Sinnoh, Canalave City, Wake's house.
Bam! Bam! Bam bam bam—
Kubfu unleashed a flurry of punches against a specially made wooden post.
It didn't quite rember what happened last night—only that it had slept incredibly well.
But lately, Kubfu had been training harder than ever.
Not just because it wanted to improve faster, but because it had been a long ti since nature had "blessed" it.
Were we not working hard enough?
Bam bam bam—
"Ku~!"
I'll work even harder!
"Cha~!"
Tinkaton approached Kubfu.
Kubfu looked at it in confusion as Tinkaton pulled out... a pair of knuckle dusters from behind its back!
"Ku?"
Kubfu blinked at the weapon.
Is this for ?
Tinkaton grinned, slinging its hamr over its shoulder and nodding firmly.
"Cha~!"
A true warrior must have their own signature weapon. These knuckle dusters would one day strike fear into opponents everywhere!
Kubfu carefully reached out and brushed its fingers against the sharp protrusions of the weapon.
Hiss—
Sharp!
"Ku!!"
Excellent craftsmanship!
With this weapon in hand, how could I not achieve greatness?!
Kubfu's eyes glead as it slipped the knuckle dusters onto its fists. Its entire aura changed, sharpening instantly.
Then, it turned toward the wooden post and threw a punch.
CRACK!!
The spikes on the knuckle dusters pierced straight through the wood.
Flint, who happened to be walking by, saw this scene and instinctively touched his face.
That weapon... that's gotta be cheating, right?
Johan, who was reading a book nearby, also twitched at the sight.
Co to think of it...
Does the League have any rules against Pokémon bringing their own weapons into official battles?
"Johan."
Flint walked over.
"Wake says the plane is ready."
"Got it."
Johan closed his book, clapped his hands, and called over the Pokémon playing in the garden.
It was ti to head to Lily of the Valley Island!
The little ones had been waiting for this—each of them was full of energy and excitent.
For glory! No—wait, for battle!
January 16th, Noon
Johan and Flint boarded a plane to Lily of the Valley Island.
Wake had other tasks to handle and wouldn't be joining them, though he promised he'd catch up in a few days.
As soon as Flint got on the plane, he fell asleep—probably because he didn't get much rest last night.
Johan, on the other hand, scrolled through the latest League news.
When he entered the official League website, the first thing he saw was:
"Teacher Johan Confird to Compete! Want to Challenge Him? Co to the Lily of the Valley Conference!"
Clicking on it, the comnts section was filled with:
"He's here! That guy is actually here!"
"I refuse to believe anyone hasn't heard of Teacher Johan's victory at the Indigo Conference!"
"This is our chance to make a na for ourselves—defeat Teacher Johan and win the Lily of the Valley Conference!"
"Just one win! If I win one match, the village chief promised to let marry his daughter! (Image of the chief's daughter)"
"Wait! @Grain in the Field, Teacher Johan, let him win! I wanna see if he actually follows through!"
"Let him win! LET HIM WIN!"
The online jokesters were as lively as ever.
Johan smiled.
His inner chuuni spirit was starting to flare up.
So, he simply typed a three-word reply:
"I'm wiping the floor!"
Evening
The plane cut through the clouds and arrived at the lush and verdant Lily of the Valley Island.
An independent island off the coast of Sinnoh, it wasn't small—this was where the Sinnoh League headquarters was located.
As the plane landed at the island's airport, the grand League headquarters building could be seen in the distance, along with the massive stadium and the players' village.
The tournant grounds were similar to the Indigo Plateau's setup—main stadium, secondary arenas, market district, and the players' village.
The difference was that...
When Johan arrived at Indigo Plateau, it was already the opening ceremony. But this ti, the Lily of the Valley Conference wouldn't start for another two days.
Still, plenty of trainers had already arrived, and vendors had long since set up their stalls.
The tournant format also differed slightly from the Indigo Conference.
The Indigo Conference started with a 256-player bracket, while the Lily of the Valley Conference began at the Round of 64—preliminary matches weren't broadcast.
That was mainly because the Indigo Conference was the first official Pokémon League tournant and had a much larger number of participants.
But in Johan's mory, what he rembered most vividly was the Lily of the Valley Conference from the Diamond & Pearl ani.
After that, starting from Black & White, the quality of League tournants in the ani started going downhill.
In Diamond & Pearl, the Lily of the Valley Conference was the last tournant that truly focused on strategy and tactics (excluding the "Legendary User").
It was the final showcase of strategic battling in the ani—also the only ti Ash used his past Pokémon in a League tournant.
After that, Ash's tactical ability and battle awareness reset to zero, replaced entirely by "bond power-ups."
And then, in one of those "bond battles," he lost to the infamous Water Shuriken spam, a defeat that's still criticized to this day.
"I wonder how many tactical players I'll run into this ti..." Johan murmured.
Compared to aggressive fighters like Flint, he preferred facing strategists.
"Huh?"
Flint, who was walking beside him, didn't catch what Johan was saying.
"Nothing," Johan shook his head. "I was just saying you look great."
Flint paused—then burst out laughing.
"Hahaha—see? You've got an eye for talent, Teacher Johan! You're the best judge of character!"
Johan looked up at the sky.
"Teacher Johan, what are you looking at?"
"I'm just worried about getting struck by lightning."
"Lightning? But the weather forecast says it's clear today."
"You don't understand," Johan sighed. "I just told the biggest lie of my life—I'm afraid Arceus might punish ."
Flint: Σ(дlll)
The two arrived at the tournant grounds.
The roads were well-connected, decorations hung everywhere, and colorful balloons floated in the air—it was already a lively scene.
Even though the tournant hadn't started, the grounds were packed with trainers and their Pokémon.
Johan summoned his own Pokémon.
"Oowoo~"
Ninetales imdiately wrapped its tail around Johan's hand.
Then, Johan led his Pokémon through the market district.
It had been a while since he last took them out for a shopping trip.
Before long...
Gengar was munching on a bucket of popcorn, sharing it with Dragonite, while Johan stopped at a gift shop with Ninetales and Charcadet.
"Looks like it's almost ti for the little one to hatch—I should prepare a gift."
"What about this one?" Johan picked up a pink scarf and showed it to Ninetales.
"Oowoo~ (＾＾)"
Pretty!
Ninetales nodded eagerly.
"Goka."
Charcadet, holding the egg, hesitated.
What if it's a boy?
"Good point."
Johan picked up a few purple scarves instead.
"This one, then!"
Purple?
Ninetales and Charcadet both looked confused.
Isn't that still a "girly" color?
"You guys don't get it..." Johan handed the scarf to the store clerk.
"My sister says purple has elegance."
Both Pokémon's heads filled with question marks.
Just then—
"Move aside! Move aside!"
A pair of loud voices rang out, drawing irritated looks from nearby shoppers.
"What are you looking at?!"
A trio entered their view.
The two in front—one man, one woman—wore black vests with skull emblems and matching skull-patterned bandanas.
Behind them, walking like he owned the place, was a young man with wild white hair, a black-and-white outfit, and a thick gold chain with a skull pendant around his neck.
Johan narrowed his eyes.
Guzma?!
The leader of Team Skull from Alola?
What's he doing here?
And why was he acting so high and mighty?
Johan's eyes narrowed slightly.
Guzma?
The leader of Team Skull from Alola?
Why was he here?
And why was he acting so high and mighty?
"Whoa, that white-haired guy is so arrogant!" Flint, standing beside Johan, couldn't help but comnt.
Johan glanced sideways at him.
Bright red spiky hair, hands in his pockets, walking with almost the exact sa swagger as Guzma...
Aside from not having a couple of underlings, the two of them were practically identical.
Was that a complaint...?
Or was Flint actually jealous?
If Johan and Wake were leading the way for him like those Team Skull grunts, Flint would probably think he looked even cooler than Guzma...
And honestly, he would think that.
Noticing Flint's gaze, Guzma turned his head toward them.
When he spotted Flint's appearance, he let out a mocking chuckle.
"Tch."
That little sound instantly set Flint off.
"Oh, that does it!" Flint rolled up his sleeves.
"Johan, don't stop ! I have to teach him a lesson today!"
Two seconds later, Flint glanced back at Johan.
"Wait—why aren't you stopping ?"
Johan, who had been busy adjusting his Rotom Phone to get the best cara angle, blinked in confusion.
"Go ahead."
Flint: "..."
"Talk big, but no action..."
Mid-sentence, Johan suddenly shouted, "Gengar! Marshadow! What are you two doing? Get back here!"
Behind Guzma and his two underlings...
Gengar and Marshadow, the latter still holding a little stick, were sneaking up behind them.
At Johan's call, Gengar reluctantly floated back.
Marshadow imdiately dropped the stick and slipped into the shadows.
"Ka-kaah~"
That guy definitely isn't a good person.
Capturing him might even co with a bounty.
Johan's eye twitched.
Guzma wasn't exactly a good guy...
But compared to people like Cyrus, Archie, and Maxie, he wasn't that bad.
In the Pokémon ani, after Team Skull, the so-called "villainous teams" of later regions—Team Yell and Team Star—beca downright harmless.
Calling Team Skull a "villainous team" was already giving them too much credit.
They were more of a rowdy street gang than anything else.
Wait...
Could Guzma be here to compete in the Lily of the Valley Conference?
The thought suddenly popped into Johan's head.
"You guys staring at sothing?"
A familiar voice rang out beside him.
Turning toward the source, Johan was surprised to see—
Cynthia.
"Big Boss?" Flint looked equally shocked.
"I thought you were still caught up in your research project?" Johan asked.
Cynthia grinned mischievously.
"This ti, my 'howork' is on Dandelion Island, right near Lily of the Valley Island."
Dandelion Island?
Oh, right—there was a place like that.
"Let's go," Cynthia gestured.
"Go where?"
"The League building. The reward we talked about before—you have to pick it up there."
League reward?
Johan's shoulders tensed slightly.
As long as it wasn't another Pokémon Egg, anything was fine.
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