Pokemon: Spiritual Master

The quarterfinals had concluded, and Johan advanced to the semifinals without any surprises.

However, his method of victory had left many in shock.

A complete sweep!

And his opponent was a former Gym Leader!

Though Kabu had lost his position as a Gym Leader due to certain reasons and had decided to start over from scratch, his strength was widely recognized.

For Johan to sweep such an opponent—who could even take a single point from him?

That said, the competition level in this year's Lily of the Valley Conference was ridiculously high. The remaining contestants all had a shot at the title.

This only continued to raise the tournament's popularity.

But an interesting detail had surfaced among the spectators.

The runner-up of the Indigo Conference—Guderian—had witnessed Johan's full team firsthand.

Because of this, the value of Guderian's runner-up title had skyrocketed online.

Johan, however, only chuckled at the discussions.

He was more concerned with Urshifu's current state.

"Ka-kah~"

Gengar floated beside Urshifu, scratching its head, then hovering up to measure itself against Urshifu's height. It was surprised.

"Hey, we're the same height now!"

Johan glanced sideways at Gengar's levitating feet, which were still dangling in midair.

You sure about that?

"Cha~"

"Goka~"

"Yoji~"

Tinkaton, Charcadet, and Larvitar all tilted their heads up, staring at Urshifu.

Back in the day, the four of them were around the same height…

Now? Urshifu had shot up to two meters.

What were they supposed to do now? Jump up to punch his kneecaps?

"Draaa~"

Dragonite, on the other hand, was very satisfied.

Previously, it had been the tallest Pokémon on Johan's team.

Gengar was big too, but that was just because it was fat.

Now that Urshifu had evolved, Dragonite no longer looked like a towering giant.

"Garruu!! (●｀()●)"

Urshifu crossed its arms, its face serious.

"Enough posing," Johan said, petting his little Ninetales. "Relax already."

"Garruu~ (óò)"

Urshifu grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of its head. Its serious aura collapsed in an instant.

It had been posing for the Rotom phone's camera.

Then, it crouched down and started fighting Larvitar over an energy cube.

Looking at this gluttonous Urshifu, who would have guessed it was the same Pokémon that had just dominated the battlefield with raw power and precision?

But as Johan watched Urshifu devour its meal, his expression gradually stiffened.

A drop of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

Oh no… oh no!

Urshifu had grown bigger. And according to the "size = appetite" equation (except for Larvitar, of course)…

Its food consumption was going to—

"Garruu~ (ω`)_且"

Urshifu held up its empty bowl, looking at Johan expectantly.

Johan: "…"

Yep. Just as he feared.

Just like when Dragonair evolved into Dragonite…

Financial disaster.

With Larvitar already being a bottomless pit, Urshifu's evolution had added even more pressure to Johan's already tight budget.

After giving Urshifu another bowl of energy cubes, Johan checked its Pokédex entry.

He had glanced at it during the battle, but some details had confused him.

[Urshifu]

[Type: Fighting/Water]

[Ability: Unseen Fist]

[Moves: Leer, Rock Smash, Endure, Focus Energy, Aerial Ace, Scary Face, Headbutt, Brick Break… Aura Sphere, Aqua Jet, Surging Strikes]

[Mood: Excited, Joyful (Who isn't a Legendary Pokémon at this point?!)]

[Status: Excellent (Everything tastes amazing!)]

[Friendship: 100 (Do I look more like Guan Yu, Zhang Fei… or maybe Zhao Yun?!)]

…It's terminal.

But what really intrigued Johan was why Urshifu had evolved into Rapid Strike Style.

Was it because its opponent specialized in Fire-types?

As for why it had evolved, Johan wasn't surprised.

There had been plenty of warning signs.

And Kubfu had already mastered both the Single Strike and Rapid Strike techniques.

Other Kubfu had to climb the Towers of Two Fists and read the scrolls to evolve because they needed to learn one of the two techniques.

But in reality, the requirement for evolution wasn't climbing the towers—it was mastering the techniques within the scrolls.

Johan suddenly thought of something.

"Urshifu, aren't you sleepy today?"

Normally, Urshifu would get drowsy throughout the day, but today… it hadn't taken a single nap.

As soon as Johan spoke, Urshifu yawned, stretched, and immediately fell asleep.

But the moment it did, everyone turned to stare at it.

Because—

Even though Urshifu was snoring, its face looked serious.

It exuded a ferocious aura, then suddenly walked to the side and began shadowboxing.

Each punch sent a sharp gust of wind through the air.

Then—CRACK.

Several meters away, the wall suddenly cracked open from the impact.

"Garruu… zzZ."

As if realizing that it might accidentally destroy the house, Urshifu took a few steps back before resuming its practice.

But every punch still carried a terrifying force.

"Ka-kah~ (ω`)?"

Gengar rubbed its chin, deep in thought.

As a Ghost-type, it normally wouldn't fear punches.

But for some reason… it felt threatened.

Johan, however, understood immediately.

Because Urshifu's Pokédex entry had changed.

Its Fighting/Water typing had shifted to Fighting/Dark!

And its Aqua Jet and Surging Strikes had been replaced by Wicked Blow and Sucker Punch.

Oh, great.

It's a fusion-style Urshifu?!

"Wait a second… did Master Mustard forget to tell me something important?" Johan muttered.

After all, both Urshifu styles had identical base stats and similar fighting techniques—only their typings and move styles differed.

"So… does this mean that Urshifu is more aggressive when asleep because it's in Single Strike Style?"

"And more active when awake because it's in Rapid Strike Style?"

It was like a split personality.

No, a split "bear"sonality.

Then, a crazy idea popped into Johan's head.

What if Urshifu could merge both styles…

Combining the raw power of Single Strike with the fluidity of Rapid Strike?

Would that create a new form?

Urshifu · Grandmaster of Tai Chi?

Johan chuckled.

Merging two different martial arts styles wasn't easy.

Even Mustard hadn't achieved it.

It was just wishful thinking.

"Cha~!"

Tinkaton walked up to Urshifu and tapped its knee.

"Garruu? zzZ"

Urshifu looked confused.

"Cha~ Cha~!"

Give me your hands—I'll make you new knuckle guards!

Tinkaton had recently crafted a set for Kubfu, but now that it had evolved, they no longer fit.

"Garruu~ zzZ"

Urshifu nodded and handed over its now-too-small knuckle guards.

"Yoji~"

Larvitar waddled over, grinning as it pointed at the tiny knuckle guards.

You're not using them anymore… can I have them?

Then—CRUNCH.

Larvitar ate them.

Johan: "…"

"Larvitar… are minerals not enough for you anymore?"

Before he could even react—

"Johan! The semifinal matchups have been announced!"

Johan raised his hand to stop Rotom. "Let me guess…"

"It's either Tobias or Guzma."

"Correct! Your next opponent—

Guzma from Alola!"

Johan smirked.

"Time to crush him tomorrow."

January 22.

Lily of the Valley Conference—Semifinals, begin!

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Powerstones?

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