Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 267: Return to Kanto

Hearing there was another exhibition match tomorrow, Cynthia shook her head helplessly before asking the key question. After all, both Fire-type Elite Four Flint and Psychic-type Elite Four Lucian had been stubbornly headstrong. There was no guarantee the remaining two Elite Four wouldn’t be just as pigheaded. If they were, then Sinnoh’s third exhibition match would be yet another self-inflicted humiliation, only making things worse. It would have been better not to hold it at all.

"Relax—your Sinnoh executives told me that no matter what the Elite Four says during the match, I should go easy and leave you some dignity," Rio said with a shrug and a smile.

By now, anyone following the conference knew how strong he was. Winning was expected; losing would be seen not as Sinnoh’s strength, but as his kindness—a gesture to maintain regional harmony. After all, the power gap was so obvious that even a blind man could see Sinnoh had little chance of taking a match from him.

"Sigh—I never should have invited you to Sinnoh," Cynthia said with a heavy sigh. She was beginning to regret having her grandmother extend the invitation. Her original intention had been for Rio to witness her triumphant victory at the Lily of the Valley Conference—and to strengthen ties between Sinnoh and Kanto. Instead, Rio had stolen all the spotlight, and the relationship between the two regions had grown more strained. Some Sinnoh citizens were even calling for retaliation against Kanto to prove their region’s strength.

On the third day of the Lily of the Valley Conference, Sinnoh’s Ground-type Elite Four, Bertha, faced Rio in an exhibition match. Yes—an exhibition match.

At this point, Bertha had already lost five of her six Pokémon. Only her Rhyperior remained, and the situation was dire. On the other side, Rio’s ace Charizard had been on the field from the very start, taking down five opponents in a row. Now it was showing signs of fatigue and injury.

Seeing Charizard’s weariness, the crowd grew excited, cheering Bertha on.

"Rhyperior—Rock Blast!"

"Charizard—Flamethrower!"

"Rhyperior—Stone Edge!"

"Charizard—Dragon Claw!"

"Rhyperior—Rock Wrecker!"

"Charizard—Dragon Breath!"

Under their trainers’ commands, the two Pokémon exchanged move after move. Each time, Charizard took damage from Rhyperior. After ten exchanges, the battle concluded—Charizard fell, narrowly defeated by Rhyperior’s Horn Drill.

The stadium erupted. Thunderous applause filled the air. The announcer’s voice boomed with excitement: "We did it! We finally did it! We finally took down that Charizard!"

The voice was powerful and triumphant.

Acting is exhausting... Rio looked around at the cheering crowd and sighed, recalling Charizard—which had been lying on the ground with one eye open, barely keeping up the act—back into its Poké Ball.

Yes—this was a performance. Before the match, his opponent—Sinnoh’s Ground-type Elite Four, Bertha—had approached him. Unlike the two overly confident Elite Four before her, she knew she couldn’t beat Rio. She was willing to follow the Sinnoh executives’ request and put on a show with him.

But the show couldn’t be too fake. If she single-handedly defeated Rio’s entire main team, Sinnoh’s citizens would be ecstatic—but the rest of the world would mock them for eternity. So she asked Rio to fight seriously for the first five rounds, with only a tiny bit of slack, and then open the floodgates on the sixth. That way, the public got what they wanted—after Lucian’s defeat, their only wish was to take down at least one of Rio’s Pokémon. The executives’ needs were also met—they saved a shred of face and didn’t lose too embarrassingly. Other regions wouldn’t mock them too harshly—most would understand the situation. And if anyone did mock them relentlessly, Sinnoh would just invite them to fight Rio themselves and see if they could back up their talk.

"Come out, Greninja." After recalling Charizard, Rio sent out Greninja. A few rounds later, Rhyperior fell. Rio won the match. Bertha walked off the stage with her head held high, despite the loss, to a round of applause from the crowd.

Finally, the Lily of the Valley Conference could proceed without Rio overshadowing it.

Three days later, the Lily of the Valley Conference concluded. Cynthia won the championship. Rio’s Sinnoh journey officially came to an end.

He flew back to the League headquarters at the Indigo Plateau to handle various administrative matters. During his work, he made a trip to the Pokémon Association headquarters in Goldenrod City. In one of its lakes, he found the Emerald Orb core that Professor Yanase had thrown away. It matched the fragment Rayquaza had given him, but it was still incomplete.

He then returned to the League and worked nonstop for over a month before finally earning another week of vacation. This time, instead of going back to Lavender Town, Rio headed to Azalea Town.

Using his League Champion status, he had looked into Celebi’s rumored appearance in Ilex Forest. The League had noticed the forest’s unusually rapid growth over the past year and sent investigators. Their conclusion matched the Pokémon Association’s: Celebi was likely to appear soon—possibly in the near future.

So he decided to take his week off now and check it out.

Ilex Forest lies between Route 34 and Azalea Town in Johto. There’s no clear boundary between ground and grass; wild Pokémon are everywhere. It’s divided into outer and inner zones. The outer zone often sees human trainers, while the inner zone is a gathering place for Pokémon. There’s only one entrance to the inner zone: the base of a massive tree, over ten meters wide.

At that moment, Rio stood before this tree. Just as he was about to step inside, someone called out to him. He turned—it was an elderly woman wearing a headscarf.

"Yes, ma’am?" Rio replied politely.

"Then let me give you some advice: if you hear the forest’s voice once you’re inside, stay where you are. Otherwise, you’ll lose your way in the forest," the old woman said.

The forest’s voice... Rio raised an eyebrow. He remembered reading about this in the League’s internal files on Ilex Forest—it was likely Celebi’s voice. If you moved recklessly while hearing it, you could follow the sound into another time and space, never to return.

"Got it—thank you, ma’am." Though the voice was exactly what he wanted to hear, Rio still appreciated the warning—it came from a good place.

After thanking her, Rio stepped into the entrance beneath the giant tree and walked into the inner forest. Behind him, the old woman squinted at his retreating figure. "He looks familiar... like I’ve seen him somewhere before."

"Ah, never mind—lots of people have been going into the forest lately. Probably just someone who looks similar."