Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 128: Annihilape (Two-in-One)

Rio stared at Blue across the battlefield and said calmly: "Primeape—I don’t think I need to explain what to do."

"Pu-cha~"

Indeed, no explanation was needed. The moment Rio finished speaking, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Primeape punched itself in the left cheek, then the right. Its entire head visibly flushed red with rage.

Blue, who had been about to issue a command to Blastoise, stared in disbelief. "This Primeape... is it crazy?!"

Punching itself right out of the gate—was it confused? "This battle’s in the bag—this Primeape must have brain damage," Blue thought, growing more confident.

"Blastoise, Hydro Cannon!" Blue struck first.

"Blastoise~" Blastoise lowered its body, and the two cannons on its back fired thick, powerful jets of water at Primeape. The rocky battlefield had a boulder in the middle—the two water jets swept it away like paper, drawing gasps from the crowd.

Primeape, seeing the incoming Hydro Cannon, didn’t wait for Rio’s command. Rage-fueled, it charged head-on with its fist raised—as if facing not a Hydro Cannon, but a couple of tiny streams.

BOOM! But reality was different—Hydro Cannon was Hydro Cannon. The blast knocked Primeape flat, slamming it into a solid rock wall.

"Hah—your Primeape’s not much after all!" Blue laughed, pressing the attack. "Blastoise—keep the Hydro Cannon going!"

Not much? Ha—just wait, Rio smirked, watching Primeape pinned against the rock with no hint of worry.

Blue had trained his Blastoise well—as expected of the man who’d been Champion for five minutes. But Rio’s Primeape was something else entirely. Anyone who knew it understood: if you couldn’t one-shot it, you were done. Attacks only made it angrier—and anger was its power. The more rage it built, the stronger it became.

Watching Primeape’s fury intensify, Rio knew Blastoise was about to face a brutal beating.

But not everyone understood this. Mr. Fuji, for instance, watched anxiously as Primeape got pinned at the start. "What is Rio doing? Just letting Primeape get hammered like that? Is he out of his mind?"

"Probably not—look at that smirk," Cynthia said, keeping her eyes on Rio. She trusted him, but her palms were sweating. Damn it—don’t tell me you only win bets against me and lose to everyone else.

Even the trainees’ cheers faltered as they saw their Gym Leader’s Pokémon getting overwhelmed. They hadn’t expected Blastoise to be this strong.

"Keep cheering! Once I win this battle and take over this Gym, you’ll all be scrubbing toilets!" Blue gloated internally.

But his satisfaction didn’t last. Primeape let out a blood-curdling roar.

"PU-CHA!!!"

It stood up—against the Hydro Cannon—and rose to its feet. A spectral aura emanated from its body. It raised its fist and swung.

Whoosh— The punch generated a shockwave that stopped the Hydro Cannon half a meter from its face. Primeape took a step forward.

"How is that possible?!" Blue’s pupils shrank in disbelief.

"PU-CHA!!!" Primeape threw a second punch—the shockwave pushed the water back to one meter. A third punch pushed it to two meters. By the fourth punch, the Hydro Cannon was forced back four meters. Its fist power was multiplying at a terrifying rate.

"What move is that? How is it so powerful?" a trainee asked in confusion.

"That’s Rage Fist—Primeape’s signature move," Rio explained, turning to the trainee. "Each time it’s used, its power doubles with the user’s rage."

He smiled, watching Primeape close the distance with Blastoise using Rage Fist. Rage Fist was the only way for Primeape to evolve into its final form, Annihilape. The requirement was simple—use it successfully twenty times, then level up once. The count didn’t reset after a battle or a fainting—it accumulated.

Rio hadn’t deliberately trained Primeape for evolution, instead letting it use Rage Fist whenever it got angry. He’d been more focused on milking Silph Co. for money.

"Come to think of it, Rage Fist should be close to twenty uses by now," Rio mused. Primeape had fought plenty of battles since learning the move. Though it hadn’t used Rage Fist often, it had used it—especially against Raikou. Rio had noticed it using Rage Fist a few times in that fight, though he wasn’t sure of the exact count.

"Blastoise—Rapid Spin!" Blue shouted.

"Blastoise~" Blastoise withdrew into its shell, limbs tucked in, spinning at high speed toward Primeape. Primeape leaped off a nearby rock, clearing four or five meters and dodging gracefully. Midair, its eyes tracked Blastoise’s trajectory—and predicted its landing point.

"PU-CHA!!!" It roared, swinging its spectral-cloaked fist at the predicted spot.

It had guessed right. The moment Blastoise’s Rapid Spin ended, the fist came down.

BOOM! The ground shook. Dust billowed. Primeape’s punch drove Blastoise—still withdrawn in its shell—straight into the earth, embedding it in the ground.

"Blastoise—Shell Smash!" Blue shouted in panic. He’d never expected such terrifying power. If he had to describe it in four words: terrifying beyond measure!

But before Blastoise could obey, Primeape threw a punch that stunned it inside its shell.

"Pu-cha!"

"Pu-cha!"

"Pu-cha!"

Primeape’s fists rained down like a storm. On the fourth punch, the shell shattered, revealing Blastoise’s body and its terrified expression. The fifth punch knocked Blastoise out. On the sixth, Blue screamed for it to stop—Primeape ignored him and kept pounding. On the seventh, Rio saw Primeape level up from 46 to 47 after defeating Blastoise. On the eighth, Blue recalled Blastoise, and Primeape glared at him.

"Wh-what are you looking at?!" Blue’s scalp tingled with fear. He fumbled for his second Poké Ball—just as Primeape let out its most deafening, soul-shaking roar yet.

"PU-CHA!!!"

The roar was so thunderous it made Blue’s legs give out, dropping his Poké Ball.

"Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!" Blue screamed in terror.

But then—he watched as Primeape, mid-roar, turned a shade of red so deep it was blood-crimson—and collapsed. It dropped dead right in front of him.

Blue was utterly bewildered. This had exceeded anything he’d ever seen. He looked at Rio, then at the trainees. Everyone except Rio—who looked excited—was just as confused.

Then, a brilliant light flared, blinding Blue. When he opened his eyes, a Pokémon stood before him: larger than Primeape, its face far more ferocious, covered in long, pale gray fur that constantly shed into the air and dissolved as if it had never existed—neither fully solid nor fully ethereal. Its crimson eyes met Blue’s, freezing him in place. He didn’t dare move, speak, or breathe, terrified that one wrong move would earn him a fatal punch.

"Finally evolved," Rio said, smiling at the Annihilape standing before Blue—like a demon from hell.

"Annihilape," Rio called out.

"Annih~" Annihilape turned back with a glare. Seeing Rio, its demonic expression softened slightly. It bent its legs—and in two or three seconds, it was in front of Rio, moving like the wind.

"Annih~" It looked up at Rio, its perpetual anger on full display. Rio couldn’t deny feeling a twinge of fear—that expression looked like a punch was coming any second.

"It’s asking if it looks cool now," Gengar’s translation echoed from the ancient Poké Ball.

"Huh?" Rio blinked in surprise. But seeing the veins on Annihilape’s face pulse, he reacted instantly, giving a thumbs-up: "Cool—hell yeah you’re cool! Annihilape is number one in the world—no, the universe! I’ve never seen a Pokémon so breathtakingly, jaw-droppingly, earth-shatteringly cool in my entire life!"

"Annih~" The veins on Annihilape’s face receded, and it scratched its head sheepishly.

[Annihilape’s friendship increased.]

[Friendship: 73 (from -27 to 73)]

"It says it thinks so too," Gengar continued translating, then added sarcastically: "You two are so shameless—one lies without blushing, and the other, ugly as sin, asks if he looks cool? The coolest one should be me!"

Rio’s scalp prickled in terror—but when Annihilape showed no reaction, he breathed a sigh of relief. At least Gengar had the sense not to relay that thought to Annihilape. Otherwise, everyone here would be in serious trouble. And don’t think being Ghost-type made Gengar immune—Annihilape was part Ghost now too. One punch from it would kill Gengar just as dead.

Rio’s pupils contracted as he noticed Annihilape’s stats had updated:

[Pokémon: Annihilape]

[Level: 47 (Enraged. Time until next level: 1001 days.)]

[Talent: Elite Four]

[Friendship: 73 (from -27 to 73)]

[Ability 1: Huge Power]

[Ability 2: Defiant]

[Gender: Male]

[Moves: Fury Swipes (82%), Focus Energy (82%), Low Kick (83%), Seismic Toss (82%), Swagger (82%), Close Combat (82%), Crush Grip (82%), Rage Fist (82%), Cross Chop (82%), Taunt (82%), Stomp (82%), Night Shade (Learnable), Phantom Force (Learnable)]

[Description: This is a powerful Annihilape. When it was still a Mankey, it could not control its rage...]

It also gained a second ability and learned Night Shade and Phantom Force! Rio was delighted.

"Annih~" It cried out.

"It says it’s getting angry and needs an opponent," Gengar translated.

Rio immediately looked across the battlefield at Blue, whose legs were still shaky. "Hey—are we continuing or not? If not, you forfeit, and all your possessions are mine!"

"Who says I’m forfeiting?! Shut up, you lucky bastard!" The mention of losing everything made Blue rally his courage. He was furious that Rio had won the last battle without giving a single command. How could victory go to someone like that?

He picked up the dropped Poké Ball. "Come out, Pidgeot!" A Level 45 Elite Four–talent Pidgeot appeared.

"Annihilape—there’s your opponent," Rio said.

"Annih~" Annihilape punched itself once, ratcheting up its rage, then leaped four or five meters into the air and swung at Pidgeot.

"Pidgeot—Quick Attack to gain altitude!" Blue shouted. Pidgeot executed a Z-shaped maneuver, dodging Annihilape’s punch.

"Annihilape—Taunt," Rio commanded. Since Blue accused him of being carried, Rio would show him what a non-carried battle looked like.

After its miss, Annihilape landed and immediately slapped its rear at Pidgeot. "Annih~" — Little loser—come hit me! If you don’t, you’re raised by me!