Pokemon: Spiritual Master

Early the next morning.

"Eh? South Province Area One?"

When Friede returned to the Brave Olivine and learned of Johan's group's destination, he showed some surprise.

Because his teacher Rica's home was now in Cabo Poco, and South Province Area One was where the Poco Path was located—the route from Cabo Poco to Mesagoza.

He had originally thought Johan's group would continue playing in Medali Town for a few more days, and if they wanted to continue afterward, he would first take his teacher and Alex back to Cabo Poco.

And see Liko while he was at it.

He hadn't expected Johan's group to also be heading to South Province Area One.

But the problem was, his teacher Rica and Mr. Alex still had some unfinished business...

So Johan said:

"No problem, we can go by ourselves."

Since they were already in the Paldea region, traveling within Paldea didn't require constantly using the Brave Olivine.

"We can take a Flying Taxi," Johan said.

"Will it fit everyone?" Friede looked hesitant.

Johan smiled. "Flint and the others aren't coming."

Speaking of Flint... after waiting all night at the "Treasure Eatery" entrance, he had completely locked horns with Medali Town's Larry and decided to stay in Medali Town for a while, also taking the opportunity to climb some ranks.

After all, as a famous "food city" in the Paldea region, Medali Town attracted many trainers, so while waiting for Larry, he could also battle other Pokémon trainers.

Penny, who had come with him, had already been taken away by her doting father Peony in the Galar region.

Flannery, like Flint, was someone passionate about battles and also wanted to climb ranks in Medali Town.

As for Roxanne... she was completely immersed in Medali Town's vast ocean of cuisine and couldn't extricate herself.

So those going to South Province Area One were actually just Johan, Cynthia, and Caitlin.

Actually, Johan didn't want Caitlin following along either, but unfortunately, Caitlin insisted on being this maximum brightness "light bulb."

And Cynthia spoiled her, leaving Johan helpless.

"I see..."

"We'll take the opportunity to appreciate the Paldea region's terrain and various landscapes," Cynthia said with a gentle smile.

Hearing this, Friede breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, I'll take my teacher and the others home first, see little Liko, then come back for you, Teacher Johan."

"No rush."

If there was a chance, Johan was also somewhat interested in meeting this protagonist who had "replaced" Ash and successfully opened a new chapter for the Pokémon anime.

Though she was still very young.

Like the Galar region, Flying Taxis were very popular in the Paldea region—quite a good industry.

However, the Paldea region's Flying Taxis were different from the Galar region's Flying Taxis.

"Excuse me, who called for Flying Taxi service?"

A helicopter-like Flying Taxi frame slowly descended, and the goggle-wearing taxi driver called out.

"Here." Johan lightly waved to signal.

"Why aren't Paldea's Flying Taxis Corviknight?" Flint called out like he'd never seen the world, seeing the seven or eight Squawkabilly standing on the Flying Taxi.

Johan's expression became somewhat strange.

The taxi driver was very good-natured and explained with a smile:

"Because... in the Paldea region, if we used Corviknight, we might... get shot down while flying."

"Shot down?" Flint was stunned.

"Cough." Johan cleared his throat and said: "Because the Paldea region is home to many Tinkaton, Tinkawk, and Tinkatink."

Having his own Tinkaton, Johan understood these Pokémon's temperament all too well.

As the Paldea region was the native region for Tinkaton-line Pokémon, you could see them in many places.

If a Corviknight flew over their heads... dozens of Tinkatink, Tinkawk, and even Tinkaton throwing rocks upward—the Flying Taxi couldn't handle that.

Back when Johan first caught Tinkaton, he was always on edge when walking outside.

Afraid his Tinkaton would grab its hammer and throw rocks, one strike sending down an airplane from the sky...

That would be impossible to compensate for.

"Oh..." Flint understood.

So that's how it was.

"But can such a group of 'little birds' really carry such a heavy taxi?"

Looking at those small Squawkabilly, Flint was doubtful.

"Squawk!!"

"Squawk—"

Hearing this, the seven or eight Squawkabilly immediately became noisy, showing angry fierce expressions—clearly Flint's doubt had made them quite indignant.

"Ka-kaah ka-kaah~" Gengar transformed into a Squawkabilly's appearance and mimicked their calls.

For a moment, it was like entering a bird market.

Caitlin muttered: "Cynthia and I are very light, okay? If anyone's heavy, it's Johan..."

The taxi driver maintained his warm smile, taking out a bag of food to feed the Squawkabilly, and they gradually calmed down.

At the same time, he said: "Don't worry, customers. These Squawkabilly are professionally trained Pokémon. Unless we encounter real trouble, they won't fall."

Your words are no different from saying professionally trained people won't laugh... Johan thought sarcastically while maintaining a neutral expression.

Calling the Flying Taxi was just for the convenience of enjoying the Paldea region's scenery while flying. Whether it was him, Cynthia, or Caitlin, flying wasn't difficult.

Of course, it definitely wasn't because Flying Taxis flew relatively slowly.

"Alright, since you're not the one riding, stop worrying about it." Johan stopped Flint, who seemed to have become a walking "hundred thousand whys."

He pulled Cynthia aboard the Flying Taxi.

Golden-haired loser Caitlin huffily followed.

Cynthia sat between them with a smile tinged with helplessness.

"Passengers, please sit tight—we're taking off—"

Flutter flutter—

The Squawkabilly flapped their wings, and the Flying Taxi took off. Destination—South Province Area One!

"Ka-kaah~"

Gengar, addicted to mimicking, also flapped its hands like the Squawkabilly and flew up.

Going from Medali Town to South Province Area One required circling around the largest and most mysterious Great Crater of Paldea.

Since Medali Town was not far from the Great Crater of Paldea, after flying for some time, the Flying Taxi flew along the crater's towering rock walls that reached the clouds.

"Inside there is the Great Crater of Paldea, right?" Cynthia looked curious.

"Yes, the Paldea region's most mysterious area," Johan nodded.

"Do you want to go in, Cynthia? I can take you in~" Caitlin showed her presence.

With her psychic powers, as long as the distance wasn't too ridiculous, she could teleport directly in with Cynthia even without coordinates.

"Customers, you really shouldn't enter the Great Crater of Paldea," the taxi driver reminded them.

"Why?" Caitlin asked.

"Legend says that people who enter the Great Crater of Paldea never come back out."

The taxi driver seemed very talkative, recounting many legends about the Great Crater of Paldea.

Especially recently, the famous Paldean Pokémon professors Sada and Turo had entered the Great Crater of Paldea and never returned.

So now the Great Crater of Paldea was strictly controlled by the Paldea League. Anyone... unless they flew in from the unknowably high top of the crater, needed the Paldea League's permission.

"They say..."

The taxi driver said mysteriously:

"Some people have seen shadows of ancient and future Pokémon in the Great Crater of Paldea..."

"Didn't you say no one could come back out? How can there be 'they say'?" Caitlin couldn't help asking.

"The League has controls, you know. As long as you use the League's passages and don't go too deep, you can still get out..." the taxi driver chuckled.

So it wasn't as dangerous as imagined.

Many legends were spread through rumors.

But Johan was certain about the two professors' situation.

Actually, the real danger in the Great Crater of Paldea was at the very bottom. The outer areas were fine—the Paldea League had even established various base stations and infrastructure inside.

"Let's understand the specific situation first," Johan said softly.

Although he was quite curious about ancient and future forms.

But if nothing unexpected happened, the deepest part of the Great Crater of Paldea's Area Zero should have Koraidon or Miraidon, possibly even both.

"But customers, if you're flying in the Paldea region, you need to be careful of one type of Pokémon," the taxi driver was clearly enjoying the conversation and reminded them.

"What?"

"Bombirdier."

Johan understood.

Seeing Caitlin's "confused" expression, Johan took out his Rotom Pokédex.

"Bombirdier, the Item Drop Pokémon, Flying and Dark-type. It's a bird Pokémon that wraps things in its chest feathers then drops them, enjoying the sound they make. Quite dangerous, Rotom!"

"But as long as you fly high enough, you don't need to particularly worry about Bombirdier. But if you're in West Province Area One, you need to be extremely careful. Normally our Flying Taxi service doesn't include West Province Area One," the taxi driver added.

"Why?" Caitlin took over Flint's "hundred thousand whys" job.

"Because..." the taxi driver pondered before saying: "Because the Bombirdier there are particularly fierce, fly very high, and have very large populations."

"Oh..."

Hearing this, Johan's heart stirred.

If he remembered correctly... among the Paldea region's Titan Pokémon, there was a Bombirdier, right?

Guarding Herba Mystica.

West Province Area One?

Why hadn't Geeta sent the Herba Mystica location information yet?

Chatting casually with the Flying Taxi driver while admiring the various different terrains and landscapes of the Paldea region.

After flying past the towering rock walls where the Great Crater of Paldea was located, there was an endless great plain.

In the Paldea region's South Province, most areas were plains.

Of course, this didn't mean there were no mountains or rocks, just that compared to other areas of the Paldea region, it was relatively flat and more livable.

And the South Province was indeed the most densely populated area of the Paldea region.

But one very important factor couldn't be ignored.

That was Naranja Academy!

As an ancient academy with over 800 years of history, Naranja Academy was different from the more purely Pokémon-focused schools like Rustboro Pokémon Academy and Sinnoh Academy.

Naranja Academy could be seen as an important department of the Paldea League to some extent!

It held a high position within the Paldea League.

Geeta, as League Chairman, was also a member of Naranja Academy's board of directors.

And most of the Paldea League's historical Champions and Chairmen had also come from Naranja Academy.

Setting aside reputation, Naranja Academy was absolutely comparable to Kanto's Celadon University.

In some ways, it might even be more impressive than Celadon University.

But precisely because of its overly close relationship with the Paldea League, Naranja Academy had many elements that shouldn't appear in schools besides teaching.

For example... the now notorious Team Star within Naranja Academy.

Johan hadn't expected that even with Penny no longer at Naranja Academy, Team Star would still exist.

Facts proved that even though Penny was Team Star's boss in the games, she was only a relatively important factor in Team Star's existence, not the decisive one.

What really determined Team Star's existence was actually a very bad atmosphere within Naranja Academy—bullying!

So Johan had never held much favor toward Naranja Academy.

Although Naranja Academy would address such phenomena, it only treated symptoms, not the root cause.

After completely introducing the "competition" that belonged only to the League and society into schools, the byproducts of such competition were very difficult to eradicate.

Otherwise, why would Friede's teacher Rica, clearly teaching in the Paldea region, specifically send her daughter Liko to school in Kanto?

The Explorers' threat was one aspect.

Could the mighty Naranja Academy with 800 years of history really not handle the Explorers?

Fundamentally... the Explorers' tentacles had long reached into Naranja Academy.

And this was an unavoidable negative impact brought by Naranja Academy's excessive binding with the Paldea League.

Did the academy's leadership not know about such things?

No.

They just didn't know how to change it, lacked the ability to change it, or didn't want to change it.

No wonder they say the only lesson humanity can learn from history is that humanity cannot learn any lessons from history.

So even though the old principal had suggested Johan could visit Naranja Academy, Johan chose to avoid it.

Of course, problems shouldn't be viewed one-sidedly. Naranja Academy still had many excellent, motivated, and capable students.

"Customers, we're almost at South Province Area One. Where would you like to land?"

From morning to afternoon, the Flying Taxi's slow but comfortable journey was finally coming to an end.

"At the lighthouse."

"You got it!"

In the distance, a dilapidated lighthouse stood on a cliff by the sea.

This lighthouse had once been one of the residences of Professors Sada and Turo. After the two professors disappeared, the Paldea League moved their belongings, and the lighthouse was abandoned.

But it had become one of South Province Area One's landmark buildings.

The Flying Taxi slowly descended.

Johan paid the fare, then the three got out and stood on the cliff edge, feeling the sea breeze.

"Customers, if you need anything, you can call Flying Taxi service again!"

After saying this, the driver left with the Flying Taxi.

"This isn't near the 'bamboo piece incident,'" Cynthia looked around and checked the materials Geeta had given them.

"Mm."

Johan stood at the cliff edge. In the distance was the ocean, and directly below was a beach.

"But the source of the problem is probably from here."

Assuming he remembered correctly.

After all, the "shrines" where the Treasures of Ruin were sealed wouldn't move, unlike those Titan Pokémon that could run around, causing the Herba Mystica locations to be unfixed—that's why he needed Geeta's data.

"Here?"

Johan smiled without saying much. "Let's go. Since we're here, let's take a look first."

Because the South Province had many traces of human activity, most wild Pokémon there were generally weak.

In the dense grass, several Deerling were playing. In the pond, dark Wooper were blowing bubbles, cautiously poking out half their heads. In the lush trees, Greedent and Applin were fighting over unknown berries.

By the dirt slope under the tree, two orange Lechonk were swaying their round little bottoms while digging.

"Those are... Lechonk?"

Caitlin had crammed knowledge about Paldea region Pokémon on the Flying Taxi.

She saw three or four little black pigs gathered together in the nearby grass, apparently searching for some food.

"Yes." Cynthia smiled and nodded, being led by Caitlin's hand. "They're chubby..."

"You can tell they'd smell great roasted," Johan said.

"Ka-kaah! Ka-kaah!"

Gengar nodded repeatedly, drool shamefully sliding from the corner of its mouth.

Cynthia and Caitlin both glared at Johan.

"Just kidding, kidding. I don't eat Pokémon," Johan quickly explained.

But those fragrant Lechonk seemed to sense the "hungry gaze" from Gengar. Their fur stood up, and after looking around a few times, they quickly scattered.

"Ka-kaah..."

Gengar was unhappy.

I really want barbecue... it seems like we haven't had barbecue in a long time, right?

"I'll make it for you after this is over."

"Ka-kaah!"

Hehe!

The grinning Gengar immediately perked up again.

But it hadn't been happy long when Gengar's expression suddenly became serious.

"Ka-kaah!"

With a light call, it floated toward a direction.

This reaction...

Cynthia and Johan looked at each other and immediately quickened their pace to follow.

After some distance, several Hypno with fierce expressions suddenly appeared in their view.

Then several Clodsire crawled out of the grass, poison brewing in their mouths.

Just over a short distance, the Pokémon here had completely reversed their temperament 180 degrees from those in the previous area.

Although these Pokémon were naturally somewhat fierce, they wouldn't normally show such expressions.

"Looks like it's indeed around here," Johan said.

The wild Pokémon being affected confirmed Johan's guess.

"Yes." Cynthia's expression also became somewhat serious.

"Gengar, have them take a nap first."

Johan ignored these wild Pokémon and walked toward the nearby rock wall.

"There's definitely a problem..." Caitlin, with her psychic powers, also sensed something wrong.

"Ka-kaah~"

Accompanied by "thump thump" falling sounds, the three reached the rock wall.

"Garchomp!"

Being cautious, Cynthia still summoned Garchomp.

"Shaka!"

Garchomp's crimson scythe flashed, and the rock wall immediately burst with cracking sounds as large amounts of rock "clattered" down.

A circular stone tablet engraved with special patterns and bound to the rock wall with iron chains appeared in everyone's view.

Even without using Aura power, Johan could see wisps of black energy as thin as hair seeping from behind the stone tablet.

The seal was loosening.

"The patterns on this..."

Cynthia frowned and approached under Garchomp and Gengar's protection.

On the edge outside the circular tablet's pattern, she saw a circle of tiny text.

She recognized some of these characters.

"Shrine sealed stakes eight..."

"Pull out the eight stakes and you can open the seal here, releasing whatever's inside, right?" Johan said.

When he played the game, he had spent considerable time searching for these stakes.

"Mm... that should roughly be it..."

"But the seal here has already loosened, and the negative energy sealed inside has started leaking. We might not need to pull out all the stakes."

Johan gently rubbed his chin.

He said to Garchomp: "Garchomp, try breaking it open."

"Shaka!!"

Garchomp glared fiercely at Johan, waving its scythe.

Don't order me around!

Though it protested verbally, its body honestly moved.

"Shaka!!"

Immediately, extremely powerful deep purple Dragon-type energy enveloped its entire body. A dragon cloak appeared, and its sharp twin scythe crossed, targeting the heavy stone tablet and its chains...

Dragon Rush!

Boom!!!

A massive roar accompanied by heavy explosion sounds, rolling dust flying, the entire ground and rock wall trembling as more rocks fell.

Caitlin's psychic power protected Cynthia as they retreated, while Johan had to run on his own.

"Damn, you're 'retaliating' against me at this time!"

Fortunately, with his physical condition, mere falling rocks weren't a concern.

Caitlin made a face at him.

When the dust settled, the circular stone tablet and its chains remained intact, with a mysterious power like a barrier protecting its surface.

"Shaka..."

Garchomp's eyes widened, somewhat unconvinced and ready to try again.

But Cynthia called it back.

"Garchomp."

She looked at Johan. "Seems like... we can only pull out the stakes first?"

Johan rubbed his temples.

"Seems like that's the only way, but this makes it much more troublesome..."

He could remember the Treasures of Ruin's sealed locations, but he couldn't remember where those stakes were located.

Who knew how much time this would take.

Chairman Geeta would need to pay extra!

"Ka-kaah~"

Hearing this, Gengar curled its lip and floated to the circular stone tablet.

"Shaka!" Garchomp shook its head.

It didn't believe the stone tablet that hadn't budged when it attacked could be forcibly broken by Gengar.

But then...

Gengar looked at everyone with a "looking at fools" expression, then grabbed what looked like a wooden rivet at the junction where the two crossed iron chains met the rock wall.

With a gentle application of force...

Clatter—

The iron chains fell loose.

Johan: "..."

Garchomp: "..."

"Ka-kaah!"

Gengar pointed to its own head and shook it.

Don't you know how to unlock doors? Where are your brains?

Johan: "..."

His Gengar actually knew how to open doors?

Johan felt like the sun was rising from the west.

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Powerstones?

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