Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 289: Hoenn–Kanto Exchange Meeting (Part 10)

Seeing Steven send out his Shiny Metagross, Rio smiled.

In his sight, this Metagross had already reached level 78. It was the second-highest-level trainer-owned Pokémon he had seen so far—second only to Giovanni’s Beedrill.

Logically speaking, if he wanted to add even more explosive impact to this battle, the natural choice would be to send out the Shiny Metagross he had caught in Sinnoh, for a Shiny Metagross vs. Shiny Metagross showdown.

Unfortunately, even after training it for some time, his Shiny Metagross had only gone from level 50 to level 58—nowhere near comparable to Steven’s Metagross. The chance of winning if he sent it out would be practically 99% zero. The remaining 1% would be if Steven took it easy on him and intentionally lost. But was that possible? Obviously not—Steven had already lost enough face. Giving up any more would leave him with none at all.

However, Rio was a bit of a troublemaker at heart. Right now, he wanted to see Steven lose even more face.

"Show Hoenn’s Champion your true power."

Rio revealed the Key Stone on his chest.

"Roooar~"

Charizard responded to his command. The Charizardite Y on its tail began to glow with the light of Mega Evolution.

"Mega Evolution? He’s finally showing his true power?"

Across the battlefield, Steven narrowed his eyes. It seemed Kanto’s Champion understood him well—knowing that his ace, Metagross, was incredibly powerful, so he was bringing out his full strength.

In that case, Steven would show Rio the true power of his Metagross as well.

"Metagross, Meteor Mash!" Steven shouted.

Metagross received the command. The next second, its fist, glowing like a comet, shot toward Charizard, which had just finished Mega Evolving.

"Charizard, Sacred Fire." Rio responded calmly.

"Roooar~"

Even more scorching purple flames gathered in Charizard’s mouth. A second later, a pillar of purple fire erupted from Charizard, blasting toward Metagross.

Five seconds later, Metagross collapsed.

Steven, who had been so fired up just moments ago, was instantly stunned into silence.

The entire arena fell silent as well. Even the Kanto spectators, who had been rooting for Rio all along, were speechless. They stared at the battlefield for a long time without saying a word.

In the young trainers’ waiting room below the stands...

"Th-this... it’s over just like that?" Sapphire’s voice trembled as she watched. She knew Kanto’s Champion Rio was strong—she had witnessed it before—but she had never imagined he would be this strong. One move, and he had one-shot Steven.

"Has he gotten even stronger?"

In the guest seats, Kanto’s Dragon-type Elite Four Lance was also left with his mouth slightly agape. He recalled that when Rio had fought him, it had been a similar experience. But Rio’s opponent this time was different—this was Hoenn’s Champion Steven, who was certainly stronger than Lance. Surely he wouldn’t be defeated in one hit either, right?

"So this is the strongest Champion?"

At that moment, Hoenn’s sole Elite Four member present—Dragon-type Elite Four Drake—was equally astonished. The moment Steven’s Metagross was one-shot, a thought immediately crossed his mind: Rio was definitely the strongest Champion among all regions. He couldn’t believe anyone could be stronger than this. If there was someone even stronger, then Hoenn would be doomed—forever unable to rise to the top.

"Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!"

No one knew how much time passed before the entire arena erupted in thunderous applause.

"Rio! Rio! Rio!"

Then, no one knew who started it—the whole arena began chanting Rio’s name.

Rio smiled and bowed to the audience in gratitude.

Finally, he turned to look at Steven.

At this moment, Steven seemed somewhat broken. There was no color left in his face. Clearly, this was the first time he had suffered such a crushing defeat.

"Mr. Steven, are you alright?"

Rio rode Charizard over to him.

Steven didn’t respond. He just stared blankly at his fallen Metagross, looking utterly lost. Even Rio felt a bit embarrassed.

To be fair, it wasn’t really his fault—he was just too strong now. The moment he showed his true power, whether it was a villainous organization’s boss or a regional Champion, after a full-power battle against him, they would all go through a period of self-doubt.

It took Rio pushing Steven four or five times before he finally snapped out of it.

"Oh, Mr. Rio." Steven was dazed—as if his very spirit had been knocked out of him.

"Are you okay, Steven?"

Rio frowned slightly.

"I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine."

Steven gave a hollow, foolish smile—but anyone could tell he was anything but fine.

After saying that, Steven took out a Poké Ball and recalled Metagross. Without looking back, he walked off the stage. He didn’t return to the guest seats either. In short, he just left—walked straight out of the arena.

After that, no one could find him—not even his own Hoenn League colleagues.

The next time he appeared in Rio’s sight was on the morning of the third day, at 10 a.m. Representing the Kanto League, Rio stood at the main entrance of the Kanto League headquarters to see off the Hoenn delegation, expressing his thanks for this exchange.

Just before leaving, Steven finally spoke to Rio again.

"The Pokémon battle the day before yesterday—was that your real power? You weren’t holding back anymore, were you?" Steven bit his lip and stared intently at Rio.

Rio looked at the expectant hope in Steven’s eyes. He felt that if he said no—that he was still far from his limit—Steven’s mindset might completely collapse. Even worse than before.

So, he decided to give Steven some hope.

"Of course that was my real power! How could I possibly hold back in a battle against you, Mr. Steven? Charizard’s victory came from the strongest combination of Ho-Oh’s flames and Mega Evolution working together. If even that couldn’t take you down, then I might have been the one to lose." Rio smiled.

As soon as he said that, some color returned to Steven’s pale face—like life being breathed back into him.

"I understand. Just you wait—I, Steven, will definitely make up for that loss the day before yesterday."

Steven said this earnestly, then turned and walked away.

After he left, Hoenn’s Dragon-type Elite Four Drake, who had been following beside him, gave Rio a long, deep look. With fifty years of life experience, he could tell that Rio’s words just now sounded very much like deliberate reassurance.

But if those words really had been just reassurance, that meant Rio still hadn’t shown his true power in his battle against Steven. If that was the case, just how strong was his real power? It would be terrifying.

Rio, facing Drake’s gaze, simply smiled faintly and said nothing more. He watched the group depart.

"Alright, back to the busy work schedule."

After Steven and the others left, Rio shrugged. His plan was to finish up his current workload, then head to the Whirl Islands to awaken Lugia and settle the score from when he had been beaten up before.

What Rio didn’t expect was that a week later, a letter appeared on his office desk.

He opened it, and what greeted his eyes was a piece of paper with an "R" symbol printed on it.