Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 308: The Public Erupts (Two-in-One)

The Kanto League, together with the Sinnoh League, would each host a Pokémon tournament in their respective regions.

The prizes would be the Pokémon captured by the Hunter Organization. Divided by age, there would be a Junior Division and a Senior Division. Winners of the Junior Division could choose a basic-stage Pokémon to raise. Winners of the Senior Division could choose a fully evolved or already-evolved Pokémon.

He believed the public—both in Kanto and Sinnoh—would be thrilled by this. After all, you could assume there was no "bad" Pokémon among those caught by the Hunter Organization. They were either rare or had excellent talent. In a sense, compared to these, the Pokémon at Pokémon shelters were worlds apart—one was abandoned by a trainer who deemed it weak, while the other was an excellent Pokémon that trainers paid a fortune to acquire. They existed on completely different tiers in a trainer’s perception.

Moreover, once this was announced, he was sure the people of Sinnoh would give him, a Kanto Champion, a thumbs up. After all, they would be the beneficiaries. Even if they had disliked him before, they would change their minds.

Would the Sinnoh League itself be unhappy about this? He thought not—because they had no choice. Whether they liked it or not, they’d have to go along with it. The reason was simple: the Kanto League was under his command. If he hosted the tournament in Kanto and the Sinnoh League refused to host one, the people of Sinnoh would curse them to death. That would only make the public favor him even more, and greatly so.

Why greatly? Simple. Previously, the Sinnoh League had told its citizens that Rio had disrupted their carefully laid plans to eliminate the Hunter Organization, making the public hostile toward him. According to the Aronson effect in psychology, if someone’s perception of another person shifts from positive to negative, the negative feelings become amplified. Conversely, if the shift is from negative to positive, the positive feelings become amplified. You could also think of it as: when hearing bad news and good news, hearing the bad first makes the good feel even better; hearing the good first makes the bad feel worse.

Right now, he was experiencing a shift from negative to positive. Once the tournament was held, and the people of Sinnoh knew it was driven by him, a Kanto Champion, they would surely praise him highly.

He could also have the Kanto League hire online influencers to spread the news to other regions, making their citizens envious. Look at what a real Champion does—destroying an evil organization and giving away the Pokémon through tournaments. If their own Champion did something like that, how great would that be? See—the contrast was perfect.

With that thought, Rio pulled out his phone and contacted his beautiful secretary Serīna back in the Kanto League.

"Serīna, I need your help." Rio smiled as the call connected.

He explained his plan to host regional tournaments and give away all the Pokémon obtained from the Hunter Organization to the winners. He told her to draft a tournament plan as soon as possible, refine the reward rules, and start promoting it—the sooner, the better.

"Understood, Mr. Rio. I’ll arrange the tournament plan and promotion right away, and contact the Sinnoh League as well." Serīna, sharp as ever, immediately grasped the impact. Beyond her deep admiration for Rio, she had nothing else to say. She could tell that once this tournament was held, not only would Rio become even more beloved in Kanto, but the people of Sinnoh would also gain tremendous favor toward him. This was something even the Sinnoh League had never done—and they had previously slandered him. Now, look: the Kanto League Champion, instead of being angry, was giving the public a chance to obtain Pokémon from the destroyed Hunter Organization.

After finishing with Serīna, Cynthia called again. She told him that the Sinnoh League was in complete chaos. Legally, nearly half of their officials and many staff members should be imprisoned. Now, those not implicated were debating whether to reduce the penalties—otherwise, there’d be no one left to run things. Those who had only commissioned one or two jobs would just get reprimands; those with more would be removed.

After hearing her out, Rio shared his idea of having Kanto and Sinnoh jointly host tournaments to distribute the Hunter Organization’s Pokémon. Cynthia was impressed and said she would inform her grandmother and push the plan forward. Handling such a huge number of Pokémon in any other way wouldn’t be as good as Rio’s proposal. The public would also be happy.

She then asked Rio to send her the location of the Hunter headquarters so she could come with a team to secure the Pokémon. Rio agreed—he trusted Cynthia even if he didn’t trust others.

After the call, Rio waited at the Hunter headquarters. Meanwhile, he also dealt with his other trophies: Darkrai, the Galarian Articuno, Moltres, and Regirock. None of them had been truly captured—just controlled by tech collars. For Darkrai, the Galarian Articuno, and Moltres, Rio captured and immediately released them. It might sound crazy, but honestly, he already had enough legendary Pokémon. He didn’t have the energy to manage and bond with each one individually. He’d keep them as "collectibles" and summon them when needed via items they left behind. The three Pokémon themselves were delighted—they didn’t want to be tied down by a trainer, and now they’d never have to worry about being caught again.

As for Regirock—it was too large and slow. If he just set it free, it probably wouldn’t even know where to go and might attract unwanted attention. He decided to keep it for now and later drop it off at Indigo Plateau. If the League asked, he’d say it was from the Hunter Organization—which was actually true.

After dealing with Darkrai, the Galarian Articuno, Moltres, and Regirock, Rio waited with Mewtwo, Gengar, and Greninja for Cynthia to arrive.

About four or five hours later, Cynthia showed up with a large team of Sinnoh League staff. By then, Serīna had already used the Kanto League’s official account to announce, in Rio’s name, that Kanto would host a Pokémon tournament. The prizes would be Pokémon seized from the Hunter Organization, and they hoped the Sinnoh League would host one as well, so that citizens of both regions could earn the right to raise a powerful Pokémon through their own efforts. The announcement listed some of the Pokémon: Milotic, Absol, Dragonite, Garchomp, Lycanroc, Armarouge, Ceruledge, and many other rare and powerful species.

The people of Kanto erupted in celebration, chanting "Long live Rio!" They had initially just been onlookers supporting their Champion for destroying the Hunter Organization. But soon after, they saw that his actions had exposed many hypocritical League officials, giving them a sense of justice and fairness. And now he was giving away Pokémon from the Hunter Organization through a tournament—how could they not be thrilled? If they got lucky and fought their way to a high ranking, they could choose a great Pokémon—without spending a fortune on the black market or at auctions!

Meanwhile, in Sinnoh, the more well-informed citizens also erupted when they saw the Kanto League’s announcement. Since Kanto wanted to collaborate with Sinnoh, that meant Sinnoh would also get a tournament where winners could pick a Pokémon from the Hunter Organization’s haul. Such good news was too good to be true! But they were puzzled why their own League seemed to be ignoring it. Only after public pressure mounted did the Sinnoh League finally announce their own tournament—though not because they wanted to. They felt the whole event would only benefit Rio, as he had initiated it. All the goodwill would go to him, not them. They tried many ways to claim the credit for themselves but couldn’t find a good angle. Under public pressure, they had to follow Kanto’s lead.

Thus, when Cynthia brought Sinnoh officials and staff to meet Rio, their faces were sour. But they had to follow Rio’s instructions to secure the Pokémon and divide them up for Kanto to take over.

"What’s this—your Sinnoh people don’t seem very friendly toward me." Rio complained to Cynthia after giving instructions to the Sinnoh staff.

Cynthia rolled her eyes—she knew full well why. So instead of answering directly, she asked: Now that the headquarters was destroyed and the backlash contained, with other regions issuing statements of support and Sinnoh citizens grateful to him, what were his plans next?

"Nothing much—I’m heading back to Kanto." Rio shrugged.

"Not staying a little longer?" Cynthia frowned.

Rio chuckled at her reaction. But since he had other pressing matters, he just patted her shoulder and said earnestly: "I’d like to stay, but I’m sure your Sinnoh League can’t wait to see me leave. If you want me to visit Sinnoh more often, then become Sinnoh’s Champion as soon as possible. That way, we can be husband and wife working as one—and going wherever we want."

As soon as he finished, Cynthia’s eyes widened. Her usually composed face turned bright red in an instant.

"You... what did you just say? Say it again!" Cynthia’s face was redder than a tomato within three seconds, and she stammered shyly.

"Say what? I didn’t say anything." Rio crossed his arms with a teasing grin.

"You... you said ’we can work as one’... were you serious?" Cynthia bit her lip and forced herself to say it.

"Oh, did I say that? I thought I said ’brother and sister working as one.’ ’Husband and wife working as one’? Cynthia, you’re not being honest, are you? Sounds like you just voiced your secret thoughts—tsk tsk, looks like you’ve been coveting my good looks for a long time."

Cynthia stared at this shameless man in disbelief. She swore she hadn’t misheard—he’d definitely said "husband and wife," not "brother and sister."

"Get lost! You’re the dishonest one! No one’s coveting your looks! One day I’ll have Garchomp beat your Charizard into the ground!" Cynthia, embarrassed and furious, stomped on Rio’s foot and stormed off.

Rio watched her retreating figure with a smile, not chasing after her. He found this kind of teasing incredibly amusing.

Inside a Luxury Ball on his belt, Charizard let out an exasperated roar. You offended her, so why am I the one getting beaten up? What did I ever do to you?

After teasing Cynthia, Rio pulled out his phone and opened a tracking app. A blinking dot showed where he had planted a tracker on Hunter J’s ship.

He wasn’t planning to return to Kanto just yet. He wanted to use this trip to add Regigigas to his roster of Pokémon.

Meanwhile, above Snowpoint City in Sinnoh.

A large ship slowly uncloaked from invisibility. It flew over the snow-covered city and arrived above an ancient, historic site.

"So this is Snowpoint Temple." Hunter J sat in the pilot seat, looking at the projected image below. "The legendary resting place of Regigigas."

"Never thought that while I was on my way to capture this Pokémon, the Kanto Champion would destroy our headquarters."

"Just wait—once I catch Regigigas, I’ll trample the Kanto League with it. Let the world know that the Hunter Organization is not to be trifled with."

After muttering to herself, Hunter J ordered her subordinates to set up camp nearby, prepare to enter Snowpoint Temple, and wait for Hunter K to arrive. Hunter K had told her he would also participate in this capture to ensure its success.