Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 3: Rio: I Endorse Acting

At the Pokémon House, in Mr. Fuji’s office.

After listening to Rio’s explanation, Mr. Fuji frowned.

"Yes, I hope you’ll cooperate with me from now on, Grandpa Fuji. I want to take Charmander with me on a trainer’s journey and become inseparable partners," Rio replied earnestly.

Mr. Fuji fell silent, fixing his gaze on Rio for a long while.

Finally, he spoke: "Alright, I’ll help you. What you’re doing is essentially for Charmander’s own good. It really can’t go on being this listless. I hope you can truly help it step out of the shadows."

"Thank you for understanding, Grandpa Fuji." Rio stood up and gave a grateful bow.

"Don’t say that—I genuinely want Charmander to find a good trainer too." Seeing Rio’s sincere attitude, Mr. Fuji smiled. "So, how do you want me to help?"

...

An hour later.

Rio, dressed in a hospital gown and seated in a wheelchair, was pushed into the Pokémon House by a lively young girl with twin tails.

The moment he entered, he drew the attention of most of the volunteers in the room.

Especially the few who had carried him out earlier—their eyes bulged almost as big as bells.

Hadn’t he gone to explain things to Mr. Fuji? How did he come back in a wheelchair?

"Rio, what happened to you?" one volunteer asked.

"Alas!" Rio let out a deep sigh. "I went to the hospital for a check-up. Turns out Munchlax’s tackle gave me internal injuries. The doctor said I should try not to move around much for a while."

"Then why are you still here at the Pokémon House?" the volunteer asked, puzzled.

"Of course, to take care of Charmander! The little guy hasn’t even had lunch yet. As the one looking after it, how could I possibly rest easy?" Rio said with righteous conviction. "So even if I’m in a wheelchair, I have to come back here and keep taking care of it."

The volunteer was speechless.

The other volunteers around them also wore looks of exasperation, unsure whether to call him dedicated or just plain crazy.

Rio continued, "Luckily, Grandpa Fuji understood how I felt and asked Miss Rina to stay with me during this time."

With that, he put on a pained expression and coughed a couple of times.

"Right, Grandpa asked me to look after Rio during this period," Rina nodded, though she rolled her eyes upward.

Her grandfather had already told her the truth, so she was supposed to play along with Rio’s act. But seeing it live was simply too cringeworthy. This guy could spin lies without even batting an eye—they just rolled off his tongue.

"Alright, everyone, I won’t chat any longer. I need to go tend to Charmander." Having said his piece, Rio ended the conversation with the volunteers.

He turned his head toward the corner.

Charmander, which had been lying there, had already perked up at the commotion. Upon seeing Rio in the wheelchair, it sat straight up from its prone position.

When Rina wheeled Rio closer, Rio spoke softly:

"Charmander, you must be hungry. I’ve brought you some food."

He turned around and pulled out a Pokémon meal from behind the wheelchair. As he placed it in front of Charmander, he looked around cautiously.

"Munchlax isn’t inside, is it?"

"No, at this hour it’s usually sleeping outside in the garden," Rina said.

"Good." Rio set the food down with relief. "Charmander, go ahead and eat."

Charmander didn’t react at first—it just stared blankly at Rio.

Rio stared back at Charmander, but what he was really looking at was the Pokémon info floating beside it.

It showed that friendship had increased.

Charmander’s friendship had risen from -23 to -22.

Four seconds later, Rio spoke again:

"Come on, Charmander, eat. If you keep skipping meals, your body will give out."

Then he started coughing again, covering his mouth with a handkerchief.

"Cough, cough, cough~"

After the coughing fit, he lowered the handkerchief.

A smear of bright red came into view for both Charmander and Rina.

[Charmander’s friendship increased.]

[Friendship: -20 (range: -25 to -20)]

Behind him, Rina was utterly dumbfounded.

Wow, dude, you can really act! Isn’t this a bit too much? If you don’t go to Pokémon Hollywood, you’re wasting your talent.

But what shocked Rina even more was that Charmander actually started eating.

It used its short little arms to pick up the food and began to chow down.

"Incredible!" Rina exclaimed silently.

She hadn’t expected Rio’s performance to actually get Charmander to eat.

The other volunteers in the room were equally stunned. Most of them had looked after Charmander before and knew just how difficult it was to get this stubborn Pokémon to eat properly.

Yet this newcomer who had only arrived yesterday had actually pulled it off.

Maybe it really does take an abnormal person to match an abnormal Pokémon?

Ten minutes later, Charmander finished its meal.

After eating, it went back to its corner and lay down, once again entering its uncommunicative state. Even when Rio tried to talk to it, it paid him no attention.

But Rio wasn’t disappointed.

He knew that in its heart, Charmander had already begun to acknowledge him, even if only a little. Next time, feeding it probably wouldn’t meet with as much resistance.

Now he needed to figure out how to help Charmander regain its will to fight.

That meant deciding when to disrupt its comfortable existence—and who would be the best tool for the job.

As he pondered, Rio gazed out through the glass window. Before long, he spotted Munchlax lying under a tree, fast asleep.

Slowly, a smile curved at the corners of his mouth.

It seemed that this task was best left to Munchlax after all.

Its level was the highest of any Pokémon in the Pokémon House.

...

Three days later.

That is, Rio’s fifth day as a volunteer at the Pokémon House.

After just getting Charmander to finish its lunch, Rio said goodbye to it.

"Charmander, I have to go to the hospital for a check-up this afternoon, so I won’t be able to stay with you for a while."

"Rua~"

Charmander lay on the ground and let out a lazy cry, as if to say, Go ahead, don’t worry about me.

Seeing it like that, Rio couldn’t help but smile.

After another three days of interaction, Charmander was now willing to respond to some of what he said. Not every word, but the relationship was slowly improving. Otherwise, its friendship wouldn’t have risen from -20 to -15.

It was time to pull it out of its comfort zone.

A minute later, Rina wheeled Rio out of the building and met up with Mr. Fuji, who was waiting outside.

"Grandpa Fuji, have you made the arrangements?" Rio got straight to the point.

"I’ve already told Munchlax that if it bullies Charmander, it’ll get an extra meal tonight." Mr. Fuji’s expression showed a hint of regret. "But is this really a good idea? That poor child has already suffered enough."

Rio was a little speechless inside. You’ve already arranged everything—why are you having second thoughts? Just say you don’t want to take the blame.

With a wave of his hand, Rio said decisively:

"Grandpa Fuji, trust me. This is the only way to get Charmander to rekindle its fighting spirit. Otherwise, it will just keep wasting away here at the Pokémon House. If anything unfortunate happens in the end, you can just blame me for willfully mistreating a Pokémon and have Officer Jenny take me away."

"That’s going too far, going too far," Mr. Fuji said, shaking his head repeatedly.

But seeing Rio’s unwavering confidence, the regret in his heart began to dissipate. He recalled that this young man had already gotten Charmander to stop resisting mealtime by his second day here. In the end, Mr. Fuji’s eyes grew resolute as well.

"I believe in you."