Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 485: Temple of the Sea, Samiya!

The moon was bright and stars sparse, the rolling waves of the ocean settling into stillness.

A single sailboat glided across the calm sea, as if following the moon's silver path reflected on the water.

"You're not resting?"

In the cockpit, Johan leaned against the doorframe, watching the handsome man at the helm.

"You all slept when we landed on Slowking Island." The man grinned, looking energetic.

While Johan and the others explored, he'd taken stock of the cabin and snuck in a nap himself.

Seeing his good condition, Johan smiled and said no more.

Their current location, marked on both their sea chart and the Rotom navigator, was closing in on one of the moving coordinates.

That coordinate had suddenly accelerated during dinner—not quite Lugia-speed, but definitely faster than an ordinary Pokémon.

So it had to be Lugia.

Probably.

They might even encounter it by midnight.

But since they didn't know Lugia's state or intentions—if it would be hostile—Johan had Cynthia and Caitlin rest to conserve energy while he kept watch.

Relying on the man alone in a crisis would be a disaster. He'd probably only react once the boat was flipped and everyone was swimming.

Johan crouched down and beckoned to the Croagunk wearing a captain's hat, who stood stiffly.

"Ku."

Croagunk hesitated briefly, glanced at the man, then trotted to Johan and took an energy cube from his hand, tossing it into its mouth.

Seeing it sneak glances at the man, Johan chuckled. Clearly, Croagunk cared a lot about how the man felt.

He patted Croagunk's shoulder, his eyes gleaming with aura.

"Croagunk, let me teach you something."

"Ku?"

"If you ever sense real danger, don't listen to that guy. Poison Jab him into unconsciousness and carry him off."

Johan grinned, picturing Brock's Croagunk dragging him away by the leg after knocking him out.

"Ku?"

Croagunk looked even more confused, but there was a hint of curiosity in its eyes.

"You know how reckless he is. If he gets himself into danger, don't follow his orders."

Sure, that might lead to mission failure—but the man never followed protocol anyway.

"As a Superintendent Inspector of the International Police, I hereby secretly appoint you as 'Chief Patrol Officer.' That makes you his superior. He has to listen to you."

Chief Patrol Officer?

Croagunk's eyes lit up. It straightened its back, shot a sideways glance at the man, and got a puzzled look in return.

"Only for extreme situations, okay?" Johan added.

"Ku!"

Croagunk nodded solemnly. Protecting the man had always been its mission.

It just never had a legitimate reason—until now.

Now it was in charge!

Johan smiled and gave it another handful of energy cubes.

Protecting the man meant protecting Croagunk too. He didn't want to revisit a future where all that remained was Croagunk's photo in mourning.

From Johan's shadow, Gengar peeked out, puzzled.

Was Johan... mimicking his sneaky ways?

"Johan, sir!"

Suddenly, the man's voice rang out, tense.

"The coordinate changed direction! And its speed—"

Johan looked at Rotom and saw that the coordinate previously headed toward them had turned, moving in a completely different pattern.

What's going on?

Thinking fast, Johan made a decision. "Catch up to it!"

The turn wasn't a retreat—there was still a chance to close in.

"Got it!"

The man had the same idea. He cranked the sailboat's turbines to max. The boat jolted with a burst of speed.

Tyrunt and the baby Lugia rolled from foot to headboard in their sleep, but just snuggled closer together without waking.

In their rooms, Ninetales, Urshifu, and Ceruledge opened their eyes.

In Cynthia and Caitlin's room, Garchomp and Lucario also stirred, but upon confirming the girls were still asleep, made no sound.

"Rotom, help out," Johan said.

"Roto~!"

Rotom crackled with electricity and dove into the boat's turbine, supercharging it.

With extra power from Magnezone and two Chinchou, the boat accelerated again.

The man pressed a button, and Croagunk ran to the deck to help furl the sails.

Moonlight shimmered on the water as waves rippled beneath them.

After a while—

"According to this direction..." the man said in surprise, "That coordinate is moving toward another one!"

Johan noticed too—both coordinates were converging. What's happening?

First it came toward them, now it veered to another spot?

And now they were getting close to both?

"Captain, someone's chasing us!"

In a massive submarine, a Ghost Pirate Crew member spotted blips on radar.

The burly man in command narrowed his eyes.

"Eliminate them!"

"Yes!"

Two mini-subs launched from the main sub, spiraling toward the sailboat.

From the subs, six Sharpedo, four Crawdaunt, two Cloyster, and a swarm of Remoraid swam out.

"Ka-kaah!"

Gengar perched atop the mast, scanning the sea with glowing red eyes, and cried out.

"Submarines!"

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The radar in the cockpit lit up with the two mini-subs and their Pokémon swarm.

Johan narrowed his eyes.

So... we guessed wrong.

That coordinate wasn't Lugia.

It was... likely Manaphy.

Or rather, Manaphy's egg.

It floated with the current.

Blame Slowking for being vague—the two coordinates it gave included Manaphy too.

The stationary one had to be Lugia.

Which hadn't moved. Why?

The pirates' target was the Temple of the Sea—likely aiming for Manaphy.

But then how did the man rescue the baby Lugia?

Did they catch it first? Was it a side goal?

Too many questions.

Some clues were new, some were half-remembered from a movie Johan had once seen.

But nothing quite fit together yet.

Still, one thing was clear:

The enemy made the first move.

Which meant—

Time to strike first!

Pokémon hunters either way—they were going down!

Johan strode onto the deck.

The boat rocked as waves churned from water-type attacks.

But Johan stood firm.

His aura training, combined with martial arts lessons from Bruno, kept him steady.

"Oowoo~~"

Ninetales appeared beside him, sensing the urgency.

Johan patted its snowy white fur.

Without words, it raised its head and howled.

"Oowoo—!!"

Snow began to fall, temperature plummeting.

"Dragonite, Urshifu!"

"Draaa~!"

"Garruu~!"

The attackers were underwater—targeting the boat's hull.

Only Dragonite and Urshifu had real underwater combat capability.

Splash—

Dragonite dove in. Urshifu took a deep breath and followed.

"Ka-kaah!"

Gengar, now in goggles, volunteered for underwater duty.

Johan smiled and waved it on.

"Air, land, sea... underwater's where we're weakest," Johan mused, closing his eyes and using aura.

The underwater scene painted itself in his mind like sonar.

The sea churned violently. Dozens of water-types used Whirlpool.

Any normal boat would've been shredded.

But the whirlpool began to slow... and freeze.

Thanks, Ninetales!

Even if Johan's team lacked true sea fighters, they could still control the ocean.

Dragonite wasn't fast underwater, but far faster than the enemy Sharpedo and Crawdaunt.

And the Remoraid? No chance.

"Bwooooom—"

Golden lightning exploded from Dragonite's body.

Thunderbolt!

Only Dragonite—with its uncanny luck—would dare use Thunderbolt underwater.

Remoraid floated to the surface, stunned.

Meanwhile, Urshifu dove deeper.

Even ten meters out, it struck a pose, fists moving.

Water slowed most Fighting-types—not Urshifu.

With its Water typing and mastery of flowing strikes, it felt right at home.

It punched.

Splash—

Water became its weapon, flowing, compounding. It surged toward the Sharpedo.

Boom!

Two Sharpedo went down immediately.

And that was just the start.

A whiplike leg strike sliced the water like a blade.

Then a sweeping punch sent layered waves crashing forward.

"Didn't expect Urshifu to be this good underwater," Johan admitted.

Even the pirates were stunned.

"This... this strong?!"

"Fall back! Report to the captain!"

But before they could move—

One looked to his side and screamed.

Gengar had already appeared beside him, arm draped around his shoulder.

Before he could react—

Hypnosis.

When he opened his eyes again, he was on a sunny beach.

Vacation?

He sighed in bliss and lay back.

Only for Gengar to reappear beside him, grinning.

"Ka-kaah..."

The sea calmed again, as if nothing had happened.

Only the fast-sailing boat remained.

Johan stood at the bow, sea breeze cooling his face.

"Ka-kaah~ Ka-kaah~"

Gengar sat nearby, reciting intel it gathered:

Manaphy, Lugia, ghost pirates, Pokémon Hunter J.

Piece by piece, the picture became clearer.

Lugia was J's target.

Manaphy was the ghost pirates'.

They were working together!

The approaching coordinate had been Manaphy's egg.

The stationary one—Lugia.

And its silence? Possibly caused by the petrification gun—J's signature weapon.

It could even petrify the lake guardians.

If they hit Lugia with it... that explained everything.

In any case, they had to catch up.

The egg was still showing up on Rotom's map.

Now was the best time to strike the pirates.

Johan could almost hear it—

"Want the treasure? I hid it all in the sub. If you want it, come find it!"

Two major Pokémon hunter crews...

"What's up?"

Cynthia, now in a windcoat, and Caitlin, yawning, joined him on deck.

"Battle sounds woke us up," Caitlin muttered, frowning.

"Interrupting sleep... how rude!"

Her hair lifted as her psychic aura stirred.

Johan quickly explained.

Both understood.

"Ka-kaah~!"

Gengar pointed to the sea ahead.

There—

Beneath the surface, among swirling fish, a grand, ancient structure shimmered within a glowing barrier.

A powerful aura of history washed over them. Cynthia's eyes sparkled.

"This is..."

"The Temple of the Sea—Samiya," Johan answered.

The coordinates overlapped.

Lugia... seemed to be inside.

"Gaaaaarrrrgh!!"

A pained cry echoed from the depths.

Inside the cabin, baby Lugia trembled, suddenly waking, tears in its eyes.

"Bwooo..."

A massive shadow flickered past the glowing temple deep below.

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Powerstones?

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