Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 108: Haunter Evolves

But he still pretended to take the bait.

"Alright—let’s do it to build some trust."

"What do you mean by ’do it’?"

Rio made a gesture.

"Fine." Hunter J nodded.

Rio’s eyes widened. Whoa—Pokémon Rangers are this committed to their missions these days? I was joking, and it actually worked. Since that was the case, bring it on, baby. He really did love a honey trap like this.

But the next second, Hunter J’s words made his lips curl downward.

"But that’ll have to wait until after we’ve caught Raikou. Otherwise, if you get a freebie and I get nothing, I’d be the one losing out." Hunter J laughed lightly, batting her eyelashes at him, radiating endless temptation.

After Raikou’s caught, I’ll probably be the one getting played for free, Rio grumbled inwardly.

"Fine—we’ll do it after. Build some trust then." Rio chuckled, thinking, I can backstab anyone—the hunters, the Rangers, doesn’t matter. Once I’ve caught Raikou, I’m out of here.

"H—how about you build some trust too? Take off your mask," Hunter J said.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Rio pulled off his mask. A flicker of surprise crossed Hunter J’s face.

"What, never seen a handsome guy before?" Rio smirked.

"I thought you’d be some middle-aged man, not this young. I’m even more pleased now." Hunter J shot him another flirtatious glance.

Tsk—this woman can really act. If you’re so pleased, let’s do it now instead of putting on this whole show, Rio mocked internally, though he played along outwardly.

"I’m pretty pleased with you too. How about we do it right now?"

"Let’s wait until after—make it more exciting. Otherwise, it’d be too one-sided if only you get to enjoy yourself."

"Hehe, that works too."

Both of them were scheming with a thousand thoughts. Their back-and-forth dragged on from late night until dawn, when they finally arrived at a valley crackling with lightning.

"Everyone, we’re here. This is Raikou Mountain—also known as Thunder God Valley."

Hunter A got out of the car and addressed the group.

"Raikou Mountain?" Rio glanced around. The place felt dangerous—lightning struck everywhere. If one bolt hit too close, it’d be terrifying.

Hunter A continued: "Why’s it called Raikou Mountain? Because legend says Raikou passes through here every year around this time. So we need to seize this opportunity to capture it."

"Now I’ll assign tasks. First, someone needs to install lightning rods at the spots I’ve marked nearby."

Hunter A scanned the group, then fixed his gaze on Rio.

"H—you’re up for this."

Old lecher... Rio clicked his tongue. Installing lightning rods was clearly hard and dangerous work—if he carried them himself, he’d risk getting struck. If his Pokémon did it, they’d take the hit. But the old lecher must have forgotten that Rio had a Haunter.

Wait— Rio suddenly had an idea. He looked up at the lightning-filled sky, and a grin spread across his face.

This place seemed like the perfect environment for Haunter to evolve. Haunter’s evolution method was trade evolution—which worked through a special magnetic field generated during the trade process. But that field wasn’t exclusive to trading; it could also exist in the wild, which was how wild Gengar appeared. And this lightning-filled valley was clearly a hotspot for such magnetic fields.

"Fine—I’ll do it." Rio accepted.

"Appreciate it." Hunter A nodded with satisfaction. With H—that clueless guy—out of the way, he could pair J with himself. Heh, perfect.

But the next second, J spoke up: "H going alone is too dangerous. I’ll go with him."

The moment she said that, Rio once again felt the sting of jealousy from the other hunters. He just shrugged—Can’t help it, I’ve got too much charisma.

"Come out, Haunter." Rio released Haunter and had it use Psychic to carry several lightning rods as they walked. Hunter J followed behind.

They’d barely stepped out of sight when Hunter J suddenly clutched her stomach. "H—my stomach hurts all of a sudden. How about you go ahead? I’ll catch up in a bit."

Probably calling Saurion, Rio guessed. "Sure—go ahead."

"I’ll be quick." Hunter J hurried away. Rio scoffed and kept walking.

About a hundred meters later, something he’d been hoping for happened: Haunter’s body began to glow with the light of evolution.

"Ghos~" It cried out, its form slowly growing larger.

"Gengar~" A moment later, a pale pinkish-purple Gengar appeared before Rio.

[Pokémon: Gengar (Shiny)]

[Level: 60 (Renewed purpose. Time until next level: 984 days.)]

[Talent: Champion]

[Friendship: -28]

[Ability: Cursed Body]

[Gender: Male]

[Moves: Hypnosis (85%), Confuse Ray (85%), Mean Look (85%), Reflect Type (85%), Payback (85%), Grudge (85%), Skill Swap (83%), Curse (84%), Night Shade (84%), Dark Pulse (84%), Shadow Ball (84%), Destiny Bond (83%), Nightmare (83%), Dream Eater (83%), Psychic (80%)]

[Description: This Pokémon has found renewed purpose. Separated from its trainer in an accident a century ago, it endured a hundred years of loneliness and still deeply misses its trainer.]

Rio’s eyes lit up—the evolution had revived Gengar’s ability to gain experience, something that had been locked before.

But Gengar’s first words soured the moment: "Gus, did you see that? I evolved! Your little ghost evolved! When we meet again, I’ll surprise you!"

How about thanking me instead? I was the one who brought you here on purpose, Rio grumbled internally, though he kept a smile on his face.

After Gengar finished reminiscing about its lost trainer, it finally turned to Rio: "Kid—do I look cool after evolving?" It floated smugly.

Rio rolled his eyes under his mask. "Yeah, yeah—coolest thing ever, off the charts."

With that, he turned and kept walking.