Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 306: Greninja’s Harvest (Two-in-One)

At Agatha’s command, the Gengar behind her glowed in its eyes and immediately took control of Mr. Yamagishi.

Yamagishi shouted that it wasn’t him, that he was innocent, but Gengar paid him no mind.

"Is Lady Agatha there too?" Rio’s surprised voice came through the phone.

"What, do you have someone with my name on your list too, Rio?" Agatha chuckled.

"Of course not! You’re joking, Lady Agatha. You’re not someone who’d need to rely on the Hunter Organization to catch Pokémon." Rio quickly denied it.

He was surprised simply because he hadn’t expected Ghost-type Elite Four Agatha to be there. And from the reactions on the other end, it sounded like Agatha had come to help Serīna—and by extension, him.

"Good to know you understand, kid." Agatha said proudly.

She had lived for so long without ever relying on anyone to catch Pokémon. Everything she had, she earned through her own strength. Catch what you can; if you can’t, get stronger and try again. If Rio had dared to suggest she had ever placed an order with the Hunter Organization, she would have exploded.

"Since you’re there, Lady Agatha, could I trouble you to block the door—keep anyone who came to pressure Serīna from leaving as well?" Rio asked.

Agatha frowned slightly but did as he asked.

"Gengar." She signaled the other Gengar behind her.

The Gengar let out a cry and floated to the office door, blocking the exit.

The officials in the room exchanged uneasy glances, growing even more tense. And then the true nightmare began.

"Serīna, how many people are in your office right now? Give me their names. Let me see if I have any people with the same names here." Rio’s voice came through the phone, making everyone shiver.

"On it, Mr. Rio!"

Serīna responded excitedly. All those bastards had been bullying her, a young woman, forcing her to draft an apology statement—now it was finally time for her to get her revenge.

"Mr. Rio, the people in front of me right now are: Mr. Miki, Ms. Lila, Mr. Ansheng, Mr. Kuzhu, Mr. Mu’an..." Serīna called out names one by one, like taking attendance.

Many of those named instinctively lowered their heads. Some even tried to duck under the table as if they hadn’t come at all—but Serīna still called their names. Only a few looked relatively composed.

Agatha watched coldly, the mockery on her face growing clearer.

Before long, Serīna had named all twenty or so people in the room.

"So many of you came." Rio laughed on the other end.

"Let me take a good look and see how many people with the same names placed orders with the Hunter Organization."

Sweat began pouring down many faces in the room. Beads of perspiration formed, and the arrogant demeanor from earlier had completely vanished.

"Oh, I think I see a name matching Mr. Miki’s here." Rio’s teasing voice came through.

"The records show that thirteen years ago, someone with the same name as Mr. Miki placed an order with the Hunter Organization—the order was to capture a Lapras."

"Then eight years ago, this same person with Mr. Miki’s name placed another commission—to capture an Altaria that already had a trainer."

"And finally, a year ago, this person with Mr. Miki’s name—"

Rio was cut off by Serīna before he could finish.

"Mr. Rio, Mr. Miki has fainted."

"He fainted already? I haven’t even finished yet—and more importantly, I haven’t even matched the photos yet!" Rio’s voice sounded genuinely disappointed. "Oh wait—actually, it looks like there’s no photo for this one. If he fainted before I even checked the photo, what if we misjudged?"

As soon as he said that, Mr. Miki, who had seemingly passed out, suddenly revived like he’d taken a miracle pill. His eyes snapped open.

"Wait! I’m not fainted! I just didn’t have breakfast this morning—low blood sugar, that’s all!"

Mr. Miki forced himself back to his feet.

"Rio, listen—I don’t know about Mr. Yamagishi’s case, but that person with my name is definitely just someone with the same name! I’ve been in this business for years, and I’ve never once placed an order with the Hunter Organization!" He declared passionately.

"Oh, really?" Rio’s teasing voice came again.

"Oh my, oh my—it looks like I just found a photo too. And this photo looks just like you—like it was carved from the same mold! Serīna, Lady Agatha, I’ll send the photo over—tell me if it looks like him."

Mr. Miki was instantly choked. His face flushed red, as if ten thousand words were stuck in his chest with no way to say them.

On the other side, Serīna and Agatha both looked at the new photo Rio had sent. It showed Mr. Miki in casual clothes, leading a group of bodyguards as he received an Altaria in a glass case from a Pokémon hunter.

"Gengar." Agatha didn’t hesitate.

"Gengar~"

Gengar received the command and used Psychic to restrain Mr. Miki, tossing him aside with Mr. Yamagishi.

"Continue. Let’s see just how many people here have placed orders with the Hunter Organization." Agatha’s cold gaze swept across the officials. They all lowered their heads.

One official couldn’t hold back any longer.

"Auntie Agatha, I’ve never placed an order. You know me—with my level of strength, why would I need the Hunter Organization?"

This official was middle-aged. "I just remembered I haven’t finished briefing my subordinates on some work. Could I go back to handle that?"

Agatha simply spoke into the phone: "Rio, check if you have any commission records under Mr. Mu’an’s name."

"Got it." Rio immediately responded.

After a moment, Rio’s voice came back with regret: "It seems not. I don’t see any confirmed orders under Mr. Mu’an’s name."

"See, Auntie Agatha? I told you I never placed any orders with the Hunter Organization—you didn’t believe me." Mr. Mu’an puffed out his chest, looking as if he’d been blessed with spring breeze, his earlier tension visibly easing.

But then Rio’s voice returned, this time with a psychological twist: "Although I couldn’t find any confirmed records, there is a note in the Hunter Organization’s files listing ’suspected Kanto official Mu’an Gen’ as a client."

Agatha narrowed her eyes at the official. The official shook his head frantically: "Auntie Agatha, that wasn’t me! It says ’suspected’!"

Rio continued: "I clicked into it—there’s only one order recorded there. It says four years ago, a client from Kanto commissioned the Hunter Organization to capture an Abomasnow from Sinnoh. Since the client was wearing a mask and cloak, they couldn’t confirm the identity at the time."

"But follow-up tracking revealed that a Kanto official’s main team included an Abomasnow that hadn’t been there before. So they noted the client as ’suspected Kanto official Mu’an Gen.’"

The official who had been shaking his head so vigorously froze, his face stiffening. Agatha, showing no mercy, called for Gengar again, and the official was restrained and tossed aside.

"Keep going." Agatha said coldly.

Rio read name after name—and with each one, Agatha had that person restrained. Some tried to resist, but against Agatha, a member of the Elite Four, they were completely outmatched and subdued within moments.

Before long, out of the twenty-something officials in the room, only ten hadn’t been named by Rio. The rest were all under Agatha’s control.

Agatha looked at them coldly. "Excellent. All of you are just excellent."

The officials hung their heads in shame.

While Agatha glared at them, Serīna remained composed and asked Rio how to handle the pressure from Sinnoh and the other regional Leagues.

"It’s simple. Do you think only our Kanto League has officials who placed orders with the Hunter Organization? Sinnoh and the other regions have just as many." Rio said with a laugh.

"They think they’re so noble? That I’m overstepping and they can pressure me into stepping down as Champion? Fine—let’s see who steps down first, them or me."

"Serīna, I’ll send you the information shortly. Release it to the public—tell the whole world who placed orders with the Hunter Organization."

"I understand." Serīna nodded, then added: "Should I release all the names at once?"

"No need. Release them in batches. If you release everything at once, that’s a scorched-earth approach. The most torturous way is to release them batch by batch—chip away at their psychological defenses, one piece at a time. About... one batch every fifteen minutes. If a region withdraws its isolation statement against us, we stop releasing names from that region. I guarantee, before long, no region will be coming after us—instead, they’ll be begging us for the remaining lists."

"I understand." Serīna nodded.

Agatha, overhearing Rio’s strategy of breaking people down batch by batch, raised an eyebrow. It sounded a bit... sinister.

But she liked it. She liked juniors who could think strategically.

After finishing with Serīna, Rio remembered something and added: "Is every region isolating us right now?"

"No—Hoenn and Paldea haven’t issued any statements yet." Serīna said.

"Then don’t release any information about their officials at all."

With that, Rio hung up. He copied all the data from the Hunter Organization headquarters and sent it to Serīna.

After all that, Rio turned to look at Greninja. He felt it was time to reap Greninja’s friendship rewards.

From the start of the battle until now, Greninja’s friendship had not increased at all. That shouldn’t have been the case. The only explanation was that Greninja needed to eliminate every hunter here to fully release the resentment it had bottled up.

"Greninja, do what you need to do." Rio said.

Greninja looked at the few surviving hunters.

"What are you doing?! We’re sorry! We’re really sorry! We won’t be Pokémon hunters anymore!" The hunters pleaded in terror.

But—

With a single Water Shuriken, they all fell.

Greninja stood there, as if finally freed from its burden. It released its Bond Evolution and stood alone in place.

Then, a notification rang in Rio’s mind.

[Greninja’s friendship has increased]

[Friendship: 90 (-25 → 90) ]

[Greninja’s friendship has increased]

[Friendship: 100 (-25 → 100) ]

The notifications kept coming. The friendship number climbed higher and higher—from 90 to 100, then 110, 120, 130, 140—finally stopping at 190.

[Greninja’s starting friendship was -25. Current friendship is 190. Increase of 215 points. Second and third level rewards unlocked.]

[Two rewards merged and distributed]

[Reward Unlocked: Greninja’s talent has been upgraded from Elite Four to Legendary. Level increased from 71 to 85. ]

The sudden influx of good fortune caught Rio completely off guard. He never expected Greninja to unlock two levels of rewards at once.

He quickly took out a Luxury Ball and recalled Greninja, then released it again. The level information had indeed changed.

[Pokémon: Greninja (Shiny)

[Level: 85 (10000 days until next level)

[Talent: Legendary]

[Friendship: 190 (-25 → 190)

[Ability: Battle Bond (Complete Stage)

[Gender: Male]

[Moves: Pound (130%), Growl (130%), Quick Attack (130%), Lick (130%), Water Pulse (130%), Shadow Sneak (130%), Spikes (130%), Aerial Ace (130%), Substitute (130%), Double Team (130%), Water Shuriken (130%), Geomancy (130%)...]

[Description: A Greninja that has completed its revenge... ]

"Incredible." Rio marveled internally.

This meant Greninja now possessed power comparable to a top-tier Legendary Pokémon. Even at level 85, it still had Bond Evolution and Geomancy—Xerneas’s divine skill. And with the friendship boost, the Bond Evolution had reached its complete stage. If this couldn’t stand toe-to-toe with a top-tier Legendary, he simply wouldn’t believe it.

"Buzz~"

Just as Rio was celebrating, his phone vibrated. He picked it up—it was Cynthia calling.

"What’s up, Cynthia?" Rio asked cheerfully. He was in a great mood.

A moment later, he learned Cynthia’s purpose. Simply put: she was expressing the Sinnoh League’s fury, their determination to force him out of his Champion position, and her concern for his situation. She asked if he had a plan, and if there was anything she could do with her family’s influence to help.