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Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 684: The Book, "Our Story" (Two-in-One - )
Chapter 684: The Book, "Our Story" (Two-in-One Chapter)
Champion’s Path?
In the Pokémon world, almost every League had its own Champion’s Path.
For example, in Kanto, the Champion’s Path was on Mt. Silver, ascending from bottom to top, leading all the way to the depths of Mt. Silver.
The dangers of Mt. Silver needed no explanation. After Red became Champion, he had been "training" in the depths of Mt. Silver, where large numbers of powerful, high-level wild Pokémon lived, making it a "forbidden zone" for many ordinary trainers.
The Johto region, being connected to the Kanto region and separated by the Mt. Silver mountain range, actually shared the same Champion’s Path with the Kanto region.
Every region’s League Champion had one chance to challenge the "Champion’s Path."
Challenging the Champion’s Path and entering the Champion’s Path were two different concepts.
Challengers, like the future Green and Red, merely won League Conferences, then fought their way through the Champion’s Path, ultimately defeating the Elite Four in succession to claim the true Champion title!
They became among the rare few who achieved true Championship by winning a League Conference.
In most regions, only trainers who completed the Champion’s Path and defeated the Elite Four could truly become that region’s Champion.
If the previous Champion was still active, then completing the Champion’s Path became even more difficult.
Just like the future Red.
Unlike challenging the Champion’s Path, those who entered the Champion’s Path were mostly trainers with some confidence in their abilities.
Not all were Master-level trainers, but they definitely weren’t beginners who could enter.
Challengers not only had to face powerful wild Pokémon and dangerous environments, but also deal with challenges from trainers training on the Champion’s Path.
Finally reaching the end of the Champion’s Path to battle the Elite Four and even the Champion!
Like Cynthia, who had been preparing for so long, it was all to challenge Sinnoh’s Champion’s Path.
Hoenn’s Champion’s Path was actually located on an island at the far southeastern corner of the Hoenn region, directly south of the League headquarters where the Hoenn League was situated.
From the moment of landing on the island until reaching beneath the League headquarters.
The bay that Johan had investigated at Glacia’s request some time ago was actually a small section of Hoenn’s Champion’s Path.
After hearing Johan’s words, Elite Four Drake was completely stunned, even forgetting his earlier question to Johan.
"You want to challenge the Champion’s Path?"
He asked for confirmation again.
Heaven knew how long the Hoenn League had been waiting for Johan to say these words, how many times they had hinted openly and subtly.
They had even prepared to "go easy" in the final stage of challenging the Elite Four on the Champion’s Path.
Oh, this "going easy" was standard practice for all regional Leagues.
After all, humans were social creatures who valued relationships. Since everyone worked together regularly, there was no need to make things too awkward. Only those recognized by everyone had the opportunity to challenge the Champion’s Path anyway.
This had to mention why Lance couldn’t complete Kanto’s Champion’s Path.
Elite Four Agatha was antisocial and unpredictable, and Bruno alone was enough to give Lance trouble. It would be strange if he could complete it.
"Yes."
Facing Elite Four Drake’s repeated question, Johan nodded solemnly with a serious expression.
"After experiencing some things, I’ve come to understand." Johan looked like he’d had an epiphany.
However, Elite Four Drake wasn’t a fool. After brief bewilderment, he slowly grasped the key point.
With a look of realization, he said:
"For that island, huh."
Johan: "..."
No, why do you all think that way?
Can’t you think better of people?
How come everyone is "slandering" me out of nowhere?
He took two deep breaths and said irritably:
"Elite Four Drake, I..."
Before he could finish, Elite Four Drake raised his hand to stop him with an "I understand everything" expression.
Isn’t this just like learning from Master Mustard in the Galar region?
Small matter, all small matters.
Johan: "..."
However.
To be fair.
To say it wasn’t completely for the island would be false.
But to say it was entirely for the island wasn’t quite right either.
Johan had always had a "small dream."
That was to live a comfortable, stable, peaceful life with his Pokémon. If it could be on a self-sufficient, beautiful, tranquil island, that would be perfect.
Teaching every day, interacting and communicating with different Pokémon, solving small problems within his ability—that would be great.
Then, marrying a beautiful, caring wife would be perfect.
At most, taking on a few disciples or students.
Like Master Mustard—that would be very good.
Johan considered this his "early retirement plan."
But as they say, with great power comes great responsibility.
He wasn’t someone who would completely abandon his duties when faced with problems.
After the series of events in Hoenn, Kalos, and other regions, he understood.
Some things couldn’t be avoided, some things couldn’t be escaped.
So why not go with the flow and get a "legitimate" title?
Since he had to manage things whether he was Champion or not, why not take the "Champion" title?
After serving for a year or so, once Steven was fully "mature," he could pass the burden to him, and then he could truly live a stable, carefree life.
While "incidentally" laying the groundwork for his "early retirement plan."
At least.
A Champion’s annual salary was quite high.
He hadn’t wanted it before because Hoenn’s Champion position was too "dangerous"—he might encounter Team Magma or Team Aqua eruptions, ancient legendary battles, or 22-day combat scenarios.
Now.
Hadn’t he already experienced all these things, and they had passed?
Moreover.
A regional Champion’s strength, reputation, and standing could influence a region’s trainers to a certain extent, inspiring them to learn and emulate.
A trainer who doesn’t want to be Champion isn’t a good breeder.
With him leading the charge against Pokémon hunting and wild Pokémon trafficking, it could have better effects.
There was also one final point.
As Elite Four Drake’s opening question addressed.
If he were just an ordinary trainer with deep connections to Team Rocket leader Giovanni, even if Team Rocket really transformed, it would be hard to say whether this trainer was being used, deceived, or manipulated.
But if a regional Champion negotiated with Team Rocket, leading to Team Rocket’s transformation, that would become... the Champion persuading Team Rocket toward good, the Champion "recruiting" Team Rocket to reform.
A change in status made everything sound completely different.
This was one of the reasons Johan didn’t answer Drake’s question but instead dropped his own "bombshell."
While Johan’s thoughts raced, Elite Four Drake was also calculating his own "little scheme."
Drake wasn’t worried at all about whether Johan would succeed in challenging the Champion’s Path.
He was just afraid Johan wouldn’t challenge it—as long as he challenged it, there would be no problem!
After Johan took over as Hoenn Champion, Steven would naturally take over his Elite Four position, and then he... could retire!
Beautifully retire!
Retire with peace of mind!
Perfect!
"Just tell me when you’re planning to challenge," Elite Four Drake couldn’t help asking.
No, I’m challenging, and you look eager—what are you trying to do... Johan complained internally.
"Uh, I need to... prepare for a while."
Johan said.
Regardless of whether the Hoenn League was prepared to "go easy," he wasn’t planning to treat this as if there would be any going easy, and preferably there wouldn’t be.
Otherwise, it would be somewhat unfair to others and to his own Pokémon’s efforts.
Currently, the strongest in Johan’s team was undoubtedly Gengar.
After "digesting" some of the energy obtained from Hoopa Unbound’s "Shadow" and the energy granted by a small piece of "Giant Rock," Gengar was roughly at the level of an ordinary Champion’s ace Pokémon.
It might be a bit lacking, but probably not by much—around eighty or ninety percent.
Although it probably hadn’t reached the level of peak Cynthia’s ace Garchomp or peak Steven’s ace shiny Metagross, it would definitely have opportunities in the future, and currently it was somewhat stronger than Cynthia’s Garchomp and Steven’s shiny Metagross.
But if you added Mega Evolution, Terastalization, Z-moves, and such.
With a single enhancement, beating up legendary birds like Zapdos shouldn’t be a problem.
At full power, it could even have a chance against first-tier legendaries when they weren’t using their "authority" to dominate.
But Johan definitely didn’t want to easily attempt the consequences of going all out again.
Even if, according to Arceus, obtaining the "Fairy Plate" would greatly reduce his pressure, he still didn’t want to try casually.
After Gengar came Ninetales, Dragonite, and Tinkaton.
Ninetales was slightly stronger than Dragonite and Tinkaton, but by how much... Johan wasn’t clear, because he had never even seen Ninetales go all out.
He only knew.
Anyway, in their household, besides him, only Ninetales could control Gengar, and the Pokémon captured later all quite respected Ninetales.
After receiving Xerneas’s "blessing," its Fairy-type "weakness" had been remedied quite well.
It was roughly at the level of an ordinary Champion’s main Pokémon, not quite reaching ace Pokémon level.
As for Dragonite and Tinkaton.
They were both at ordinary Champion main Pokémon level.
Dragonite, having received Rayquaza’s care and the "Dragon Ascent" scroll, plus indeed gaining something from Gengar’s "Giant Rock," had been in a noticeable growth period recently.
Combined with being a pseudo-legendary Pokémon with extraordinary potential, it was faintly showing signs of catching up to Ninetales.
Johan estimated this "growth period" would at least continue until Dragonite reached ordinary Champion ace Pokémon level before gradually stabilizing.
As for Tinkaton.
Having also received Xerneas’s "blessing," it now had ordinary Champion main Pokémon strength, with physical attack clearly far exceeding special attack.
If it encountered "bird" Pokémon, its strength might even improve further.
According to Arceus, it seemed prepared to lend him the "Fairy Plate" for a while.
With the "Fairy Plate’s" assistance, Ninetales and Tinkaton’s strength... would probably experience a brief explosive period, at least reaching ordinary Champion ace Pokémon level.
Even if they were particularly compatible, surpassing Gengar in the future wasn’t impossible.
Ahem.
After that came Urshifu and Ceruledge.
These two both belonged to the "transforming" type with fluctuating combat power.
Looking only at paper strength, they might barely touch Champion level, a tier below Tinkaton and Dragonite.
But considering their own "versatility," when facing "compatible" opponents, that would be hard to say.
Moreover, both Urshifu and Ceruledge possessed aura and were easily influenced by emotions.
If they really went all out...
They’d dare to throw punches and swing swords at first-tier legendaries.
Not to mention Urshifu was essentially a "legendary Pokémon."
As for Tyranitar...
Its current strength was really hard to position.
Because recently, since evolving, Tyranitar had experienced the fastest and most dramatic strength improvement.
Under the influence of Groudon, the Ground Plate fragment, and the Red Orb fragment, combined with being the only Mega user besides Gengar and the only weather controller besides Ninetales...
Its tactical core position was almost established.
In the short term, impacting Champion level shouldn’t be a problem.
So for this Champion’s Path challenge, Johan planned to have Urshifu, Ceruledge, and Tyranitar contribute more and gain more experience.
Striving to.
Help Urshifu and Ceruledge advance their strength further, and stabilize Tyranitar’s strength at Champion level.
Anyway, recently, including Gengar, because Johan had "died once," everyone was working extra hard.
The main issue was keeping up with nutrition, which was probably the biggest "obstacle" to their progress and the biggest "trouble" Johan needed to face.
As for the last one, the most recently captured tsundere little snake Snivy.
Its talent, especially in intelligence, made even Johan, who was used to Gengar and Ninetales, marvel in amazement.
The only problem might be that it hadn’t evolved.
Actually, Johan still hadn’t completely figured out why Snivy wouldn’t evolve.
However, with no major events recently, Johan planned to carefully consider and have a good heart-to-heart talk with Snivy to understand this issue.
Snivy lacked nothing in talent, effort, or nutrition.
If it evolved, its strength might experience an even more dramatic rapid growth period than Tyranitar’s current one.
Of course, if Snivy didn’t want to evolve, Johan wouldn’t force it.
Not evolving was fine—the little tsundere could sometimes be hugged and thoroughly rubbed. If it really evolved into Serperior, who knew how tsundere it would become.
Johan had always respected his Pokémon’s own wishes.
Besides.
Not evolving didn’t mean no progress or growth.
Red’s Pikachu and Ash’s Pikachu never evolved into Raichu either—were they weak?
It might just require more effort, multiple times the effort.
Johan wasn’t afraid of this, and if it was Snivy’s own wish, it definitely wouldn’t be afraid either.
While mentally "calculating," he also bantered with Elite Four Drake.
The old Elite Four member said earnestly:
"The timing is up to you—just let us know when you’re ready. But... the sooner the better."
Elite Four Drake had almost written "I want to retire" on his face.
He had thought he’d have to wait for Steven for another year or so, but who knew there would be such a bright turn of events.
As for...
What if Johan became Champion—what about Steven...
Hmph.
Didn’t Elite Four Drake understand Johan’s thoughts?
If this guy could "persist" for two years, he’d consider him truly committed to the position.
When the time came, wouldn’t Steven still take over?
Student succeeding teacher would also be a good story.
The Galar region had similar intentions.
By then, Wallace could also be "moved up" to replace Steven.
Perfect!
As a veteran Elite Four member, Elite Four Drake had never felt like Hoenn’s future was so bright as at this moment.
"Oh right."
After being happy for a while, Elite Four Drake suddenly remembered his real reason for finding Johan.
"You and Kanto’s Giovanni..."
Johan also put away his expression, pursed his lips, organized his thoughts briefly, then prepared to simply describe his acquaintance process with Giovanni.
Of course, he cleverly omitted the part about recognizing Giovanni as Team Rocket’s leader.
After all, he and Giovanni had maintained their understanding for so long precisely to prepare for this moment.
After hearing Johan’s account, Elite Four Drake finally understood.
So they had known each other since then.
However.
It was a "doctor-patient" relationship.
He had thought Johan still didn’t know Giovanni’s identity.
After learning that Johan hadn’t been fooled, deceived, or used, he thought it over and decided not to tell Johan for now.
Anyway, once he completed the Champion’s Path and attended general meetings twice as Hoenn Champion, he would know.
Johan didn’t currently have clearance to know.
Thinking about it.
With Johan being such a "little fox," the idea of being sold out and counting money for the seller was probably impossible.
Who knew who would be counting money for whom.
Fortunately, the worst-case scenario hadn’t occurred, and he had gained tremendously good news, making Elite Four Drake’s mood immediately improve.
"Don’t get too deeply involved with this person."
Elite Four Drake still cautioned.
After thinking, he added:
"However, Giovanni’s strength and ability... are acceptable. If it’s about Pokémon matters, learning more from him would be good."
Surprisingly.
Although Elite Four Drake was somewhat wary of Giovanni’s identity.
He seemed quite approving of Giovanni’s strength and ability.
After briefly cautioning him, he inquired about the second matter of his visit.
"The general League asked me to ask if you need anything urgently recently," Elite Four Drake asked.
After such a major incident in Dahara City, Kalos region, while there might be nothing to reward, not giving some recognition wouldn’t be appropriate.
Johan picked up his coffee and glanced at Elite Four Drake.
"What I lack, others might not know, but don’t you, old man?"
"Haha—you little rascal." Elite Four Drake was stunned, then pointed at Johan and laughed heartily.
Ridiculous.
As the "Reimbursement Elite Four," how could he not know what the legendary "Reimbursement Man" lacked?
Old fox looking at little fox was like looking in a mirror.
But converting everything to "cash" was impossible.
After all, there was no bottom to cash—how much reward would be enough?
However.
Not knowing what Johan needed before, after this conversation, Elite Four Drake had an idea.
"Your island probably lacks quite a lot, right?"
Hearing this, Johan’s eyes brightened slightly.
Everything’s difficult at the beginning.
Island construction was most difficult now.
It was purely money going in, and only after complete construction could the island provide long-term "relief" for Johan.
If the League could "voluntarily" shoulder a major portion, that would naturally be excellent.
After all.
With his current Pokémon’s strength, materials and items that could truly benefit them significantly were definitely beyond what the League could provide much of.
At most, they could let Johan’s Pokémon eat "Evolution Stones" like candy.
But how much would that consume?
And the gains definitely wouldn’t be great.
If applied to the island...
Things Johan couldn’t accomplish, like establishing "simulated ecological zones," the League might be able to help with.
Doing this himself would cost an enormous amount.
There were also things like the hot springs Gengar wanted, the rocky mountains Tyranitar wanted, etc.
"The old man still understands me."
Johan smiled as he refilled Elite Four Drake’s teacup.
The coffee shop didn’t have tea—this tea naturally came from their Gengar.
As for whether Elite Four Drake was used to drinking it—well, he’d already had several sips, so drinking more wouldn’t hurt. After all, it was precious vitality root ground into tea powder.
Elite Four Drake smiled and shook his head.
"Speaking of which, how’s our Hoenn’s restoration coming along?"
Afterward.
The two simply discussed some issues about Hoenn’s construction and development direction.
However, they didn’t go very deep.
After all, Elite Four Drake wasn’t responsible for these matters, so he definitely didn’t know much—this was Elite Four Glacia’s responsibility.
As for Johan, he understood even less about construction and development matters.
Facts proved.
Each region having Elite Four members like Glacia, Lucian, Wikstrom, and Drasna was very necessary.
Elite Four Drake sat in the coffee shop for about an hour, chatted with Johan briefly, then left.
Although most high-ranking members of Team Magma and Team Aqua in Hoenn had been eliminated by the ancient legendary duo, and these two organizations couldn’t cause much trouble anymore.
Small matters continued constantly.
Since he didn’t want to sit in the Hoenn League headquarters building all day like Elite Four Glacia, he had to run around dealing with various large and small matters.
Fortunately, this was what Elite Four Drake enjoyed—he liked traveling around.
So.
He only said one final thing to Johan—
"If you can contact Groudon and Kyogre, try to pacify them and determine their locations."
Then he left.
The ancient Hoenn legendary duo remained a hidden danger. If they could determine their sleeping locations or active areas, the League could station people to isolate them, reducing the possibility of conflict.
Not long after Elite Four Drake left, Mewtwo walked in with a cold expression, wearing a wide black robe, carrying shopping baskets and various packages.
"Back?"
Noticing Mewtwo, Johan smiled slightly.
Mewtwo paused briefly, didn’t speak, just nodded slightly.
"Rotom and the others are preparing in the kitchen."
Seeing Mewtwo’s "I suffered and need to stay calm" expression, Johan couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Mewtwo glanced at him sideways, still didn’t speak, and walked toward the kitchen.
After Mewtwo entered, three heads immediately poked out from the doorway.
The top one was Darkrai, the chubby middle one was naturally Gengar, and the sneaky bottom one was undoubtedly Marshadow.
Considering that Mewtwo shopping might lead to unexpected situations, Johan had arranged for these three to "watch over" it.
But from the current situation...
These three probably didn’t accomplish much business-wise and definitely suggested many ingredients they liked to Mewtwo.
Johan could see from Mewtwo’s shopping basket: lamb chops that Gengar liked, beef that Darkrai liked, and curry that Marshadow liked.
"Miscalculation, miscalculation..." Johan shook his head.
But there was no choice.
Who made these three the best at "hiding"?
Fortunately, it was without incident.
This was also part of Mewtwo’s human experience plan.
At least...
Mewtwo shopping was much more reliable than Gengar shopping.
If he dared let Gengar shop, Gengar would definitely bring back a Mareep, the electric kind.
"Hey, Teacher Johan, what’s for dinner tonight?"
Not long after Mewtwo returned, sweaty Flint also came back.
From his appearance, he had probably spent considerable time at Kanaz City’s "Battle Park" or the free training grounds at the Pokémon Center.
Regarding Flint, Johan just rolled his eyes irritably.
He rarely freeloaded meals, but Flint had truly given him a "lesson" in shameless mooching.
He’d seen moochers, but never such brazen ones.
"Aren’t you going back to Sinnoh?" Johan asked.
Flint looked up, scratching the back of his head.
"Hey, there’s nothing to do back in Sinnoh. The people here are great, speak nicely, and love battling. Going back... I’m not planning to go back yet, staying a few more days."
After saying this, he grinned without any embarrassment.
Current Flint had also made a name for himself.
Single-handedly holding off Palkia—when some capable trainers in Kanaz City learned it was him, they literally lined up to challenge him.
This made Flint "battle happy."
Seeing his expression, Johan was speechless.
Look at this—no wonder Lucian was exhausted.
Lucian would be crazy not to be tired.
Suddenly, Johan’s eyes turned, showing Gengar’s signature smile.
"That’s fine."
He drained the remaining coffee in his cup. "I happen to have something tomorrow that needs your help."
Flint became surprisingly alert, showing suspicion, asking carefully:
"What is it?"
"Nothing major." Johan waved his hand, his smile becoming increasingly strange.
Such an energetic person—it would be too wasteful not to use him as labor.
Island development was imminent.
Sending Flint to the island, one person could do the work of four or five, beautifully called "training."
Freeloading?
Go ahead and freeload.
After all, it’s all work.
You might profit, but we definitely won’t lose.
Best to get everything completely finished before summer vacation ended—then everything would be perfect.
Gradually, Johan’s days seemed to return to tranquility as he devoted himself to daily training and island development.
Wake up at eight in the morning.
Morning jog, prepare breakfast, pet Pokémon, basic training—before he knew it, it was noon.
After lunch, everyone rested for an hour, then went to the island for development while conducting some "advanced" training.
Anyway, the island currently had almost nothing but soil and grass.
The island’s foundation had been extremely solidly compacted by Groudon at Johan’s request. As long as they didn’t go completely wild, it wouldn’t cause much damage.
This so-called "advanced" training was quite simple.
He and Rotom together formulated daily, weekly, and periodic training plans. Gengar led the team, and the little ones were quite self-conscious, showing signs of beginning to compete intensely.
As for Johan himself.
Reading books, enriching his knowledge, then ensuring energy supply and providing guidance during specific training—otherwise, there wasn’t much else.
This was like a real recovery period after experiencing the Dahara City incident.
In the evening, they would return together, then prepare dinner. Mewtwo gradually began learning about shopping, cooking, and serving customers.
After dinner, he would first call Cynthia, then play with his Pokémon.
For example.
Playing Pokémon poker together.
But often, various big and small amusing incidents would occur.
Like Gengar "accidentally" dropping cards under its butt, Tyranitar "accidentally" eating cards, Ninetales "accidentally" freezing cards to powder, Ceruledge "accidentally" burning cards...
And so on, countless examples.
Fortunately, no matter what happened, after all the roughhousing and pushing, it always ended in laughter.
Or everyone playing games Johan had devised, like "Rayquaza Flying Chess," "Pokémon Mahjong," "Monopoly Gengar," etc.—all the same.
In short.
What they played wasn’t important—what mattered was everyone had fun.
After playing.
Cleaning up dinner’s aftermath, they would either huddle together watching movies, bathe together, or go shopping, strolling, being mischievous, etc.
The final "activity" before bed remained constant—Teacher Johan’s storytelling time.
This was more addictive than watching TV shows or movies.
Every night before bed, everyone, including Mewtwo, would gather around Johan’s bed or on it, listening to his stories.
Some Johan remembered, but some he forgot, so he would make things up randomly.
Then he’d forget the previous part in the next segment, and the little ones would correct him.
Anyway.
Except for stories Johan remembered clearly, most stories became unrecognizable due to everyone’s input.
Instead, it was like... everyone brainstorming together, creating story after story.
Creating stories that only Johan and they understood and appreciated.
Johan and the little ones didn’t mind this—instead, they had Rotom record everything.
When he had time, or when enough accumulated, Johan planned to compile all these stories into a book.
It didn’t need a fancy name—just call it "Our Story."
Such ordinary days.
Often ended only when Gengar turned off the lights.
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