Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 122: A Battle for an Eevee’s Life

Erika walked closer and paused when she saw Rio standing beside the Gengar her brother had mentioned.

"Is this Gengar yours?"

Her little brother had burst into the Gym earlier, claiming a Gengar had bullied him and thrown his Poké Balls away. He demanded she get revenge. She hadn’t wanted to bother, but the brat—who still couldn’t blow his own nose—threw a massive tantrum, rolling around on the floor. Left with no choice, she had reluctantly come out to take a look.

Rio, instead of directly answering, simply shrugged. If he said yes, Gengar—being the uncooperative ghost it was—would immediately pipe up that its real trainer was Gus, slapping him in the face.

"Is this the Eevee you lost?" Rio shifted slightly, revealing the Eevee behind him.

Erika spotted the Eevee sitting with Froakie and Gengar and nodded. "Yes, that’s the one. Good work finding it."

"Little Eevee." Erika beckoned.

"Eevee~" Eevee didn’t seem too resistant to her. After glancing at Froakie and Gengar, it started walking toward her. Froakie’s gaze followed with reluctance.

"Big sister, you still haven’t gotten revenge for me!" the little boy shouted impatiently, pointing at Gengar. "That Gengar bullied me! I want you to beat it up!"

Erika looked at Rio, who looked at Gengar with a puzzled expression—he still didn’t know what had happened.

Gengar, however, was already being its usual insufferable self, sticking out its massive tongue and taunting: "Oh ho—so this is your big sister? Come on, come on! I’ll make her cry, then I’ll go make your mom and dad cry too! Nyah nyah~"

Erika: "..."

Rio: "..."

Though he didn’t know the full story, Gengar really was asking for a beating.

Erika gave Gengar a long, hard look, then spoke: "Rio, you’ll be using it in battle, won’t you?"

Before Rio could answer, Gengar jumped in: "You want a fight? Old Ghost’s got no fear!"

Rio: "..."

With Gengar saying that, Rio didn’t know what else to add.

"Very well—I’ll remember those words, Gengar." Erika smiled. She picked up the Eevee as it came to her, stroked it a few times, then handed it to a trainee behind her.

"Dispose of it. No point in letting it keep suffering," she said.

"Understood, Gym Leader." The trainee took the Eevee.

"Wait—what do you mean by ’dispose of it’?" Rio frowned, stopping them. Those words carried a heavy meaning.

"The literal meaning," Erika explained. "We rescued it from a Team Rocket research facility. When we brought it back, we gave it a full medical examination. It’s confirmed—it has less than six months to live, and every day it’s alive will be filled with pain..."

"Froakie~"

"What?! Little Eevee only has half a year left?!"

Froakie and Gengar interrupted, alarmed.

Erika glanced at the two Pokémon and continued: "So I believe it’s kinder to put it out of its misery. Euthanasia would spare it from endless suffering, and our people wouldn’t have to keep exhausting themselves caring for it."

Hearing that, Froakie and Gengar were stunned. They stared at the Eevee in the trainee’s arms, unable to accept that their new friend had so little time left.

Rio frowned deeply, his gaze fixed on the Eevee. After a long pause, he spoke slowly: "Since you’re not willing to keep it, give it to me. I’ll take care of it."

The moment he said that, Froakie and Gengar looked at him.

[Froakie’s friendship increased.]

[Friendship: 0 (from -25 to 0)]

[Gengar’s friendship increased.]

[Friendship: -20 (from -30 to -20)]

Erika frowned. "Did you not hear me? It will only suffer."

"Don’t worry about that—I have my own ways." Rio said calmly. If I raise its friendship high enough, the system should be able to heal it, right?

Erika studied him for a few seconds. "You’re sure about this?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright—then you’ll have to beat me in the upcoming battle. If you win, you can have the Eevee. If you lose..." Erika smiled faintly. "...I’ll do what I think is best and let it go peacefully."

Rio smiled back. "Sorry—you’re not going to win. I’m going to take care of that Eevee, and no one—not even Death—will stop me."

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Froakie and Gengar looking at him with something close to admiration.

[Froakie’s friendship increased.]

[Friendship: 5 (from -25 to 5)]

[Gengar’s friendship increased.]

[Friendship: -15 (from -30 to -15)]

"Kid—you’re looking pretty cool today. Almost like Gus back in the day," Gengar’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind.

"Tch—I’ve always been cool. And you better fight well later, or you’ll lose face," Rio scoffed. This purple ghost—can’t you give a compliment without bringing up Gus? Was Gus really more handsome than me?

Gengar puffed out its chest proudly: "Lose? No way—absolutely not. Just you wait and see how Old Ghost dominates the battlefield, making this woman cry for mercy!"

No sooner had it spoken than Erika shot it a glare that could rival an Ice Beam.

Ten minutes later.

Rio and Erika stood on opposite sides of the battlefield. Gengar had already floated onto the field, warming up with exaggerated stretches, while engaging in a verbal sparring match with Erika’s little brother.

Their banter went something like: the little boy kept shouting, "Big sister, beat that stinky Gengar!" while Gengar wiggled its butt and taunted back, "Come on, come on—let’s see if your sister beats me, or I make her cry for mommy!" In short—it was childish.

Froakie stood by Rio’s feet, its gaze repeatedly drifting to the Eevee watching from the spectator area. Rio had tried to recall it into its Poké Ball, but Froakie refused, so he let it stay.

"Alya—this battle is going to be a good one. Record it. We’ll put it on the Gym’s big screen for everyone to study," Erika called out to the spectator area before the battle began.

She had looked up Rio’s challenge records from Pewter and Cerulean. Though he’d only won against Cerulean’s ace due to luck, he was clearly no pushover—worthy of her using her ace. This battle deserved to be documented.

"Of course, Gym Leader," the trainee replied without hesitation.

Rio heard her and recalled similar words from the Pewter and Cerulean Gym Leaders. I wonder if those two actually put my battles up on their screens, he muttered to himself.

Soon, Erika sent out her Pokémon. "Come out, Victreebel—show this foul-mouthed Gengar what real power looks like!"

A Level 54 Quasi-Elite Four Victreebel appeared on the battlefield.