Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 123: A Fearow with Chicken Feathers

The moment Victreebel appeared, the little boy in the audience started cheering. Erika raised a hand to signal her brother to be quiet.

When the battle began, she didn’t rush to command—she waited for Rio to make the first move, apparently planning a defensive counterattack. Rio could tell that Erika, like Giovanni, was confident in her own strength.

But Giovanni had the skill and background to back it up. Erika? Not so much.

"Gengar—Night Shade!" Rio commanded. Since she wanted to show off, he’d oblige—with an unavoidable Night Shade.

"Gengar~" The purple fatty floated midair, arms spread wide, its eyes glowing as two spectral shadows shot out like lightning.

"Victreebel—tank it and use Leaf Blade!" Erika ordered calmly, opting to take the hit and counter.

In her estimation, Night Shade wouldn’t deal much damage. Meanwhile, her well-trained Victreebel’s Leaf Blade—though at a type disadvantage—was powerful and had a high critical-hit rate.

"Yah!" Victreebel swung its two large leaf-blades, sending several leaves flying like swords toward Gengar.

But before they could hit, Gengar’s Night Shade struck first.

"Yah!" Victreebel cried out in pain, its Leaf Blade attack faltering. Gengar easily dodged the remaining leaves, and those that might have landed were stopped midair by Psychic as Rio commanded.

Erika’s calm expression shattered into shock. "This can’t be!"

She knew Night Shade well. It was a level-based move—guaranteed to hit, but damage scaled with the user’s level. She couldn’t gauge Gengar’s level at a glance, but the result made it clear: this Gengar far outleveled her Victreebel.

But how? Hadn’t he only narrowly beaten Cerulean Gym by luck? And that was with a Charizard and Munchlax—where did this foul-mouthed Gengar come from? It looked more like his true ace. How long had it been since his Cerulean challenge? Could he have trained it himself in that time, or had he caught it recently? Training it himself seemed unlikely—not enough time. And if he’d caught it, he had to be incredibly lucky to snag a Gengar this strong.

While Erika was still reeling, Rio gave his next command: "Gengar—Dark Pulse!"

"Gengar~" The purple fatty opened its mouth wide, and a spiral wave of dark energy shot toward Victreebel.

Erika snapped out of it: "Victreebel—Energy Ball!"

"Yah!" Victreebel opened the leaf on its mouth, and a green energy sphere formed. Surrounding plants and trees seemed to be pulled, releasing tiny green orbs of life energy that merged with the sphere, causing it to grow rapidly before being launched at Gengar.

BOOM! Energy Ball and Dark Pulse collided midair, creating a massive explosion and a powerful shockwave. Rio, Erika, and everyone in the stands raised their arms to shield themselves.

When the shockwave subsided, Gengar’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind: "Kid—nice commanding. But don’t forget, Old Ghost’s strength is what really won this battle. Don’t take all the credit."

Rio lowered his arms and looked at the battlefield. Victreebel was down, defeated. Gengar floated above it, pulling funny faces and taunting the little boy in the audience.

"Little brat—how does it feel watching your sister’s Pokémon get beaten this badly? Pretty satisfying, huh?"

The little boy stomped his feet in fury. "AAAHHH! Big sister, beat it! Beat that stinky Gengar!"

In a fit of rage, he even took off his shoe and threw it at Gengar—but Gengar stopped it midair with Psychic, then wiggled its rear at the audience.

"Nyah nyah—can’t hit me, can’t hit me~" It sent the shoe flying back, hitting the boy square in the face.

"AAAAAAHHHH!!!" The boy burst into tears.

"Rio—is this how you control your Pokémon?!" Erika, having recalled Victreebel, glared coldly.

Hey—it’s not that I don’t want to control it. This purple ghost insults everyone—including me—except its dead trainer from a hundred years ago, Rio thought, feeling wronged.

Just then, Gengar spoke up: "Hey, lady—you’re like a Fearow wearing chicken feathers."

Erika paused mid-reach for her next Poké Ball.

"Don’t get it? Let me spell it out for you: a Fearow with chicken feathers—you think you’re Ho-Oh, acting all high and mighty. I’ll say whatever I want, nyah nyah nyah~"

The entire Gym fell into dead silence. The only sound was Gengar’s laughter—and Eevee’s giggling. Froakie chuckled along at Eevee’s reaction.

Rio’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. He realized he had underestimated the century-old ghost’s venom—that rhyme was something else. The Celadon Gym trainees were also stunned. Even the crying little boy forgot his tears, staring at the cackling Gengar in disbelief.

Erika’s eyes grew colder. Her hand trembled with rage as she held her Poké Ball. Instead of sending out the Pokémon she had planned, she put it away and grabbed another.

"Tangrowth—destroy this Gengar!!!"

With a flash of light, a Level 60, Elite Four–talent Tangrowth appeared.