Pokemon: Spiritual Master-Chapter 530: You Guessed It Again

Night fell.

Yet Opelucid City remained far from quiet. Its vibrant neon lights twinkled beneath the bright moon above.

Johan and his companions arrived in the outskirts of the city.

"Are you sure something's going to happen?" Caitlin asked with a trace of skepticism.

From the outside, Opelucid City looked just as peaceful as ever.

"I'm not sure either," Johan shrugged honestly.

It was the truth.

Even though he knew Team Plasma would likely make a move on Opelucid City—especially concerning Kyurem—in the original storyline, Team Plasma's actions here were already under the leadership of Colress. And at that time, Colress had fully mastered the power of Kyurem.

So sure, he could guess that Team Plasma might target Kyurem...

But how they would capture it, when, and how long it would take them to weaponize its power—those were complete unknowns.

He couldn't exactly go to the Unova League and say, "Hey, I have a feeling they're going to make a move on Kyurem, so you should just keep guarding the Giant Chasm forever."

It was just like in Hoenn—he knew Team Magma and Team Aqua would awaken Groudon and Kyogre, but when exactly they'd act? Who knew?

All he could do was make preparations—like befriending Rayquaza.

Same here.

He could only guess that Team Plasma might be using Mistralton City as a decoy while making a move on Opelucid—but he had no way of being 100% sure.

And let's be real—just one guy's hunch wasn't enough to redirect the entire League's focus.

Team Plasma was actually attacking Mistralton.

You think the League would just ignore that on a maybe?

And yeah, maybe the League also suspected a misdirection.

But it was an open stratagem—hard to avoid.

A full-on assault on a major city? The League had no choice but to respond.

Even if Johan explained how critical the DNA Splicers were, what could they do?

Drayden—the current holder of the DNA Splicers—was already one of the strongest Trainers in Unova. Probably just below the Elite Four.

If even Drayden couldn't hold out, how many reinforcements would it take?

And Alder couldn't just sit in Opelucid all day.

There was another thing too:

Johan wasn't even sure Colress could wield Kyurem's power this quickly.

Without Kyurem, unless Team Plasma sent half the Seven Sages, there was no way they'd beat Drayden.

The more pressing problem was—

This world felt "chaotic" to Johan.

Elements from the anime, movies, manga, and games all seemed mixed in. Timelines weren't matching up.

The assault on Opelucid? That was from Pokémon Generations, not even the "main canon."

So, in the end, this was all just Johan's guess.

If nothing happened, great. The three of them wouldn't have made much difference in Mistralton anyway.

But if something did go down in Opelucid, they might be able to help.

Still, Johan wasn't totally reckless.

He had sent Alder a short warning with his suspicions.

And Alder trusted him enough to quietly place a few reinforcements nearby.

At this point, Johan had accepted that he might be a walking butterfly effect.

Wherever he went, something happened.

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He wouldn't be wrong to call himself the Pokémon World's own "Grim Reaper."

"You mean you don't know?!" Caitlin's eyes widened.

Johan snapped, "What do you expect? I'm not psychic—or a Team Plasma mole. Not knowing is pretty normal!"

If predicting the moves of evil teams were so easy, he'd have long since dismantled Team Magma, Aqua, and Galactic, earned his honors, settled down, and married a rich girl by now.

"So what do we do now?" Cynthia asked softly as she patted Caitlin's head.

Caitlin immediately calmed down—going from angry kitten to tame lapcat with just a stroke.

"Let's go find Drayden," Johan said.

He still hoped nothing would happen.

But at this point, even he was scared to jinx things.

"Sounds good," Cynthia nodded.

Caitlin wrinkled her cute little nose and took out her phone. "I'll let the others know to meet us there."

"The others" were their backup—some of Caitlin's own companions.

Team Plasma's flying fortress hadn't yet appeared, but their people had already arrived.

"Sage Zinzolin!"

Standing on a rooftop in his bulky winter garb, Zinzolin's presence made Drayden's expression harden.

One of the Seven Sages had come to Opelucid?

Johan's warning echoed in his mind—about Team Plasma targeting the DNA Splicers.

And now, only a few hours later, here they were.

"Drayden," Zinzolin said with a sly smile.

The scrawny Sage looked almost comical in his oversized robes and hat as he gazed down at the muscular Dragon Master.

"Please lend Team Plasma the DNA Splicers. We promise to return it after we're done."

"Hmph!!"

Drayden snorted.

So it really was about the Splicers.

He didn't waste words.

Zinzolin was nothing but a coward hiding behind a fake title.

Drayden tossed out his Poké Ball.

"RAWWWR!!"

Haxorus burst forth with a mighty roar.

If you want it, come get it!

Drayden crossed his arms and stood tall—pride of a Dragon Master radiating from him.

"Tch."

Zinzolin wasn't surprised.

"Let's see if you're as strong as they say, Dragon Master."

He waved a hand.

"Weaviles!!"

Two Weavile leapt from the shadows behind him and launched a sneak attack on Drayden and Haxorus.

Zinzolin specialized in Ice-types—one of the reasons he was so obsessed with Kyurem.

He had no fear of Drayden.

Ice beats Dragon. Advantage: him.

"Weavile! Ice Beam!!"

The twin Weaviles coldly aimed and fired twin silver beams from their claws mid-air.

Drayden didn't even flinch. He crossed his arms and looked unimpressed.

Sure, Ice beats Dragon.

But that depends on which Ice-types you're using!

These Weavile?

Not good enough.

"RAWRRR!!"

Haxorus roared, charging into the beams instead of retreating.

Its body erupted with crimson dragonfire that morphed mid-air into a dragon-shaped flare, colliding head-on with the beams.

BOOM!!

Smoke and frost burst outward.

But before the fog could clear, Haxorus tore through it, closing the distance instantly.

Crimson axes gleamed coldly.

BAM! BAM!

Two Dragon Claws sent the Weaviles flying.

Zinzolin narrowed his eyes.

So the rumors about Drayden were true.

"But no matter how strong you are—you're just one man."

He turned and whispered:

"Commence."

BOOM!!!

An explosion rocked a nearby building, causing panic across the city.

This was what made evil teams such a pain.

They always used civilians as leverage—forcing the League to hesitate.

Drayden's face darkened.

Zinzolin, meanwhile, smiled.

Because he wasn't alone.

While he hadn't brought many to avoid suspicion, those who came were Team Plasma's elite.

And more importantly—

Ghetsis had allowed him to bring the Dark Triad.

"Continue until he hands it over," Zinzolin ordered.

But then—

"This is Officer Jenny from Opelucid! You're under arrest!"

"International Police! Move and you'll regret it!"

Huh?

Zinzolin blinked.

What?!

The League was supposed to be distracted by Mistralton. This was an open tactic. Why were cops and Interpol in Opelucid?

"Hmph!" Drayden sneered. "Nothing but a band of cowards."

Zinzolin's smile faltered.

But only for a moment.

"Dark Triad! Capture Drayden!"

Buzz—

Three shadows emerged from the darkness, surrounding Drayden on all sides.

If they could take him down, everything else was easy.

But just then—

"Dragonite, Dragon Rush!!"

"Garchomp, Dragon Rush!!"

"Gothitelle—wait, no, use Psychic!!"

Caitlin's inner rage: Why are those two always so in sync?!

From the heavens, two dragons wrapped in burning flame streaked across the sky like falling stars, hurtling down in a blaze of red light.

For a moment—

The people of Opelucid thought they saw a meteor... or perhaps, the legendary twin dragons of their city's mythology.

The burning light tore through the night sky like a blade.

Zinzolin and the Dark Triad squinted against the glare.

But to Drayden?

This was what Dragon-type Pokémon were all about!

From atop a high-rise—

Johan stood, coat fluttering in the wind, one hand adjusting his hat, the other in his pocket, eyes cold behind his monocle.

Beside him, Caitlin pouted—still annoyed she misspoke earlier.

Cynthia tucked her golden hair behind her ear, smiling softly:

"Looks like you guessed right again."

Johan's mouth twitched.

Being right wasn't always a good thing...

And the way she said again—could she be more smug?

Still, something was off.

If it was just Zinzolin and the Dark Triad, Team Plasma was still underwhelming.

Then—

BOOOOM!!!

A deafening explosion rocked the city.

The battle for Opelucid had begun.

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