The quarterfinals had concluded, and Johan advanced to the semifinals without any surprises.
However, his thod of victory had left many in shock.
A complete sweep!
And his opponent was a forr 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 tournant'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 asure itself against Urshifu's height. It was surprised.
"Hey, we're the sa 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 sa height...
Now? Urshifu had shot up to two ters.
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 cara.
Then, it crouched down and started fighting Larvitar over an energy cube.
Looking at this gluttonous Urshifu, who would have guessed it was the sa Pokémon that had just dominated the battlefield with raw power and precision?
But as Johan watched Urshifu devour its al, 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 so 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 requirent for evolution wasn't climbing the towers—it was mastering the techniques within the scrolls.
Johan suddenly thought of sothing.
"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 imdiately fell asleep.
But the mont 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 ters 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 so reason... it felt threatened.
Johan, however, understood imdiately.
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 sothing 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 an 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 rge 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.
rging 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 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 guess..."
"It's either Tobias or Guzma."
"Correct! Your next opponent—
Guzma from Alola!"
Johan smirked.
"Ti to crush him tomorrow."
January 22.
Lily of the Valley Conference—Semifinals, begin!
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Powerstones?
For 20 advance Chapters: /michaeltranslates
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