Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 271: An Unexpected Twist

Celebi’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as it stared at Rio. Its cry was pleasant—like a gentle girl whispering in one’s ear.

"Hello, Celebi." Rio smiled and reached out his hand, trying to appear as friendly as possible.

Celebi looked at him, its eyes glowing as temporal ripples spread from its gaze. Two seconds later, its voice echoed in Rio’s mind: "Human—I have seen both your past and your future through time. Trying to catch me? That’s still a little early."

Rio felt a bit embarrassed—his plan had been seen through immediately. But then something in Celebi’s words caught his attention: "Still a little early"—what did that mean? Was Celebi saying that in the future it had seen, he wouldn’t catch it this time? With his current strength, catching Celebi should be easy. Who could possibly stop him? Or how could Celebi escape?

While Rio was still puzzled, Gengar took the initiative and attacked Celebi with a Shadow Ball—but Celebi dodged and fled, with Gengar in hot pursuit.

"What are you standing there for?! Help me catch it!" Gengar’s voice rang in Rio’s mind.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Rio pulled out the Master Ball and released Mewtwo. "Mewtwo—help Gengar subdue Celebi."

Though he still had doubts, Rio focused on capturing Celebi. As soon as Mewtwo appeared, the little Celebi had no chance of escape. Mewtwo simply Teleported in front of it, used Disable, and Celebi was frozen midair.

So I was overthinking things? Or did Celebi’s words mean nothing? Rio pulled out an empty Poké Ball and walked toward Celebi.

"Jynx—Ice Beam!"

Just as he was about to throw the ball, a voice rang out from the nearby trees. A beam of freezing light shot at Mewtwo—but Mewtwo raised its right hand and blocked it with a psychic barrier. Rio raised an eyebrow as a masked, caped figure emerged from the forest with a Level 69 Jynx and a Level 70 Mamoswine.

Who is this? Rio wondered. A Level 69 Jynx and Level 70 Mamoswine—when did someone this strong appear in the region? This was even stronger than Lance. But even so, it wasn’t enough to stop him from catching Celebi.

"Mamoswine—Ancient Power!"

"Jynx—Psychic!"

As Rio thought this, the masked figure attacked Mewtwo with both moves simultaneously. Mewtwo casually fired two Aura Spheres in response—Jynx was instantly defeated, and Mamoswine was severely wounded. The masked figure was stunned, shouting in disbelief.

Rio shrugged in disappointment and continued walking toward Celebi with the Poké Ball.

"Weezing—Sludge Bomb!"

But then, a command came from behind him. Rio turned to see a group of Team Rocket members charging toward him, led by Lance. Weezing, under Lance’s command, spat out foul-smelling, highly toxic sludge—aimed not at Mewtwo, but directly at him!

Rio’s pupils contracted. Damn it—no honor! He tried to release Charizard to block the attack, but there wasn’t enough time.

"Gengar~" Fortunately, Gengar appeared in front of him at the last second, using Protect to block the Sludge Bomb completely. Rio let out a sigh of relief. That had nearly scared him to death. He’d expected only the masked man to interfere, but Team Rocket had been hiding here too—and Lance had immediately played dirty, trying to kill him outright.

Fine—you can rot in prison for life.

With flashes of light, Rio released Annihilape, Greninja, and Raikou. He’d wanted to send out Charizard too, but the forest was too dense—one stray Flamethrower could cause a disaster. So he put that ball away.

"Gym Leader Pryce of Mahogany Town—let’s cooperate! Only by combining our strength can we stand against Rio!" Lance shouted, seeing Rio release Annihilape and Raikou.

Mahogany Town Gym Leader? Rio turned to look at the masked man and noticed him take a small step back—a sign of panic. His identity had been exposed, and he was clearly unsettled. Rio then recalled the original lore about the Mahogany Town Gym Leader—the oldest and strongest Gym Leader in Johto. After losing two beloved Lapras in an accident, he’d turned to darkness, dedicating his remaining life to using Celebi to revive them.

"Fine—let’s cooperate." The masked man, after a moment of hesitation, agreed to Lance’s proposal. He pulled out a Poké Ball and released a Level 70 Lapras.

"Lapras—Perish Song!" But his first command was a move that would bring mutual destruction.

Lance’s eyes widened. There were too many Pokémon on their side—if Perish Song succeeded, Rio’s Pokémon would suffer, but their losses would be even greater. Mewtwo reacted swiftly, firing a Psystrike that knocked out Lapras after just one second of the song—the move was interrupted.

"Just a bunch of clowns," Rio said, shaking his head. With his lineup, there was no way he could lose—Mewtwo on the left, Annihilape, Raikou, and Greninja on the right. How could Mahogany Town’s Gym Leader Pryce and Team Rocket possibly compete for Celebi?

With Celebi still immobilized by Disable, Rio finally reached it and threw the Poké Ball.

But the moment the ball left his hand, something completely unexpected happened—an unknown psychic force knocked it away.

Rio froze. He immediately scanned his surroundings. Someone else is here to stop me! But he saw no other enemies. On the left, Pryce’s Pokémon were being crushed by Mewtwo. On the right, Team Rocket’s Pokémon were being overwhelmed by Annihilape, Greninja, and Raikou.

Then Rio noticed something out of the corner of his eye—a black Poké Ball shot out from Lance’s belt, flying at high speed toward Celebi. It passed right in front of him and opened just one meter from Celebi. A black light flashed—and Celebi was drawn inside.

Rio: (⊙_⊙)

The sudden turn of events caught him completely off guard. He never expected the capture attempt to end like this. After Celebi was drawn in, the black Poké Ball reversed direction and flew back toward Team Rocket’s position.