Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 13: First-Tier Reward Unlocked

Charmeleon received the command and immediately launched an Ember, striking swiftly at the Arbok resting beside its trainer on the other side.

This sudden attack caught both the Team Rocket grunt Kurohana and her Arbok completely off guard. Arbok had been peacefully lounging on the ground, minding its own business, when suddenly flames came flying at it. Its trainer’s command to dodge came too late—by the time it looked up, the scorching flames were already upon it.

"Charba~ku~" Arbok let out a pained cry.

"Kid! You’re completely ignoring battle etiquette!" On the other side, the bald man Temu glared furiously at Rio.

He hadn’t expected this brat to first trick him with an Oran Berry, and now to throw battle rules out the window. Temu had issued the challenge himself, yet Rio had attacked his subordinate’s Pokémon instead. Most Team Rocket members operated by ganging up on opponents—some even ambushed during evolution. Temu, however, had always disdained such underhanded tactics. And now, he’d run into someone even more ruthless than a Rocket.

Rio completely ignored Temu’s accusation. You’re a villainous organization trying to steal people’s Pokémon, and you’re lecturing me, a righteous person, about battle rules while I’m trying to take on three of you at once? Screw your rules—go ahead and expose yourself if you dare. I’ll respect you if you do.

"Charmeleon, charge in—keep using Ember and get ready to finish it with Scratch!"

Taking advantage of this idiot still blathering about rules, Rio continued issuing commands. In his eyes, Arbok was nothing but a great EXP farm right now. The Level 24 Houndour had raised Charmander by three levels. For the Level 22 Arbok, he didn’t ask for much—just two levels would do.

"Rua~"

Charmeleon received the order and fired another Ember at Arbok, which had just shaken off the previous flames.

"Charba~ku~" Arbok cried out again, and this time it was immediately afflicted with a burn.

"Golbat, stop it with Air Cutter!"

Temu finally snapped into action.

"Gol~" Under its trainer’s command, Golbat swung its wings forward with force. The next moment, razor-sharp blades of wind shot toward Charmeleon.

Rio quickly gave the counter-order: "Charmeleon, dodge carefully—if you can’t dodge, block with Scratch!"

Charmeleon evaded as many wind blades as it could, and those it couldn’t, it slashed away with its evolved, sharper claws. In this manner, it advanced all the way to Arbok. Then, without needing Rio’s instruction, it positioned itself directly behind Arbok.

The remaining wind blades struck Arbok instead, adding fresh gashes to its already flame-scorched body.

"Char~ba~ku~" — What~the~hell~

With Arbok hanging on by its last sliver of health, Charmeleon used Scratch to finish it off. Then it turned smugly toward Golbat in midair and raised its claws in a taunt.

"Gol~" Golbat glared back furiously.

Meanwhile, Rio checked Charmeleon’s data.

"Too bad—just a bit short of three levels." He saw that Charmeleon had risen from Level 18 to Level 20, with only 29 days of normal training time remaining until Level 21.

"Now the level gap with Golbat is down to ten. I wonder how a fight would go."

Just as Rio was mulling this over, Temu’s attack command came: "Golbat, use Wing Attack!"

"Gol~" Golbat spread its wings, streaked through the air like a white flash, and dove straight at Charmeleon.

"Charmeleon, use Scratch—try to catch it!" Rio commanded swiftly.

A dive that fast from the air—Charmeleon wouldn’t be able to dodge in time. Better to be bold.

"Rua~" Charmeleon fixed its sharp gaze on the diving Golbat, claws spread wide, ready.

The next moment, Wing Attack met Scratch. Just as Golbat’s wing was about to strike, Charmeleon swung its claws and managed to grab hold—but only for an instant. The diving force broke the grip, and the wing slammed squarely into Charmeleon.

Charmeleon was sent flying.

Rio frowned slightly. There’s still a clear gap between them. I need to change tactics.

Seizing the opening, Temu gave another order: "Golbat, Air Cutter!"

"Charmeleon, flip midair, dig your claws into the ground to stabilize, and use Smokescreen!" Rio countered.

Charmeleon twisted its body mid-flight. As it faced the ground, it drove its claws deep into the dirt, gouging tracks as it slid, while simultaneously spewing a thick cloud of black smoke.

At that exact moment, Golbat’s Air Cutter landed—multiple blades of wind slashed across Charmeleon’s body. Charmeleon winced in pain but held fast to Rio’s command, releasing all the smoke.

Soon, the battlefield was blanketed in black haze. Charmeleon hid within it.

"Grandpa, what now? Charmeleon doesn’t seem to be a match for that Golbat. And Smokescreen feels useless—I remember Golbat can use ultrasonic waves to pinpoint its target," Rina said nervously from the sidelines.

"At this point, we can only trust Rio’s command. I believe he has his reasons for doing this," Mr. Fuji replied calmly, though the deep furrow between his brows betrayed his inner worry.

"Charmeleon, remember our objective," Rio called out toward the smoke.

"Objective? What does that mean?" On the other side, Temu was baffled by Rio’s words. The only objective he could think of was rescuing the old man’s granddaughter.

"Golbat, clear the smoke and use ultrasonic waves to find that Charmeleon!" Confused, Temu decided to end this quickly.

"Gol~" Golbat flapped its wings vigorously downward, sending out high-frequency sound waves beyond human hearing. In moments, it had located Charmeleon, and most of the smoke had dispersed.

Then Temu’s pupils shrank, and his heart nearly stopped.

Because Charmeleon had appeared right in front of him, barely two meters away, glaring at him with a fierce expression.

Cold sweat trickled down Temu’s forehead. "His objective... isn’t to attack me directly, is it? Damn it—who’s the real Team Rocket member here?! How is his method even dirtier than ours?!"

The next second, he saw Charmeleon charge straight at him. Terrified, he turned and ran.

"Golbat, stop it with Wing Attack!"

Golbat spread its wings and dove toward Charmeleon, preparing to intercept. But to Temu’s shock, nothing happened.

He looked back and saw Charmeleon had stopped right where he’d been standing, holding a Poké Ball in its claws.

"A Poké Ball?" Temu first checked the ball pouch at his waist—none were missing. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Not mine. Whose is it?" He looked at his subordinates, Kishi and Kurohana.

"Not mine." "Not mine either—wait, isn’t that the one you confiscated from Dr. Fuji’s granddaughter earlier?" They both shook their heads, then Kurohana pointed out.

Just then, the three of them watched in disbelief as Charmeleon ran back across the field with the Poké Ball and handed it to its trainer.

Then came the moment that floored all three of them.

A flash of light—and Charmeleon was drawn into the Poké Ball.

"What the hell?! How did Charmeleon’s Poké Ball get there?!" Temu’s eyes bulged like bells. This had to be the most absurd thing he’d ever encountered in his life.

If he had known Charmeleon’s Poké Ball was right there at his feet, he never would have bothered fighting that brat. He could have just picked it up and recalled Charmeleon!

At the same time, the moment Rio recalled Charmeleon, the system notified him that he had successfully registered his first Pokémon—Charmeleon.

[Charmeleon’s starting friendship was -25. Current friendship is 42. Increase of 67 points qualifies for First-Tier Reward Unlock.]

[Reward Unlocked: Charmeleon’s talent upgraded to quasi-Elite Four level. Obtained one Move Disk.]