Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 407: The Lily of the Valley Conference Begins!

On January 18th, the venue for the Lily of the Valley Conference was packed with people.

Today was the opening ceremony of the tournament!

Brilliant fireworks bloomed in the sky above the massive stadium, while hot air balloons featuring Pokémon like Pelipper and Wailord floated overhead, broadcasting the event live.

Amid the excited crowd, the host stepped onto the stage and announced the ceremonial lighting of the sacred flame.

"Goka~"

Charcadet held onto Larvitar, preventing it from running around while curiously observing the silver torch's flame.

After all, this was its first time attending a regional league tournament, and the spectacle was overwhelming.

"Ka-kaah~"

Gengar patted Charcadet's shoulder nonchalantly, indicating that the flame was just from Moltres and nowhere near as impressive as the fire on its own head.

"Goka."

Charcadet suddenly understood.

No wonder it seemed familiar...

"Seriously, can't the League get Ho-Oh's flames? They use Moltres' fire every time," Johan couldn't help but comment.

The host took the stage, microphone in hand, and announced, "Next, let's welcome President Damalanche for his speech!!"

The old man kept it brief, simply expressing his support for the Lily of the Valley Conference.

It made sense—since every region held a tournament every year, if Damalanche gave a long-winded speech at each one, people would probably get sick of it.

"I don't see any connection to Tobias..." Johan muttered, shaking his head.

"Tobias?" Cynthia looked at him with curiosity.

"Ah, just some card player."

"Bertha is taking the stage!" Flint said excitedly.

Haven't you seen her before...?

The cheers from the crowd grew even louder. Compared to President Damalanche, the Elite Four clearly held more weight in the audience's eyes.

"Johan, finally found you."

A familiar voice called out.

Johan turned toward it.

"Professor Oak... and Samson Oak?"

Standing before him were two nearly identical elderly men, differentiated only by their hairstyles and skin tones.

Oh, and by their outfits—Professor Oak wore his signature white lab coat, while Samson Oak was dressed in Alolan beachwear and flip-flops.

Isn't it cold on Lily of the Valley Island? Johan couldn't help but wonder.

"Alola, Professor Johan, Ninetales!"

Samson Oak greeted Johan with a smile, and the next second, his hair transformed into the shape of Ninetales.

Johan: "..."

Cynthia: "..."

Flint: "Wow, that's amazing!"

As expected of the man known as "The One with a Thousand Pokémon Faces."

A considerable number of people from Alola had come to this Lily of the Valley Conference.

Compared to regions like Kanto and Johto, Sinnoh was relatively new in terms of League establishment, though its system was already quite refined.

Alola, on the other hand, was still in the early stages of forming its own League.

Participating in this tournament would not only help spread awareness of Alola and boost its economy but also provide a chance to learn from Sinnoh and other regions on how to establish a more structured League system.

Of course, Samson Oak's primary reason for seeking out Johan was—

"Hahaha! Our Alola Pokémon Academy would be more than happy to welcome you, Johan. Gengar!"

Samson Oak got straight to the point during their brief exchange.

He wasn't necessarily trying to get Johan to "jump ship" to the Alola Pokémon Academy—he just wanted him to visit and conduct an exchange program.

After all, whether it was Professor Kukui or students like Lana and Mallow, they all greatly admired Johan.

"If I get the chance, I'd love to," Johan responded earnestly without rejecting the idea.

Who wouldn't like sunshine, beaches, beautiful women, and bikinis?

Especially if Cynthia came along...

Cough.

"By the way, Johan, hand me your Pokédex. I'll upgrade it for you while I'm here," Professor Oak said.

"Rotom."

"Understood, Roto!"

Rotom immediately emerged from the Pokédex and flew out, leaving the device in Professor Oak's hands.

Meanwhile...

After Bertha's speech, the host announced loudly:

"The Lily of the Valley Conference officially begins!"

Fireworks exploded across the sky. Excited trainers shouted, and the audience's cheers reached a fever pitch.

Who knew what kind of thrilling stories would unfold in this year's Sinnoh League tournament?

With the opening ceremony concluded, the preliminary rounds began immediately.

Trainers in the preliminaries would battle fiercely throughout the day, and only the top 64 would advance to the knockout stage.

As a special invitee, Johan didn't need to go through the preliminaries. So, after the ceremony, he spent time exploring the area with Cynthia and Flint.

Later, two late arrivals—Lucian and Aaron—finally reached Lily of the Valley Island.

The five of them gathered at a café.

"Yoji~"

Larvitar was brimming with curiosity about everything around it.

And for this little glutton and lovable fool, the best way to satisfy curiosity was—

Chomp!

"Ow, ow, ow, ow—"

Flint yelped in pain as he tried to tease Larvitar with a piece of cake, only for it to latch onto his hand, leaving him with half a limb's worth of regret.

Luckily, Charcadet quickly pried it off.

"Ka-kaah~"

Gengar observed the scene thoughtfully.

Could it be that this little dinosaur's best skill would be Pain-Induced Sleep?

"So the egg hatched into a Larvitar, huh?"

Lucian mused. "I've heard they need to eat an entire mountain before they evolve."

Johan took a sip of his coffee and smiled.

"Lucian, your information is incomplete. You might want to update it."

Then, he casually handed back the file Lucian had compiled on Pokémon Hunter J and her group.

Lucian: "???"

"Just kidding."

The file was actually quite decent. Most of the details were common knowledge, but it was clear Lucian had his own sources.

"Have you noticed that Hunter J's group has been appearing unusually frequently in Eterna City?" Johan asked, flipping through the file.

Lucian adjusted his glasses. "That's true. I've noticed it as well. But isn't that because of Eterna Forest?"

As one of Sinnoh's largest wild Pokémon habitats, it was natural for a Pokémon hunter like J to be active in the area.

If Lucian was looking at it purely from a logical standpoint, there wasn't anything unusual.

But for Johan, who had prior knowledge, leading things in the "right" direction was a simple matter.

"Then why don't they go through Floaroma Town?"

Lucian pondered for a moment and caught on.

"...I see. I'll keep an eye on Eterna City."

"Also, can you help me gather information on the other competitors in this tournament?" Johan asked.

"Sure."

Lucian agreed instinctively—then suddenly froze.

Wait.

Had he just signed himself up for another task without realizing it?

He opened his mouth, glanced at Johan's smiling face, then at Cynthia casually playing with Larvitar...

Nope. Not picking that fight.

Then he looked at Flint, who was still nursing his wounded arm, and Aaron, who was spacing out.

Not useful. Not useful at all.

Wait a second.

We're all supposed to be part of the same team, so why am I the only one doing actual work?

Where's the teamwork?

You all relax while I do all the work?!

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

"Wait, does Johan even need to research the competition?" Aaron suddenly spoke, his ahoge perking up.

"Yoji..."

Larvitar glanced at Aaron's ahoge, then touched its own blunt horn.

Hey! Is he copying me?

"Yeah, with Johan's strength, can't he just steamroll everyone?" Flint added.

"Johan: "I'm not Leon."

The group fell silent for a moment.

Leon's strategy was basically turn everything into a Charizard sweep.

Even Cynthia often relied on her Garchomp to bulldoze opponents.

In fact, many top-tier Champions excelled at this kind of overwhelming strategy.

Johan sighed and took a deep breath.

Anyone who stood in the way of feeding his Pokémon...

Would be crushed.

"Yeah," he said, nodding slightly.

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Powerstones?

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