Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 315: Rio Tournament (Two-in-One)

Having captured Regigigas, Rio didn’t mind capturing the three Regi as well. He threw Luxury Balls at Regice, Regirock, and Registeel. They had also been weakened by Gengar’s earlier assault, so the catches went smoothly—just like Regigigas, they were successfully captured after three shakes.

Then he released all of them onto solid ground.

"Regiiiiii—!"

"Human, who are you?"

When Regigigas was released, it didn’t attack Rio. Instead, a deep, resonant voice echoed in Rio’s mind—Regigigas’s telepathy.

"Hello. My name is Rio." Rio smiled, introducing himself. "In the human world, I’m just an ordinary regional Champion."

"Why did you capture me, human? I won’t follow your orders to help you rule the world." Regigigas’s voice sounded again.

Rio raised an eyebrow, his smile widening. "Sorry, but you might have misunderstood. I didn’t capture you to rule the world."

"Then why?"

The seven holes on Regigigas’s head, arranged like the Big Dipper, flickered with light.

"Simple—I just wanted to capture you. No other reason." Rio said.

His answer surprised Regigigas. "Just wanted to capture me?" The deep voice sounded genuinely shocked. What kind of reason was that? It had lived for so long and seen so many humans who wanted to capture it to fulfill their ambitions. This was the first time it had encountered someone whose reason was simply "I wanted to capture you." It was hard to believe.

"That’s right. You can go back to the temple and continue sleeping—that’s fine with me too." Rio shrugged with a smile. "You can think of it as collecting cards. Capturing you is just to satisfy my desire to collect legendary Pokémon."

He was being completely honest—and he had the confidence to be honest. With Charizard, Mewtwo, Munchlax, Annihilape, Red Gyarados, Greninja, Gengar, and the others, he now had the standing to stand at the top of the world even without legendary Pokémon.

"Satisfy your desire to collect legendary Pokémon?" Regigigas was even more stunned. Someone captured legendary Pokémon just to satisfy such a surprising desire?

"Human, don’t lie to me." Regigigas confirmed.

"If you don’t believe me, you can go back to the temple and continue sleeping." Rio shrugged again. "I won’t stop you. And I won’t take those three little ones behind you either."

Regigigas looked back at the three Regi. For some reason, it felt like it was being rejected. No—this human was playing hard to get.

"In that case, I’ll be going." Regigigas turned and started leading the three Regi back to the temple.

"Go ahead, go ahead. Rest well. I’ll clean up the mess for you." Rio smiled.

What followed was a scene of Regigigas and the three Regi walking away while looking back after every few steps—the seven holes on its head flickering with light. Finally, when it realized Rio really wasn’t stopping it, its shocked voice echoed in Rio’s mind again:

"You don’t need me?"

"Of course not. I, Rio, never lie. I always act with integrity." Rio said proudly. "You know the Sea Guardian Lugia, right?"

"I know—that big fat bird." Regigigas said. "Did you capture it too?"

"Bingo! Congratulations, you’re right." Rio crossed his arms. "I captured it, and I still let it stay home taking care of its child. I’ll only summon it when I need it."

To prove his point, Rio showed Lugia’s feather. Regigigas, sensing the divine power emanating from the feather, believed him.

"Since that’s the case, I want the same." Regigigas’s body glowed, and a white stone materialized in its palm. It walked up to Rio and offered the stone.

Rio raised an eyebrow, studying Regigigas. He suddenly found this legendary giant quite endearing.

"Alright. I accept. When I need you, I’ll awaken you." Rio smiled as he took the stone.

[Regigigas’s friendship has increased]

[Friendship: 32 (0 → 32) ]

Rio’s smile widened. Compared to Lugia, Regigigas had no schemes or ulterior motives. As the old saying went: big creatures have no hidden agendas.

"Then I’ll return to my slumber." Satisfied that Rio had accepted, Regigigas led Regirock, Regice, and Registeel—the three little gourds—back into the temple.

"So, do you now believe I can take you to the top?" Rio smiled as he watched Regigigas leave.

Zoroark stepped out from beside him. "Yes."

Zoroark no longer doubted. Rio had fulfilled their bet—he had captured Regigigas. Even if it wasn’t kept by his side, he had still captured it through his own ability. And after seeing Greninja’s performance, it now had something to aspire to. It wanted to be like Greninja, dominating the battlefield.

"Good." Rio reached out and patted Zoroark’s fur.

Now everything that needed to be done was done. Only one step remained—contacting the Snowpoint City police to clean up the remaining hunters.

Rio pulled out his phone and called the Snowpoint City police station, identifying himself.

Before long, the Sinnoh League, upon receiving the news, exploded. They had thought Rio had already left Sinnoh—but he was still there. And he had eliminated Hunter K and Hunter J, the leaders of the Hunter Organization. He really did leave no loose ends—ruthless and thorough. The Hunter Organization was truly finished now.

And Rio, after making the call, packed up and left. A day later, he returned to the Kanto region and his Champion estate.

When Rio arrived, Lance was still there, happily entertaining Munchlax with food and drinks.

"Snor~"

Munchlax, seeing Rio return, immediately abandoned Lance, grabbed its food, and waddled over to jump into Rio’s arms.

"Munchlax, looks like you had a great few days. I can tell you’ve been eating well." Rio laughed as he patted Munchlax’s head. Munchlax beamed with a goofy smile.

Lance walked over. "Thanks for your help, Lance." Rio said.

"No need to thank me. Compared to what you’ve done, I’m far behind. You’ve really brought glory to Kanto this time." Lance’s tone was full of admiration. Rio’s courage and ability to single-handedly destroy the Hunter Organization and take on Leagues from around the world was something Lance didn’t have. And what was even more impressive was that Rio had used his wits to turn the pressure from other regions back on them.

When the Kanto League officials had come knocking, Lance admitted he had been sweating for Rio. If Rio hadn’t had a solid counterargument, he would have been finished. Fortunately, at the critical moment, Rio had exposed the League officials who had done business with the Hunter Organization, forcing the other regions to back down.

"Just got lucky." Rio smiled.

Honestly, if he hadn’t found that information, he had planned to go to extremes—by creating a terrifying enemy. That enemy was the Masked Man who had attacked Indigo Plateau. He would have had that figure lead legendary Pokémon to attack other Leagues, plunging them into panic. Then Rio would have stepped in as the hero to save them. In short, he would never step down—absolutely not! If they wanted to play mind games with him, he’d find a way to destroy those corrupt parasites.

"But luck is also part of strength. I, Lance, have never respected anyone in my life—not even the elders of my clan—but you, Rio, you’re the person I respect the most." Lance patted Rio’s shoulder. He genuinely admired Rio now, both in character and strength.

"And you, Lance, are the friend I most acknowledge in this world." Rio patted Lance’s shoulder in return. "Otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked you to help me this time."

Lance nodded with satisfaction. He didn’t care about others’ approval—that was expected. But Rio’s approval genuinely felt fulfilling.

"Since we’re friends, there’s one thing I’ve been dying to ask you." Lance’s tone shifted as he looked at Munchlax.

"Go ahead." Rio smiled. He could already guess what Lance wanted to ask.

And as expected—

"Rio, what’s the deal with your Munchlax? I’ve been feeding it all kinds of delicious food for days, just hoping to see it use Metronome a few times. And every time it uses Metronome, it pulls off moves that I can only assume are from legendary Pokémon. The power is insane. Can you tell me how that works?" Lance asked, genuinely curious.

Rio smiled and explained: "Would you believe me if I said it’s just luck? Because even I can’t explain why my Munchlax always pulls off such powerful moves with Metronome."

"You don’t know either?" Lance was surprised.

"Yeah. I just discovered by accident that Munchlax’s Metronome always produces incredible legendary moves, so I started using it in battles." Rio said without missing a beat.

And Lance believed him. He looked at Rio in disbelief. "How can you be so lucky? First Charizard, then Munchlax, and that Red Gyarados—how do all the best Pokémon end up with you? Why don’t I have that luck?" Lance sighed.

Rio patted his shoulder. "Have you ever thought that maybe other people look at you the same way? That all the best Pokémon ended up with you?"

Lance frowned—that hit home. He had indeed often been told that.

"Fair point. What goes around comes around. But the jealous looks others used to give me are now the ones I’m giving you." Lance shook his head helplessly.

Rio laughed heartily and told Lance to stay—he was going to discuss work with Secretary Serīna and then take him out to dinner. Lance agreed.

So, after dropping off his things, Rio went to see Serīna.

Serīna was swamped in her office, constantly taking calls. When she saw Rio walk in, instead of being happy or grateful, she gave him a cold sarcastic remark:

"So you actually know how to come back, Mr. Rio."

"Sorry, sorry. Won’t do it again." Rio rubbed his nose awkwardly. He knew his actions had caused her a ton of extra work.

"There won’t be a next time!" Serīna was furious. "If there’s another time, I quit. You can find another secretary to clean up your messes!"

Because of Rio’s actions, she had been juggling the Kanto Pokémon tournament—where winners could take home Pokémon from the Hunter Organization—while also coordinating with other regional Leagues and managing the League’s recruitment drive. Many high-ranking officials had been sent to prison for their dealings with the Hunter Organization, leaving a shortage of staff.

"My bad, my bad. No more next time. From now on, I’ll consider my dear Miss Serīna’s opinion before doing anything." Rio laughed. "To make it up to you, let me take you out to dinner."

He was planning to treat Lance anyway—two birds with one stone. And he’d save money too.

Serīna, hearing that Rio wanted to take her out to dinner, thought it was a private candlelit dinner. Her cheeks flushed.

"If that’s the case, I suppose I can forgive you. But there’s one more thing I need to ask you." She said, blushing.

"Go ahead."

"Well, for the Pokémon tournament we’re hosting with the Pokémon from the Hunter Organization, we don’t have a proper name. Some of the other officials and I were thinking—should we just call it the Rio Tournament?"

"Name the tournament after me?" Rio raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t what he had expected.

"Yes. Because this tournament exists entirely because of you, Mr. Rio. The participants will remember your name and be grateful for your actions." Serīna explained.

"Although it’s a bit shameless, if you all think it’s fine, I have no objections." Rio smiled and agreed.

"There’s nothing shameless about it—the participants will be more than grateful." Serīna said. "Then I’ll finalize the name and start promoting it. The tournament should be ready to begin in about two weeks."

After that, Serīna blushed again and brought up the earlier topic. "Wait for me—I’ll touch up my makeup and change clothes, then we can go to dinner together."

But Rio’s next words made her freeze, and she instantly lost any desire to fix herself up.

"Sure, I’ll wait for you. Oh, and Dragon-type Elite Four Lance will be joining us—the three of us will eat together."

What a clueless man... Serīna cursed internally. Damn Lance!