Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 441: Not Extortion, It’s Compensation!

The grand battle had finally come to an end.

Giratina: "I suggest we kill them!"

Dialga & Palkia: "Σ(дlll)"

Johan: "..."

You really dare say that, huh?

I wouldn't dare.

The problem is... I couldn't even if I wanted to.

Did Giratina really think they could just kill the Gods of Time and Space like that?

Johan also doubted the Red Chain could keep them restrained forever.

What he hadn't expected, however, was the immense toll using the Red Chain took on him.

Combined with his earlier Aura consumption and maintaining Gengar's Mega Evolution...

Johan felt like he wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

So, ignoring Giratina, he turned to look at Dialga and Palkia.

Those two were still somewhat restless, but they were no longer colliding in a chaotic frenzy like before.

Of course—

The Red Chain was part of the reason.

But Giratina's presence was definitely the bigger factor.

Maybe now, they could actually talk?

"Garrr!!" (This is all your fault! If you hadn't come to my domain, you wouldn't be stuck here now!)

"Garrr!!" (You came to MY domain! And sure, I might be stuck, but you? You didn't even get a chance to run! Loser!)

"Garrr!" (Who are you calling a loser?!)

"Garrr!" (Whoever responds first is the loser!)

"Garrr!" (I'll destroy you!)

"Garrr!" (Try me!)

Johan: "..."

He had barely extended the last of his Aura when he "heard" their conversation.

Are you two a pair of bickering idiots?!

"Ahem!"

No time for this nonsense. Johan cleared his throat and interrupted them with a firm voice:

"You two—restore Twinleaf Town. Now."

The bickering dragons immediately fell silent, both turning to look at him.

Then—

They snorted in unison and turned their heads away.

Johan: "..."

They had only been caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the Red Chain and Giratina's aura. Now that they had time to think, they realized—

Giratina was still bound to the Distortion World. It couldn't do anything to them.

As for the Red Chain...

It wasn't complete. It could restrain them, sure, but command them? Not happening.

Seeing their "you can't do anything to us" attitude, Johan let out a cold laugh.

"Fine. Guess I'll just hand you two over to Giratina."

Giratina: Now THIS is a surprise!

"Garrr!" (Go ahead! Bring it on!)

"Garrr!" (Yeah! Let it come!)

...For some reason, when faced with Giratina, Dialga and Palkia suddenly became extremely united.

Giratina: Hold me back. Johan, Gengar, HOLD ME BACK.

Johan, however, smirked.

"Oh, that's fine. You two know I'll survive even if Twinleaf Town is destroyed, right? And I just so happen to know how to break the seal on the Distortion World. Just wait."

Giratina: Huh?! For real?!

"Garrr!" (You're bluffing!)

"Garrr!" (Yeah, nice try!)

Johan ignored Giratina and simply smiled.

"Aren't you curious why your realms overlapped? Why Giratina's seal weakened?"

The moment he said this, all three dragons froze.

Johan slowly raised a hand and pointed upwards, his voice laced with amusement.

"Why don't you sense for yourselves... and see who's waking up?"

That—

Was the real problem.

Dialga and Palkia, who had just been defiant, immediately paled.

Johan's heart sank as well.

He had only been guessing that their fight, combined with Unown's prophecy, had something to do with Arceus' awakening.

Now?

It was confirmed.

More importantly—

Judging by their reactions, Arceus wasn't waking up in a good mood.

And if even Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina feared this...

Johan didn't even want to imagine how angry Arceus must be.

"Garrr!" (How do you know all this, human?)

For the first time, Dialga truly acknowledged Johan's presence.

Palkia did the same.

Hummm—

Darkrai, Gengar, and the rest of Johan's Pokémon gathered at his side.

Johan, however, raised a hand to stop them.

"Stay out of this. Let me ask—if I keep you two locked up until that one fully awakens... what do you think will happen?"

His tone turned cold.

He tightened his grip on the Red Chain.

"I won't ask a third time. Restore Twinleaf Town."

Dialga and Palkia exchanged glances.

A silent conversation passed between them.

Palkia: (What do we do?)

Dialga: (What else? He's louder. Just listen to him.)

Hummmm—

With a slight vibration, time and space energy surged forth from their bodies.

The town, which had been mostly obliterated, rapidly began to rebuild itself.

Including the people and Pokémon who had been lost.

"Ka-kaah?"

Gengar, having reverted to its normal form, scratched its head in confusion.

Why did this feel so familiar?

It shook its head.

Nah. Just a coincidence.

As Twinleaf Town returned to normal, cheers erupted from the town's residents.

"Garrr?" (Happy now?)

Palkia asked.

Johan staggered slightly.

Cynthia, who had been watching closely, silently stepped forward to support him.

Johan didn't resist, simply tossing the music box to Darkrai.

"Go play 'Oración' at the Space-Time Tower. Just in case."

Thanks to Dialga and Palkia's powers, the tower had also been restored.

Then, Johan turned back to the two dragons with a smile that made their instincts scream danger.

"Leave something behind, and I'll let you go."

Dialga and Palkia's eyes widened.

Were they... being extorted?!

"This isn't extortion—it's compensation."

Johan calmly expressed his thoughts through Aura.

Compensation?!

This was too much!

Before they could retort, soft, calming music drifted through the air—

Oración.

The melody that could soothe all anger and hatred.

As the golden, phoenix-like tower unfurled its wings and showered Twinleaf Town in gentle light, even Dialga and Palkia couldn't hold onto their fury.

Their rage faded like the tide.

With clearer minds...

"Garrr?" (What do we do?)

Dialga looked at Palkia.

"Garrr..." (What else?)

Palkia stared at Johan.

It had to admit... it felt a little guilty toward him.

After all, during its battle with Dialga—

He had helped it.

But more than that...

It was curious.

And just a little... afraid.

How had this human learned about Arceus' awakening before them?

Why did he have a Red Chain?

Why did Giratina listen to him?!

After a moment of hesitation, Palkia plucked a small sphere of light from its body.

Seeing this, Dialga gritted its teeth and did the same.

The two orbs merged together, forming a translucent, multi-faceted crystal.

It floated into Johan's hand.

Johan barely had time to examine it before his legs gave out.

If not for Cynthia holding him, he would've collapsed.

Clink, clink, clink—

With a flick of his wrist, Johan retracted the Red Chain.

Dialga and Palkia were free.

They exchanged glances—

Then huffed and prepared to leave.

"Wait."

Dialga frowned. "Garrr?" (What now?)

Johan was too exhausted to say much more, so he simply shot a look at Gengar.

One glance was all it took.

"Ka-kaah~"

Gengar cackled mischievously.

With a flick of its wrist, it reached into its dimensional stomach and pulled out four boxes of Pokéblocks.

"Ka-kaah~" (One box as a goodwill gift. The other... let's trade.)

Dialga and Palkia exchanged confused glances.

What was this?

Gengar casually opened a box, releasing a rich aroma into the air.

The scent immediately caught their attention.

After fighting for so long, Dialga and Palkia realized just how hungry they were.

Visit ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience.

And right in front of them was something that smelled... delicious.

Johan's specially crafted, high-tier, premium "Temptation" Pokéblocks!

Dialga and Palkia's eyes lit up.

Nutritionally? It didn't matter. They were legendary Pokémon.

But the taste...

"Garrr?" (What do you want in exchange?)

Dialga asked.

"Ka-kaah~"

Gengar rubbed its hands together greedily.

If Dialga and Palkia had ever watched human movies, they'd realize—

Right now, Gengar looked exactly like a scheming businessman.

What Johan wanted was simple.

Dragon scales.

More specifically—

Scales from the Twin Dragons themselves.

Palkia hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. "Garrr! Garrr!" (Fine!)

But just as it was about to hand one over—

Dialga stopped it.

It narrowed its eyes at Gengar's sly grin and let out a cold snort.

"Garrr!" (One measly box for our scales?)

"Ka-kaah?" (Oh? Then what do you suggest?)

"Garrr! Garrr!" (At least two boxes!)

Gengar froze.

Then it put on an extremely conflicted, heartbroken, reluctant expression—

Before gritting its teeth.

"Ka-kaah!" (Deal!)

Dialga smirked and shot a triumphant look at Palkia.

See that? Learn from me!

Palkia rolled its eyes.

What are you so proud of?

Honestly, if they had pushed a little harder, they probably could've gotten three boxes out of Gengar.

But considering the fact that Johan had helped them...

Fine. They'd let it slide this time.

In the end—

Dialga and Palkia each handed over a scale, while Gengar gave them three boxes of Pokéblocks.

Legendary Dragon Scales—acquired!

"Garrr!!" (I'm leaving!)

Without another word, Dialga tore open time itself and vanished into the temporal stream.

Not wanting to be left behind, Palkia swiped its claws, opening a rift in space before stepping into the void.

And with that—

The battle at the Space-Time Tower had officially come to an end.

Johan was more than satisfied with Gengar's "negotiation skills."

And even more impressed by how skilled Gengar had become at acting.

With everything finally over, the tension in his body faded—

His vision blurred—

And he collapsed into Cynthia's arms.

"Garrr!!"

Garchomp instinctively bared its fangs.

But considering what Johan had just accomplished—

It simply huffed, lifted its head, and pretended not to see anything.

Darkrai, after securing the music box in the Space-Time Tower, rushed back in case Dialga and Palkia tried anything again.

But upon arrival, it saw—

Twinleaf Town had been restored.

The Twin Dragons were gone.

And Johan... had simply passed out.

Darkrai let out a long sigh of relief before collapsing onto the ground.

As the mist faded and the clear blue sky returned—

Darkrai closed its eyes.

This time... it owed Johan another life debt.

"Huh? It's over?"

At the same time—

Flint finally arrived, riding Rapidash at full speed.

But the moment he saw Johan lying peacefully in Cynthia's arms, his face turned pale.

His lips trembled. "J-Johan... is he...?"

"He's just asleep," Cynthia said softly.

Flint let out a breath of relief. "Oh, good... I thought—"

BAM!

Before he could finish, Bruno's steel-like arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"Let's battle, Afro Boy!"

"Σ(っ°Д°;)っ"

As sunlight once again bathed Twinleaf Town, and the melody of Oración soothed its people and Pokémon—

The once chaotic town quickly regained its warmth and vitality.

Even Baron Albert—who had spent the entire fight in Lickitung form—

Had returned to normal.

He immediately raised his fist and shouted:

"Long live Johan!!"

After all—

There was no doubt that Johan was the reason for all this.

And as the Pokémon Center's "head of security," Albert had been secretly watching the battle at the Space-Time Tower.

He hadn't seen everything.

But he had seen—

Johan commanding Darkrai, Mega Gengar, and Dragonite to take on the Twin Dragons.

Then—

Johan simply raised a hand, tossed a chain—

And restrained them both.

What kind of power was that?!

"Long live Johan!!"

The Pokémon Center erupted into cheers.

A nearby reporter, eager for an exclusive, rushed up to Albert.

"Baron Albert! You were watching the battle closely. What exactly happened?"

Albert adjusted his outfit.

As a noble, handling reporters was second nature to him.

He cleared his throat.

"Ahem!"

He raised his hand dramatically, prepared to speak—

And then paused.

...Because he realized...

He didn't actually know that much.

"Well..." Albert began. "Johan took on the Twin Dragons solo! He flew up, shouted a few commands, then—bam! Bam! He swung his arm, and then—'BOOM BOOM!'

The reporter scribbled furiously.

One was talking nonsense.

The other was writing nonsense.

"And what level of strength would you say Johan is at?"

"Level?"

Albert straightened his suit.

"You know, Johan and I are close. He usually doesn't let me reveal this, but... see that Darkrai? That's HIS Pokémon."

Everyone who had seen Darkrai in action was shocked.

The reporter immediately wrote down—

"Johan's confirmed minimum strength: CHAMPION LEVEL!"

And in her mind, she was already writing tomorrow's headline.

"Johan—The Man Who Bound the Twin Dragons!"

As for today's news?

It had already been published.

"Johan Unveils a New Evolution—Mega Evolution!"

For the next several days—

Johan's name was destined to dominate the headlines.

"Mmm..."

Meanwhile—

In a peaceful garden, shaded beneath a large tree—

Johan slowly regained consciousness.

The first thing he saw was—

"Ka-kaah!! (_)"

Gengar's wide, grinning face.

Johan smirked, pinching Gengar's cheek.

"Good job, Gengar."

Gengar beamed and pounded its chest.

"Ka-kaah!"

Mere Twin Dragons? Easy!

As soon as he sat up—

"Oowoo~"

Ninetales curled its nine tails beneath him, forming a soft fox-tail chair.

Cynthia knelt beside him. "You should rest. Twinleaf Town is safe now."

Johan chuckled.

Safe?

"Not necessarily."

Cynthia and the Pokémon looked confused.

Johan slowly took out his phone.

There was one more "angry old man" waiting for an explanation...

----------

Powerstones?

For 20 advance Chapters: patreon.com/michaeltranslates