Is Caitlin going to lose control and go berserk?
Looking at Caitlin's appearance and feeling the increasingly powerful psychic force emanating from her, Johan even had a feeling close to directly facing the "rampaging" Mewtwo from some time ago.
It had to be said that the Pokémon world was truly magical—a human's psychic power could actually reach such an exaggerated degree.
Even Sabrina, in a pure comparison of psychic powers, couldn't match Caitlin.
Sabrina's strength lay in her control over her psychic abilities, which was much stronger than Caitlin's.
However, when Caitlin's cold gaze turned toward him again, Johan breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Good.
It was just a psychic outburst, not a complete loss of control.
But if this psychic power were applied to a Psychic-type Pokémon, its strength would probably receive a tremendous boost.
A floating Poké Ball recalled Reuniclus.
Both Gothitelle and Reuniclus had lost their ability to battle. What was Caitlin's final Pokémon?
The answer was soon revealed.
Another Poké Ball flew out and opened in the field.
What appeared was still a humanoid Pokémon.
Its appearance resembled a noblewoman wearing a blue hat and pink dress, with a claw-like structure extending from the top of the hat. Overall, it had a delicate appearance, but if you looked carefully, there was also a strange, witch-like eeriness.
It was clearly Hatterene, a signature Psychic-type Pokémon of the Galar region!
Its status was equivalent to Hoenn's Gardevoir and Unova's Gothitelle.
Moreover, Hatterene wasn't just a pure Psychic-type Pokémon—like Gardevoir, it also had Fairy-type abilities.
In the Galar region, Hatterene was also known as the "Forest Witch."
It was said that in forests, it would continuously release mental power that caused headaches in people. Even Pokémon would feel uncomfortable when sensing this mental power.
So if you accidentally entered a forest without any signs of life in the Galar region, you needed to be careful, as there was a high possibility you'd entered Hatterene's territory!
Additionally, there were no male Hatterene—the corresponding male Pokémon was Grimmsnarl.
Johan was somewhat surprised that Caitlin's final Pokémon was actually Hatterene.
Because Hatterene, besides the Galar and Paldea regions and some remote, mysterious places, hadn't appeared in other regions yet.
So Caitlin capturing a Hatterene, and what appeared to be a strong one at that, meant Caitlin had most likely visited the Galar region herself.
That also meant...
Snap!!
Caitlin reached out and caught Hatterene's returning Poké Ball.
Her wrist turned slightly.
The light pink silk sleeve slid down her arm like white lotus root, revealing the "Dynamax Band" beneath!
Seeing that "Dynamax Band," Johan's mouth twitched slightly.
Champion Alder has misled me!
Didn't he say there wasn't time to get "Dynamax Bands" for the Unova League members?
How does Caitlin have one?
As expected of a rich young lady...
Hum—
Recalling Hatterene, the power from the "Dynamax Band" burst forth, activating the energy nodes beneath Wyndon Stadium. The Poké Ball in her hand immediately began expanding rapidly.
Seeing this scene, the audience immediately cheered excitedly.
Dynamax again!
The reason Dynamax could have such a big impact in the Galar region was partly due to the benefits it brought, but the visual impact of Pokémon becoming gigantic was also a very important factor.
Caitlin shot Johan a challenging look before throwing out the massive Poké Ball again.
Rumble—
A stream of dark red energy burst forth instantly, red aura swirling, red lightning dancing. The reappearing Hatterene immediately grew rapidly under this power, with the sky also covered by red clouds forming a strange vortex.
Gigantamax!
Like Bruno's Machamp earlier, Hatterene was also a Pokémon capable of Gigantamax!
"Hatter—"
The low voice accompanied by waving blue tentacles brought both physical oppression from its form and energy oppression from its psychic powers.
It had to be said, whether Dynamax or Gigantamax, the direct visual impact they brought was incomparable to other enhancement methods.
"Garrr..."
Tyranitar raised its head, looking at the massive Gigantamax Hatterene with its mouth slightly agape.
I'm... so big...
The big guy's head was now thinking... could one Precipice Blades skewer it?
However, the seemingly massive Hatterene's speed wasn't slow at all.
After all, Trick Room's field was still active, plus Psychic Terrain's enhancement and Caitlin's psychic boost—Gigantamax Hatterene's current strength was extremely exaggerated.
"Hatter!!"
Blue giant arms struck down from above toward Tyranitar, wrapped in extremely powerful psychic and fairy power, even accompanied by countless surging dark red lightning.
G-Max Terror!
This was Gigantamax Hatterene's exclusive G-Max move. After hitting the opponent, it would cause them to fall into a confused state!
"Garrr!"
Looking at the terrifying lightning falling fiercely, Tyranitar showed no fear, spreading its arms wide, stirring up terrible dust storms, and roaring.
Johan's eyes were deep, immediately judging what Caitlin's move was.
So before Gigantamax Hatterene's attack landed, a beam of red light immediately shot out, recalling Tyranitar into its Poké Ball.
However, Johan wasn't switching Pokémon—he was using his "Dynamax Band" for the first time!
His wrist turned, revealing the "Dynamax Band" beneath his sleeve.
Instantly, a large amount of Galar particles released strange red light, again activating the energy nodes beneath Wyndon Stadium. The Dynamax particle power made the Poké Ball in Johan's hand become incredibly massive!
Seeing this scene, the audience immediately erupted.
Dynamax too!
Teacher Johan actually had a "Dynamax Band" too?!
Didn't this mean it had become a collision between Dynamax and Dynamax?
Rumble—
The ground beneath shook with a "rumble."
The audience and everyone else felt nothing unusual, thinking it was normal, but Johan, standing on the field, unconsciously frowned.
Aura power was the ability most capable of sensing Pokémon and creature emotions and feelings, aside from the "Power of Transcendence."
His aura power was constantly spread out to counter Caitlin's psychic abilities.
Just now, when he used the "Dynamax Band" and activated massive Galar particles, he inexplicably felt a palpitation, a... faint tremor from the bottom of his heart.
As if something beneath his feet had awakened!
This made Johan's heart chill.
He vaguely realized what it was.
Today, there had been successive Dynamax transformations of Machamp, Hatterene, and now Tyranitar, activating too many Galar particles. Especially Tyranitar's Dynamax seemed to have absorbed large amounts of Galar particles.
Such massive energy fluctuations—could they have stimulated the sleeping Eternatus in Rose's energy plant?
Fortunately, that feeling came quickly and disappeared just as fast.
Johan quickly refocused.
First, finish this battle.
Even if Eternatus was really about to awaken, this would actually save him considerable trouble.
He threw out the enlarged Poké Ball.
Rumble—
The entire field shook violently again. Under the audience's shocked gazes, Tyranitar, bathed in Galar particles, continuously grew larger, finally transforming into a massively exaggerated giant monster with red clouds above its head, surrounded by red lightning, radiating a violent dark red aura.
Dynamax Tyranitar!
"Garrr—!!"
Experiencing Dynamax for the first time, Tyranitar was extremely excited, roaring imposingly at the Gigantamax Hatterene.
Dynamax Tyranitar was imposing in stature, its head nearly touching Wyndon Stadium's dome. Under the protection of the Dynamax barriers covering the field, it roared and stomped the ground, raising rolling clouds of dust.
And Gigantamax Hatterene's G-Max Terror was successfully neutralized by Johan's Dynamax move.
At least Tyranitar didn't fall into a confused state.
However, Hatterene's G-Max Terror's Fairy-type energy attack still successfully hit Dynamax Tyranitar, causing it tremendous pain.
But this pain not only didn't intimidate Tyranitar—it made it even more ferocious, its aura climbing madly.
Weakness Policy!
Compared to Mega Evolution, another advantage of Dynamax was that Pokémon didn't need to carry Mega Stones and similar items, so they could still carry one item.
What was the most suitable item for Dynamax Tyranitar?
Undoubtedly the "Weakness Policy"!
Tyranitar already had many weaknesses, making "Weakness Policy" more likely to activate. Fairy-type was exactly one of Tyranitar's weaknesses, directly triggering the "Weakness Policy" item and greatly enhancing Dynamax Tyranitar's Attack ability!
"Ka-kaah!!"
From Johan's shadow, Gengar poked its head out, biting a handkerchief with eager, envious eyes.
Dynamax!
It had wanted to try this for so long but never had the chance—Tyranitar got to experience it first.
How envious!
The battle continued.
"Tyranitar—"
Johan called out again, clenching his fist as his emotions were somewhat stirred by Tyranitar's Dynamax.
No wonder the Galar region's residents had such high enthusiasm for battles due to Dynamax.
He looked at the Dynamax Tyranitar, feeling the intense visual impact, thinking... this was basically a one-to-one recreation of Godzilla!
The aura boost that Dynamax brought to Tyranitar was too exaggerated.
"Max Darkness!"
"Garrr!!"
Dynamax Tyranitar fiercely lunged at Gigantamax Hatterene, terrifying Dark-type energy gathering madly in Tyranitar's mouth.
Looking at the massive Tyranitar, Caitlin's pretty face was tense.
She obviously hadn't expected Johan to also have Dynamax hidden, and the visual impact of Dynamax Tyranitar had shocked her too.
But facing Dynamax Tyranitar's attack, Caitlin wouldn't choose to sit and wait for defeat.
Once more—G-Max Terror!
Boom!!!
Two incredibly massive Pokémon collided.
Gigantamax Hatterene's fairy power surged wildly while Dynamax Tyranitar bit toward Hatterene relentlessly.
From this posture, Dynamax Tyranitar didn't look like Godzilla anymore—it was more like Gomora.
The Dynamax battle between the two had essentially become a collision between monsters.
Johan suddenly had a rather bold idea.
As everyone knew, except for Gigantamax Pokémon, Dynamax Pokémon would convert their moves into more powerful Max moves based on the original move's power after using moves.
For example, Tyranitar's Max Darkness was the manifestation of Dark-type moves after Dynamax.
It also had special effects, capable of lowering the opponent's Special Defense.
If Tyranitar used Rock-type moves, it would become Max Rockfall. If it used Ground-type moves, it would become Max Quake.
Then... what if Dynamax Tyranitar used Precipice Blades?
This wasn't simply a move of one attribute, but a move that Tyranitar learned from Groudon, combining its own Stone Edge, Earth Power, and some magma-manipulating techniques to "simulate."
A combination move formed by multiple move attributes combined with Dynamax—what would it become?
Max Precipice Blades?
Then an even bolder idea arose in Johan's mind.
What if... Groudon underwent Dynamax and then used Precipice Blades?
Then Johan immediately realized this idea was too dangerous and quickly suppressed it.
Boom!!!
Massive rumbling accompanied by terrifying energy swept out, frantically battering Wyndon's Dynamax barriers, making them emit mournful "humming" sounds. Many audience members' faces turned pale with fright.
This was much more impactful than Bruno's Gigantamax Machamp earlier!
The shock it brought was also much greater.
Was this the impact brought by a Champion's Dynamax?
The audience witnessed this shocking scene, unable to speak for a long time.
Until the terrifying commotion subsided.
Until the final result appeared.
The Rotom referee tremblingly floated out, looking at the two Pokémon that had ended their Dynamax, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.
"Hatterene is unable to battle. All three of Caitlin's Pokémon are unable to battle, so the winner is... is Johan!"
When announcing the result, the Rotom referee felt a powerful psychic force lock onto it.
Based on its strong professional ethics, it managed to announce the final result.
After the announcement, the Rotom referee quickly transformed into a drone and flew away.
This place is dangerous!
Not suitable for lingering—quick escape!
After Tyranitar returned to normal size, it had quite a few injuries. Although its current strength had reached Champion level, Caitlin's Pokémon had her psychic enhancement, which in some ways wasn't weaker than some weaker Champion-level Pokémon.
It was just that in terms of type advantages, it had a significant edge.
Moreover, the initial Dragon Dance and the later triggered "Weakness Policy" made Tyranitar's Attack ability explosive.
"Garrr!!" Tyranitar excitedly waved its fists.
Great!
So great!
But soon, Tyranitar noticed the constantly fluctuating psychic energy around Caitlin, who was biting her lip, and also noticed Johan's gaze.
Understanding, Tyranitar showed some realization.
The next moment.
"Garrr!"
Tyranitar cried out in "pain," clutching its chest and kneeling on one knee, its expression fierce yet "anguished."
It had to be said, Tyranitar was really getting "better with practice." Under Johan and Gengar's influence, its acting skills had finally improved, looking somewhat convincing.
Seeing Tyranitar kneel on one knee, Caitlin, who was biting her lip, was briefly stunned.
Then she glared fiercely at Johan before turning and quickly running back to the contestant tunnel without even shaking hands.
Regardless... at least Caitlin's psychic powers were controlled in the end and didn't explode, which made Johan completely relax.
This battle had been quite nerve-wracking.
But after taking Caitlin's points, he shouldn't still be at the bottom of "Master Ball Tier," right?
Caitlin, who had run back to the contestant lounge feeling wronged, was now hugging her knees and secretly wiping tears.
Feeling down, she took out her phone and sent Cynthia a message—
"Sorry Cynthia, I lost you..."
In the box above Wyndon Stadium.
Rose stood with his hands in his pockets by the floor-to-ceiling window, smiling:
"What a spectacular battle."
The audience's cheers were still continuing.
Only Dynamax battles full of visual impact could make all the audience this excited, right?
Otherwise, why would he have spent so much effort building these stadiums in the Galar region?
Tap tap tap tap—
The sound of high heels clicking rapidly approached from far to near. Oleana, looking serious, quickly came behind Rose and said gravely:
"Chairman Rose, news from the energy plant—the sudden surge of Galar particles means the energy storage probably... won't last much longer. They're asking whether to shut down energy input and cut losses in time."
Rose's eyes became deep.
Wasn't this exactly what he was waiting for?
The "Pokémon World Championships" could stimulate regional economy, which was certainly one reason he fought for the Galar region to become a venue.
But another important reason was that the use of Dynamax, especially by powerful trainers and Pokémon, could further stimulate that guy's awakening.
This was what he wanted to see.
"No need, let them continue," Rose said.
Oleana nodded. She wasn't actually surprised by this result.
Only she knew what Chairman Rose was really planning to do.
If successful, it would undoubtedly benefit the entire Galar region for over a thousand years!
"Never mind." Rose smoothed his hair. "I'll go take a look myself."
But Oleana blocked his way.
Hmm?
Rose wasn't angry, still smiling as he looked at Oleana.
Oleana stood firm, saying:
"Chairman Rose, you've already delayed enough time today. You should head to Wyndon now to host the 'Champion Cup'!"
Quickly determining the Champion was necessary to truly shoulder the responsibility of capturing that guy.
Oleana continued: "As for the energy plant, let me go."
Rose pondered briefly, understanding that Oleana's words were the most correct choice.
Having Leon become Champion was also a very important part of his plan.
Once Leon became Champion, then he would cooperate with Leon to capture Eternatus. Not only would the Galar region benefit greatly, but Leon's strength would inevitably skyrocket.
Then, even in the "Pokémon World Championships," Leon would have a high probability of winning!
Then their Galar region would truly be great again.
This was Rose's series of plans.
If all went smoothly, they could even leap to become second only to the Kanto region.
"Alright." Rose nodded, smiling: "Then I'll trouble you, Oleana."
Oleana swept back her hair, saying nothing.
But in her heart: Chairman Rose's plan, I will do everything I can to help him complete it!
Wyndon, energy plant.
Oleana walked quickly into the energy plant with a stern face, followed by many factory workers reporting the situation to her.
"Miss Oleana, it really won't work. The energy storage can't hold on. If this continues, in less than a day..."
"One day?"
Before the person could finish, Oleana interrupted rudely: "One day isn't enough. I don't care what methods you use—you must hold on for at least three more days!"
Three days...
All the workers showed bitter expressions.
Was this something they could hold on to just by wanting to?
Coming to the deepest part of the energy plant, after crossing the bridge was the most important energy storage.
However, what surprised Oleana and everyone was that by the important energy storage, there were actually two people and a Meowth and a Wobbuffet, holding hammers and tapping away with "ding ding dang dang" sounds.
After finishing, they all slid down the energy storage wall and sat on the ground.
"That scared me..." Jessie wiped sweat from her forehead.
"How did it suddenly become so terrifying?" James was pale-faced.
Just recently, they had quietly snuck to this most secret part of the energy plant. Then suddenly, that energy storage erupted with extremely terrifying aura.
If they hadn't hidden behind Wobbuffet, just sensing that aura up close would have knocked them unconscious.
Then Meowth discovered that cracks had appeared on the energy storage!
How could that work?
Just the aura had nearly knocked them out—what if it actually escaped?
So under Meowth's guidance, the trio grabbed hammers and sealed up that crack.
"This is really a dangerous mission," James said with lingering fear.
"This shows Teacher Johan's trust in us, meow!" Meowth insisted bravely.
"That's true." Jessie and James looked at each other.
This might be their chance for promotion and a raise!
Oleana and a group of energy plant workers witnessed this scene.
What was this?
Oleana looked toward the supervisor.
The supervisor was sweating profusely, sternly rebuking: "You three! Do you know what you just did—"
Before he could finish, another worker quickly ran over, holding a small computer displaying energy storage data.
"O-Oleana! The, the data has dropped!"
The energy values in the storage, which had already exceeded limits, had actually fallen back!
This...
Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
Who were these three people?
They could actually do this to such a degree?
Who could have predicted this...
Oleana's eyes lit up, looking at the three with eyes... like seeing her past self hiding in the laboratory, buried in research and looked down upon by others. A feeling of unrecognized talent immediately arose in her heart.
"You three!"
The trio, who had just been immersed in the joy of promotion and raises, jumped with a start, only then noticing so many people on the bridge opposite.
Disaster—they were in trouble!
Oleana's lips slightly curved: "You did very well! From now on, you're in charge of energy storage repairs! And your positions..." She looked around at the surrounding "useless" people. "Now you're supervisors!"
Supervisors?!
Oleana continued: "As long as you can make the energy storage hold for three more days, I'll report to Chairman Rose and have you promoted to important executives of the energy company!"
Having been rained on herself, she'd let others get less rain.
Was this "promotion and raises"?
The trio looked at each other.
They immediately stood up and saluted.
"Understood!"
"Got it!"
"Mission will be completed, meow!"
"So~nansu~! ∠(°ゝ°)"
Teacher Johan had them infiltrate the energy plant to investigate unstable factors inside.
But now... how had they inexplicably become supervisors of the energy plant?
At this rate, wouldn't they become the boss in a while?
Two days later.
Wild Area outside Wyndon, Lake of Outrage.
"So this is that 'Brave Olivine'?" Cynthia lightly brushed her golden hair, looking with some curiosity at the massive airship stopped in Lake of Outrage, with several Gyarados circling around it.
She had arrived in the Galar region last night. After resting for one night, as agreed, she would start traveling with Johan today, touring some unique or exclusive sights of the Galar region.
It was just that Johan was still monitoring the situation with Eternatus in Wyndon's underground energy plant, so it wasn't convenient to go too far from Wyndon in the short term.
So they decided to first visit the famous "Wild Area" of the Galar region.
The "Wild Area" was said to be very vast, home to large numbers of wild Pokémon, with extremely beautiful natural environments—a holy land for trainers with sufficient strength.
There were also some famous "scenic spots," with Lake of Outrage being one of them.
Legend said Lake of Outrage was home to large numbers of Dragon-type Pokémon, including even pseudo-legendary Dragon-type Pokémon!
There was even a post on the League's official website claiming someone had photographed the shadow of the Galar region's pseudo-legendary Pokémon Dreepy at Lake of Outrage at night.
That post remained highly popular to this day.
This also led many trainers to come to Lake of Outrage to try their luck—what if they encountered that pseudo-legendary Dreepy?
The result was that many trainers only discovered after reaching Lake of Outrage that the wild Pokémon here were truly very high level, and Dragon-type Pokémon had really... terrible tempers.
Gradually, Lake of Outrage was marked as a "danger zone."
"It looks pretty good, doesn't it?" Johan naturally took that soft, white hand.
Cynthia glanced at him lightly without pulling away, but suddenly asked:
"You fought Caitlin?"
"You know about it?"
Since there were broadcast recordings anyway, Johan didn't think he could hide it from Cynthia, nor did he want to.
Cynthia sighed lightly: "Actually, I didn't really want to see you two battle."
"That little girl complained to you? I actually had reasons..." Johan wanted to "argue," but Cynthia said quietly: "That girl said she lost me."
Johan: "?!"
"I didn't bet you!"
"Mm." Cynthia nodded, believing this point. She smiled: "Actually, I was thinking... I'm looking forward to fighting you in the 'Master Tournament.'"
Johan: "..."
Being playful again.
What a scare.
However, battling Cynthia... Johan wasn't actually that resistant anymore. After all, in the "Youth Masters," they had fought in the end.
But last time, they hadn't clearly defined their relationship.
In the Pokémon world, lovers fighting was very normal.
Winning or losing determined family dominance or submission!
"It would be best if we could fight in the final," Johan said.
"That difficulty is still considerable..." Cynthia lightly played with her hair. "Did you know Lance became Johto Champion?"
"Lance? So fast?" Johan looked surprised.
Then he waved his hand: "Eh, just Dragonite boy—piece of cake!"
"Diantha also became Kalos Champion," Cynthia said.
Diantha's appointment news was known by very few people. Even she hadn't had time to attend Diantha's inauguration.
It was said that because the Kalos League was too lazy to go through all those procedures, they ended up taking the "simplified process."
"Just a movie star!" Johan said stubbornly.
"The Kanto League finally decided to have Elite Four Agatha represent them."
"Elite Four Agatha?" Johan looked puzzled, but after thinking carefully, it made sense.
Excluding Lance, among Agatha, Bruno, and Lorelei, only Agatha was most qualified.
As long as it wasn't Red and Blue, no problem, Johan thought.
"I heard Giovanni, the Gym Leader who has a good relationship with you, also registered," Cynthia added.
Johan: "???"
This time Johan really couldn't help but question it.
Wait!
Boss Giovanni also registered for the "Pokémon World Championships"?
A dignified Team Rocket boss coming to register for such a League tournament?
Did he really get addicted to the taste of "fame"?
Was he planning to use this tournament to make himself and Rainbow Rocket more acceptable to more people?
Johan really regretted recommending this "fame-based" path to Boss Giovanni.
Damn, Boss Giovanni seemed to be getting addicted!
"There are also Pryce, Master Mustard, and other veterans who reportedly registered too."
Johan: "..."
After a long silence, Johan finally said quietly:
"Looking at it this way, this 'Pokémon World Championships' is at quasi-hell difficulty level..."
"Quasi-hell?"
Cynthia looked curious.
If this was only "quasi-hell" level, what would count as hell level?
Of course Johan wouldn't say that if "complete Red" entered, it would become hell level.
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Powerstones?
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