Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 472: Johan’s Team Training Exercise

"Good morning, Professor."

"Good morning, Professor Johan."

"Professor Johan~"

Returning to the academy, Johan entered the training room with a smile, greeting the students who called out to him.

The incident in Verdanturf Town the other night wasn't exactly a secret. After all, with so many residents—despite being evacuated to shelters—the commotion was too big to ignore.

Not to mention, the legendary 'Sky Dragon' Rayquaza had appeared!

"I heard Professor Johan fought Rayquaza?"

"What do you mean 'fought'? He beat Rayquaza!"

"I heard he even caught it!"

"For real?"

"A bunch of people saw him riding on Rayquaza's head! If he didn't catch it, how could he ride it?"

"Whoa! Riding Rayquaza?"

"No wonder they call him 'Legend Slayer'!"

Someone who only fights Legendary Pokémon!

Of course, all of this was just rumors.

Even the story of Johan riding Rayquaza's head—while not entirely false—was still exaggerated.

After all, with Deoxys disrupting the town's electromagnetic fields, no one had been able to record anything with their devices.

And since there was no footage... the rumors ran wild.

Some people even brought up how Johan had previously smashed Dialga and Palkia, now claiming that he was on a mission to capture all seven Dragon-type Legendaries.

Johan just laughed it off.

There was no point in arguing.

Rumors spread fast, but denying them was pointless.

At this rate, he wouldn't be surprised if people started saying he had beaten Arceus next.

Most regular people and trainers just treated these as fun stories over tea.

But those who actually knew what happened?

They weren't fooled.

"Professor Johan! I heard you had Rayquaza pinned under you?!"

Hearing the shouting from the phone, Johan instinctively pulled it away from his ear.

Coming from Flint, the way he said it just sounded wrong.

"Yeah, yeah, next time I'll bring Rayquaza over to your house for a visit," Johan said dryly.

"My house?!" Flint gasped.

Would it still be standing after that?!

"H-haha... Professor Johan, you sure know how to joke—uh, anyway, Volkner's calling me for a battle. Gotta go! Bye!"

Click.

Johan smirked.

Flint, scared?

He'd have to tell Cynthia to beat him up some more next time.

Johan entered the training room.

He activated the protective barriers and summoned his Pokémon.

Gengar, Ninetales, Tinkaton, Dragonite, Urshifu, Ceruledge, and Larvitar.

Excluding Larvitar, his entire team had finally reached their final evolutions.

Crunch, crunch—

The moment Larvitar appeared, it immediately grabbed a mineral rock and started munching on it like a bag of chips.

Johan twitched.

He had underestimated Larvitar's appetite.

At this rate, the ore he mined two days ago would be completely devoured in a week.

Part of the problem was that Tinkaton had taken some of the metal-rich rocks for her hammer and to repair Ceruledge's armor.

So overall, he had mined a lot, but not enough to keep up with Larvitar's eating.

"Larvitar, eat some Pokéblocks too. You need a balanced diet."

"Yoji!"

Happily, Larvitar accepted the Pokéblocks.

Picky eater?

Not at all.

If Johan wasn't watching, Larvitar would've torn down the entire room and dug three feet into the ground by now.

Luckily, Glacia had approved his reimbursement request quickly.

Just this morning, several large crates of berries had arrived.

That should keep his Pokémon happy for a while.

"Ceruledge."

While the others trained on their own, Johan called over Ceruledge to assess its new abilities in detail.

Rotom hovered nearby, activating its recording mode for analysis.

"Goka~~"

Ceruledge held its dual swords at its sides, jogging over. Its blue-violet armor glowed faintly in the light.

It looked incredibly cool.

Even as its trainer, Johan couldn't help but admire its design every time he saw it.

"Let's spar a bit," Johan said.

Although Ceruledge had already used Bitter Blade and Shadow Claw in battle against Vanilluxe, its proficiency still needed improvement.

Today, they'd test its overall abilities.

"Goka!"

Ceruledge's sharp eyes gleamed as it nodded, blades flashing.

Johan grabbed a remote control, activating the training machines in the room.

"Get ready."

With a press of a button—

BANG! BANG-BANG—

Three spheres shot out at different speeds and angles across the room.

Ceruledge vanished in a blur, dashing toward the farthest sphere first.

Its ghostly blue flames flickered, slicing cleanly through the target—

And instantly incinerating it.

In a matter of moments, all three spheres were cut down.

Ceruledge returned to Johan's side without breaking a sweat.

Johan nodded in approval.

Its speed and precision were excellent—a sign that Charcadet's foundation had been trained properly.

"Time to increase the difficulty," Johan said.

He needed to find Ceruledge's limits before designing its next training plan.

"Goka!"

More spheres launched—each one faster than before.

Ceruledge cut them all down with expert precision.

But Johan kept increasing the difficulty, testing its reaction time, accuracy, and endurance.

With each challenge, he gained a clearer picture of Ceruledge's capabilities.

"Ceruledge's flames focus on precision and blade formation. In contrast, Armarouge..."

Johan stopped the exercise.

After letting Ceruledge catch its breath, he gestured for it to switch forms.

A twist of the armor's mechanism—

And with a burst of flames, Armarouge stood in Ceruledge's place.

Compared to Ceruledge, Armarouge was more suited for Psychic terrain control and large-scale attacks.

But for now, it hadn't learned moves like Expanding Force yet.

That could be trained later—right now, Johan wanted to test its firepower.

A heavy-duty training target emerged from the far side of the room.

"Armarouge."

Johan nodded toward it. "Try Armor Cannon—without any external power boosts."

That meant no Rainbow Feather, no Sacred Fire, no Aura, no Psychic enhancements—just raw Fire-type energy.

Armarouge nodded.

With a clicking sound, its golden arm plates shifted, forming a cannon over its arms.

WHOOSH—

A surge of intense heat radiated outward.

The air distorted around Armarouge as it gathered fire energy, drawing it into a single point.

For a moment—

The room darkened as the heat sucked in all available light.

Then—

BOOM!

A massive fire pillar shot forward, scorching a deep blackened trail across the floor.

The moment it struck the target—

KABOOM!!

The entire training room shook from the impact.

When the flames faded—

The target was gone.

Not damaged.

Not cracked.

Just completely vaporized.

Johan blinked.

"Yeah... that's way stronger than Charcadet's Overheat was."

And this was just the basic version.

If he added Sacred Fire, Aura, and Psychic power...

Johan shook his head.

Maybe it was better not to test that in here.

He didn't want to blow up the entire training facility.

For now, this was enough.

Johan carefully observed Armarouge as the last traces of heat dissipated from its cannon. The golden plating gleamed, cooling down after unleashing such concentrated firepower. A thin wisp of white smoke curled from the barrel, marking the residual energy of Armor Cannon.

That... had been ridiculously strong.

Stronger than any Overheat Charcadet had ever used before.

And this was without any additional boosts.

Johan rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

If Armarouge had this level of destructive power, then...

Would Ceruledge be able to match it in sheer offensive capability?

The answer wasn't so simple.

Armarouge specialized in powerful, concentrated ranged attacks, while Ceruledge focused on high-speed, sustained melee combat with Bitter Blade and its lifesteal effect.

Both forms had their strengths.

"Alright, next test—Aura Sphere."

Johan pressed another button on the control panel.

A medium-sized target emerged from the floor, reinforced for Special Attacks.

"Goka!"

Armarouge's body pulsed with Aura energy, and a deep blue glow gathered at the cannon's core.

Johan could feel it—his own Aura resonating slightly in response.

From the side, Urshifu glanced over, sensing the disturbance.

BOOM!

The Aura Sphere shot forward, its impact cleanly shattering the target.

The force was a little weaker than Armor Cannon, but the speed and precision made it an excellent spammable attack.

Johan nodded.

"Alright, that's enough for today."

With the tests completed, Armarouge twisted its chest piece once more—

And returned to Ceruledge.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

Johan had considered testing that brief fusion form—where Ceruledge briefly gained a golden arm cannon—

But not yet.

It wasn't stable.

Not to mention, Ceruledge had only just evolved.

Mastering both forms was already a huge task.

There was no need to rush things.

Johan stretched and glanced at his team.

They had all been training independently during the session.

But when he turned toward Gengar—

The ghost was already clapping its hands together.

"Ka-kaah~~!"

With a mischievous grin, it beckoned the others.

Johan raised an eyebrow.

"Team battle?"

Gengar nodded.

Not the first time they'd done this.

When there weren't suitable opponents, the best solution was—

Fight each other.

Of course, this was just training—no one would go all out.

No Mega Evolution, no Aura, no special transformations like Reverse Scale.

Just pure skill and tactics.

"Alright," Johan agreed.

"Let's keep it friendly."

Rotom zipped forward excitedly.

"I'll handle the refereeing—Roto!"

Johan chuckled and stepped back, watching as his team prepared for battle.

Team Rankings (Unofficial):

Gengar – As Johan's first Pokémon, Gengar had the most experience and was the best at coordinating with him in battle.

Ninetales – Its defensive capabilities were almost untouchable. Even Gengar had a hard time breaking through its ice barriers.

Tinkaton – While slightly lacking in battle focus, its type advantage against Urshifu and Dragonite kept it in the top three.

Dragonite – Despite its power, Dragonite's ranking suffered because it couldn't use Reverse Scale in friendly matches.

Urshifu – Strong, but vulnerable to Fairy and Flying-types.

Ceruledge – Newly evolved and still adjusting to its full potential.

Larvitar – ...Busy eating.

For now, Larvitar was the team's designated "free win."

But someday, it would climb the ranks.

Johan nodded as the battle began, already analyzing the matchups and strategies unfolding before him.

The more they fought together, the stronger they'd become—

And soon enough, he'd be able to take on even the strongest of Elite Four members.

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