heavily promoted by Macro Cosmos' Chairman Rose—but his strength was legit.

After all, he could go toe-to-toe with Eternatus.

Truthfully—

The main advantage today was that Leon's strategy of building everything around Gigantamax Charizard couldn't fully work in Unova.

Still, Leon's Charizard was a beast even without Gigantamax.

Just like Cynthia's Garchomp and Steven's Metagross, Charizard was his trademark.

Besides—

With Macro Cosmos' resources and Rose's reach, they likely did find a Mega Stone for Charizard too.

Plus Leon had an arsenal of monsters—Dragapult, Haxorus, Aegislash, Rhyperior, Seismitoad, Eiscue, Rillaboom, Cinderace, Inteleon...

"Damn, sticking ads can really be profitable?" Johan muttered.

Breeding such a versatile team must've cost a fortune.

But he knew—

The ad deals were just a side hustle. What gave Leon such deep pockets was the Macro Cosmos machine, and all the money they made from marketing Galar and Dynamaxing.

Meanwhile, out at sea—

A yacht sailed toward Castelia's port.

Professor Oak stood on the deck of the "Waterflow," sea breeze in his face. Beside him were two teenagers, both around ten years old.

One wore a red cap and typical trainer gear. The other, with short sleeves and brown hair, bore a resemblance to Oak.

"Think we'll make it in time?" Green muttered, staring at the growing outline of the city.

"Mr. Johan, huh?"

On Oak's other side, Red's eyes gleamed.

"You wanna challenge him?" Green scoffed.

"Of course!" Red was fired up.

Green rolled his eyes. "You don't even have a badge and you're dreaming of fighting Johan?"

"Badges don't mean anything," Red retorted. "Besides, it's not my fault the Viridian Gym Leader wasn't there."

Oak just smiled, listening to them bicker.

A month ago, Red and Green had set out on a journey. But with the World Youth Masters Tournament underway, they came back to witness the real top-tier matches.

"Wonder if there are still tickets..." Oak mused.

The Unova League had prepared a huge venue, but tickets had sold out fast.

"Maybe I can—"

Before Green finished, Red adjusted his cap. "No need. I've got it."

"You?"

Oak and Green looked at him in disbelief.

He got Unova tickets from Kanto?

Red smugly flashed three tickets.

"Wait."

Green squinted at them. "You bought scalper tickets?"

"So?"

"You do know this tournament only uses digital e-tickets, right?" Green asked, frowning.

"What?!" Red's eyes popped. "She said..."

Thinking of that girl who swore they were legit—those weren't cheap!

Red grit his teeth.

Damn it!

"Ahaha—" Oak chuckled. "Forget it. I'll call an old friend."

He dialed Alder.

In the players' lounge—

Johan and his team were eating. More accurately, it was a brunch to fuel up before the battle.

The table was loaded with Pokéblocks, macarons, Poffins, Castelia ice cream, fresh cream cakes...

"Ka-kaah~~"

Gengar devoured ice cream after ice cream, shivering after each one—either from cold or delight.

"Gengar, slow down with the ice cream. You'll get a stomachache mid-battle," Johan warned.

"Ka-kaah?"

Gengar gave him a side-eye.

A stomachache?

Ice cream?

You underestimating me or Ninetales' cold aura?

Fine.

Johan gave up on arguing, then noticed something else. "Larvitar! You can eat, but leave the plate alone!"

"Yoji?"

Larvitar scratched its head, confused. So... that was a plate? Thought it was a snack.

Forget it.

Johan gave in completely and said:

"Eat up, guys. Once the match starts, no more snacks."

All this Pokéblock and Poffin feasting shouldn't count as cheating, right?

Soon—

The host's voice rang out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the semifinals of the World Youth Masters Tournament. Up next—"

"Time to go."

Johan clapped his hands.

The Pokémon immediately stopped, returning to their Poké Balls in red flashes.

Battle time!

"Let's welcome—Mr. Johan!!"

Thud, thud, thud—

The spotlight hit him as he emerged, met by thunderous cheers, like the world itself trembled.

He adjusted his cap and waved with a smile.

"And from the Galar Region—Leon!!"

The spotlight turned toward the opposite tunnel.

But—

Seconds ticked by, and no one appeared.

"Leon?" the host called again.

Still nothing.

What the—

A missing competitor at the start of a match?

Even the host was stunned—never had this happened.

Then, in his earpiece came a voice from a former Galar region staffer.

"If I had to guess, shine that spotlight up."

Up?

Johan also looked skyward.

If Leon wasn't in the tunnel—

He was probably lost again.

So, most likely...

A Charizard suddenly soared overhead, descending rapidly and landing in the arena.

Leon leapt from its back and struck his iconic one-finger-to-the-sky pose.

"Battle Time!!"

Whoa——

After a brief stunned silence, the crowd erupted.

That entrance... was epic!

Johan looked at the gasping-for-air Leon, still holding his pose, and twitched slightly.

So that's how you wanna play?

Let's see who can go bigger.

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Powerstones?

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