Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 277: Gengar’s Century (Part 2) – Two-in-One

When it first saw Gengar, its initial reaction was confusion—it sensed a strange mix of familiarity and unfamiliarity. Then, when Gengar called itself "little ghost," it was shocked. Finally, after Gengar explained everything seriously, it chose to believe.

"So you’re my little ghost from a hundred years in the future." Gus was deeply moved after hearing Gengar’s story. He hadn’t expected that Gengar had been trapped in a Poké Ball for a hundred years, and after finally being freed, had traveled across time using Celebi’s power just to see him again.

"Yes, Gus—I’ve finally found you!" Gengar was thrilled that Gus believed it.

The two embraced as the crew member watched through tearful eyes. So touching—truly touching. Gus is one lucky old man. His Pokémon crossed a hundred years just to see him again.

"Little ghost—I want to change the outcome."

A day later, Gus stood on the beach of Blaze Island, listening to Gengar recount its experiences with Rio, and suddenly had an idea.

"That... might not be a good idea," Gengar said, hesitating. If they changed what had happened in the past, Gengar might never meet Rio, and everything it had experienced would be rewritten. Though a hundred years of solitude had been painful, it didn’t want to forget its time with Rio.

"I don’t want you to be trapped in that ball for a hundred years," Gus said, determined.

So when the sea grew calm, Gus and Gengar set out to find the sunken ship. They searched and searched—but couldn’t find it. And every time they got close, they were attacked by groups of Water-type Pokémon. Though Gengar was powerful, it was no match for being swarmed by entire herds. After a month, they finally located the ship. But just as they were about to enter, an unexpected incident occurred—the legendary Lugia woke from its slumber, sending up countless waterspouts that forced them back to the surface.

From that moment, Gengar recognized an immutable truth: history cannot be changed. No matter how hard you try, it remains the same. Just like Lance’s attempt to change the past and stop Rio’s rise—Rio’s future was unaffected. He was still the Champion, still crushing Team Rocket. That could only mean one thing: history is unchangeable. Just as Gengar could not change the fact that it had been trapped in its ball for a century.

The only thing that could change was the future—the fact that it had traveled back to be with Gus. To test this theory, Gengar and Gus tried again to find the sunken ship and change the outcome. The result was the same—every time they got close, an uncontrollable accident stopped them.

Eventually, even Gus accepted the truth. He stopped trying to change the past and chose to spend his remaining years with Gengar. They traveled together and grew stronger together. Time passed. Gus grew old, while Gengar remained unchanged—but as the years went on, Gengar found itself missing Rio more and more. It hadn’t expected that. It had longed to return to Gus, yet once it was with him, its mind kept drifting back to someone a hundred years in the future.

It was almost laughable.

Twenty years later, as Gus aged, the time came for them to part.

"I can feel it, little ghost—you’ve always missed that Rio. At first, I was a little angry, but now I’ve let it go. From what you’ve told me, he clearly valued and cared for you deeply—and yet he let you come back to spend your days with me. That kind of generosity is something I respect."

On his deathbed, the elderly Gus spoke to the sorrowful Gengar. "I want to follow his example now. Go find him, little ghost. Find Celebi and return to the future—that’s where you truly belong. I’ve been happy to have you by my side these past years."

With that, he closed his eyes and left this world.

Gengar watched over Gus until he was laid to rest, then declined his family’s offer to stay and left. It now had a new goal: return to the future and reunite with Rio.

To that end, Gengar searched the world for Celebi. But no matter how hard it looked, it came up empty. Instead, it found a feather of Lugia. The moment it held the feather, Gengar remembered why Rio had originally gone to the sunken ship—to find Lugia’s feather. But in reality, the ship had never contained one.

Realizing this, Gengar returned to the sunken ship once more. This time, it encountered far fewer obstacles. It reached the room where it and Gus had parted, and saw the ancient Poké Ball it had once inhabited. But it had no desire to change history now. Instead, it placed the Silver Feather into the seawater-filled room, letting history unfold as it should.

After that, Gengar returned to shore and, using the ancient script it had learned from Rio, created a treasure map and left it with Gus’s family in Pewter City.

Seasons passed. Gengar wandered the world alone, witnessing the march of time while eagerly awaiting the day it would meet Rio again. Many trainers tried to catch it, but all were beaten back. This continued until news came of an explosion at the Cinnabar Research Institute—and a powerful Pokémon escaping.

Gengar was overjoyed. It knew—the time to meet Rio was near.

So it traveled to Lavender Town. It saw Mr. Fuji establish the Pokémon House, a shelter for abandoned Pokémon. And it saw the Rio it had been longing for. But it didn’t approach him, because it understood that history could not be changed—and the moment was not yet right.

At the same time, it noticed that this Rio was very different from the one it knew. The Rio it remembered was always confident, always saying "I can do this." But this Rio was ordinary, often muttering "I can’t do this" and "this is too hard." And his name was Nico.

For a while, Gengar wondered if it had found the wrong person. But there was no one else in Lavender Town who looked like Rio. So it kept watching.

Then one day, it saw someone unexpected—Lance, the man Rio had toyed with like a son. Lance killed the Rio lookalike, Nico, then used Celebi to escape back to the future.

Confused, Gengar approached the body. It couldn’t tell if its understanding of history was wrong, or if this truly wasn’t Rio—and Lance had made the same mistake it had. In the end, it concluded: this wasn’t Rio. The rule that history cannot be changed had been proven true through its own experience.

"So where are you, Rio?"

Reaching that conclusion, Gengar left the body. But a day later, something astounding happened—the boy who had been dead, Nico, miraculously came back to life. And he called himself Rio, bearing the marks of Arbok’s strangulation. Gengar’s century-old intellect went blank for several minutes. Who’s the ghost here—me or him?

After a long moment of self-doubt, it recovered. It began to follow Rio, observing him. And it realized that this resurrected Rio was the Rio it knew—full of confidence, radiating an aura of "trust me." The Charmander that no one else could handle was tamed and reignited with fighting spirit in just a few days. The Team Rocket that others feared was routed by Rio and his Charmander.

Everything was unfolding exactly as it remembered.

The treasure map Gengar had left with Gus’s family was taken by Team Rocket during Rio’s visit to Pewter City. Then, as if by fate, it fell into Munchlax’s possession—and eventually into Rio’s hands.

Rio began studying the map, slowly deciphering the ancient script Gengar had written. Watching Rio’s joy at solving the puzzle made Gengar happy—it meant they were one step closer to meeting again.

Time moved forward. The Rio Gengar knew gradually re-emerged. He defeated the Rocket executive Sabrina, caught the itchy Red Gyarados, and narrowly won against the arrogant Lance.

Finally, the day came when Rio followed the treasure map to Blaze Island. Gengar watched as he found the ancient ship and discovered the Gengar trapped inside for a hundred years. It watched as Rio used his silver tongue to manipulate that version of itself. Looking back now, it was a little exasperating—but mostly amusing.

From then on, Gengar witnessed Rio grow stronger and stronger, catching legendary Pokémon that others only dreamed of—Raikou, Articuno, the three Regis, and more. His fame soared, and he became the revered League Champion.

And at last, Gengar found its opportunity to act—during the Mewtwo capture battle. It now understood exactly who the Gengar was that had saved Rio’s life back then. It was itself. No other Gengar could have matched Mewtwo’s power, happened to be on that island, and been willing to save Rio.

As it had suspected, when Rio was about to be killed by Mewtwo, Gengar’s intervention was unhindered. Its Psychic power successfully deflected Mewtwo’s attack. And as it remembered, with its help, Rio captured Mewtwo.

Time continued to flow. Months later, Gengar followed Rio to Ilex Forest. There, it saw the little girl with a Chikorita from a hundred years ago—now an old, old woman. It was a strange feeling, watching the passage of time. Perhaps she was the only human who had walked alongside it through so many years.

Gengar also came to understand the principle of history’s immutability more deeply. Every action it took was already written in the river of time. It began to resent that principle—because it felt like being a puppet, following a script it already knew. The only way to break free was to embrace the unknown.

But before that, there was one last thing to do in Ilex Forest: help Lance travel through time. It now understood exactly who had deflected Rio’s Poké Ball and allowed Lance’s dark Poké Ball to catch Celebi. It had been itself—the only one with the motive. If it hadn’t done that, Lance could never have gone back in time, and the Rio it knew would never have existed. Without that Rio, Gengar would never have been freed from the ancient ball, and everything it had experienced would never have happened.

So it had to do it.

And as expected, during the three-way battle between Rio, Pryce, and Team Rocket, Gengar successfully deflected Rio’s Poké Ball and guided Lance’s dark ball to capture Celebi. It watched Lance travel to the past, then return in despair at the unchanged future—and couldn’t help but laugh.

Time is truly fascinating. Every change you think you’re making has already been recorded in the river of time. It’s just playing out as written. Rather than living in such a world, I’d rather embrace the unknown.

So Gengar swore: never again would it travel through time.

Thankfully, the day it had been waiting for was finally here.

The next morning, hiding in the forest, Gengar watched Rio release Celebi to send its past self back to the day before Gus’s accident. The moment the temporal ripples faded, Gengar emerged from the shadows and merged into Rio’s own shadow. Then it floated out into the open.

Watching the shocked expressions—especially Rio’s disbelief—it smiled brightly.

"Gengar~" — Long time no see, Rio.

"Old Ghost!!!"

Rio stared wide-eyed at the Gengar floating out from behind him. His head whipped back and forth between it and the shrine. What’s going on—didn’t it go back to the past? For a moment, his mind couldn’t catch up.

But two seconds later, he noticed Gengar’s stats—and understood everything.