Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 317: Red Gyarados and Annihilape (Two-in-One)

"Charmeleon, Dragon Rage!" the Charmeleon’s trainer shouted.

"Rua~"

Charmeleon spat out a dragon-shaped energy wave.

"Mankey, Covet!" the Mankey’s trainer called back.

"Hoja~"

Mankey immediately made an adorable expression at Charmeleon, while nimbly dodging the Dragon Rage and closing in. Although Covet ultimately failed—getting grazed by the Dragon Rage—it wasn’t knocked out, and instead became even angrier.

"Mankey, use Acrobatics to get close!" The Mankey trainer quickly commanded as Mankey’s rage grew.

"Hoja~"

Mankey charged at Charmeleon.

"Charmeleon, Slash!" The Charmeleon trainer shouted fearlessly.

"Rua~"

Charmeleon charged at Mankey. But just as its sharp claws were about to strike, Mankey used its tail to spring off the ground, executing a 360-degree flip to land behind Charmeleon.

"Mankey, Seismic Toss!"

The Mankey trainer quickly changed commands.

"Hoja~"

Mankey wrapped its arms around Charmeleon and leaped seven or eight meters into the air. Charmeleon struggled, biting Mankey’s arms under its trainer’s orders—but the enraged Mankey didn’t even flinch, holding on even tighter.

That left Charmeleon to take the full force of the Seismic Toss—headfirst into the ground. BOOM! Smoke and dust billowed. The ground was cratered over a meter wide.

The audience watched with bated breath, sensing victory was near.

On the guest platform, Rio also raised an eyebrow, curious about the outcome. To his left stood Charizard, Gengar, and Munchlax. To his right stood Annihilape, Red Gyarados, and Aerodactyl. Greninja stood behind Rio, holding Eevee.

"ROAR!!!" — Come on, Charmeleon! Bring some glory to the Charizard line!

Charizard growled low as he watched the smoke-shrouded screen.

"Kyash~" — Little Mankey, crush that Charmeleon—or I’ll come down there and crush you!

Annihilape snarled back. After they both spoke, they glared at each other, then turned their heads away in defiance.

Three seconds later, the smoke cleared. The verdict was in.

Charmeleon lay in the crater, unable to battle. Mankey stood beside it, beating its chest excitedly.

"Winner decided! This round goes to contestant Yamazato Ki’s Mankey, advancing to the next round!" the host announced.

"Kyash~" — Beautiful work, little Mankey! A true junior of the Annihilape line! Crush the Charizard line and bring glory to us!

Annihilape cheered excitedly in the guest room, beating its chest even harder than the Mankey had, and shot a smug look at Charizard.

"Kyash~" — You lost, old Charizard. It’s the Monkey King who wins today.

Charizard looked at Annihilape with annoyance, but refused to concede.

"ROAR!!!" — Don’t rush it. We’ll see. One of my juniors lost, but there are others. There’ll definitely be another match-up between our lines. Next time, the Charizard line will win!

"Kyash~" — We’ll see. I’m confident the Annihilape line will come out on top.

Annihilape smugly patted its chest, then looked at Rio, the referee, to award the prize.

"Alright, according to the bet, Charizard will give half of tomorrow’s food rations to Annihilape." Rio said with a smile.

A little healthy competition, in his view, was fine. It was actually good for them.

After the two contestants left, a new pair took the stage—a Primeape and a Gyarados. Two hot-tempered Pokémon, facing off on the same battlefield.

Suddenly, Charizard, Gengar, and Munchlax all looked curiously at Annihilape and Red Gyarados. Would these two, who were practically inseparable, briefly end up on opposite sides because of this match?

But the result showed they had underestimated Red Gyarados’s shamelessness. Annihilape was about to propose a bet with its little brother, Red Gyarados—but Red Gyarados conceded immediately.

"ROAR!!!" — Why even fight? I concede! The Gyarados line could never beat my big brother’s line! My big brother’s Annihilape line is the strongest in the world!

Annihilape’s satisfaction skyrocketed. Its little brother really knew how to talk—it had voiced exactly what Annihilape felt. It too believed the Annihilape line was the strongest in the world.

"Kyash~" — Little Gyarados, after today’s matches, I’ll beat you up for a few extra minutes.

"ROAR!!!" — Thank you, big brother! The Annihilape line is the strongest in the world!

Watching Red Gyarados’s sycophantic expression and words, Charizard, Gengar, Munchlax, Greninja, and Eevee all made faces of utter disgust—like old men staring at their phones on the subway. Even Aerodactyl, who had been siding with Annihilape, was revolted by Red Gyarados and looked at the two of them with exasperation.

Even Mewtwo, acting as translator from its Master Ball, couldn’t help but complain to Rio: "I’m really done with this Gyarados. Can’t it have some dignity? It’s throwing away all self-respect just to get beaten up more. If I were part of its line, I’d be ashamed to exist." Mewtwo’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind.

Rio smiled and said nothing. Red Gyarados’s personality had always been this bizarre—he had seen it long ago. If you couldn’t find its weakness, it would argue with you for three days straight without rest. But once you figured out its weakness and gave it a good beating, it would lick your boots for three days straight without rest. Otherwise, it wouldn’t throw away all dignity just to get hit. After all, in a sense, Annihilape was its bread and butter—it itched if it didn’t get a beating every day. Cut off Red Gyarados’s daily food, and it might not get angry—but if Annihilape stopped hitting it every day, it would definitely throw a fit.

Just then, the battle between Primeape and Gyarados on the battlefield below began.

"Gyarados, Scary Face!" the Gyarados trainer commanded first.

"ROAR!!!"

Gyarados roared, baring a terrifying expression at Primeape. The fearsome face startled Primeape, making it flinch.

"Primeape, Leer!" the Primeape trainer countered.

Primeape immediately responded, glaring viciously at Gyarados.

"Pucha~"

The fierce glare made Gyarados flinch in fear as well. Both sides had used one move to lower each other’s stats—Gyarados had lowered Primeape’s Speed by two stages with Scary Face, while Primeape had lowered Gyarados’s Defense by one stage with Leer. Overall, Primeape had come off worse.

After Primeape used Leer, the Gyarados trainer quickly shouted: "Gyarados, Waterfall!"

"ROAR!!!"

Gyarados charged at Primeape with overwhelming force.

"Primeape, Low Kick!" the Primeape trainer shouted in retaliation.

"Pucha~"

Primeape leaped up and kicked at the charging Gyarados. Two seconds later, the result was clear: both Primeape and Gyarados cried out in pain and were sent flying backward. Gyarados seemed to have taken more damage—despite having a double resistance to Fighting-type moves, Low Kick dealt more damage the heavier the target. Gyarados weighed over two hundred pounds, placing it in the highest damage tier, so even with resistance, it still took significant damage.

"Kyash~" — Good hit, little Primeape!

On the guest platform, Annihilape excitedly thumped its chest, cheering for its junior.

"ROAR!!!" — Too bad—the Gyarados line is still far behind my big brother’s line.

Red Gyarados rushed to flatter Annihilape, though its eyes betrayed a hint of disappointment at its junior being at a disadvantage. Though it verbally supported the Annihilape line, deep down it still wanted the Gyarados line to perform better. In short: loyal in words, but not in heart.

Fortunately, the Gyarados trainer reacted quickly. As Gyarados was sent flying, he quickly issued a new command:

"Gyarados, Whirlpool!"

"ROAR!!!"

Gyarados landed and roared skyward, forming a massive water vortex in its mouth and throwing it at Primeape.

"Primeape, use Low Kick and break through the Whirlpool!"

"Pucha~"

Primeape leaped again, kicking toward Gyarados—but this time, its powerful kick was thwarted by the Whirlpool’s rotation, trapping it inside the vortex.

"Primeape, Brick Break through the Whirlpool!" the Primeape trainer shouted urgently.

Inside the vortex, Primeape tried to use Brick Break, but the spin was too strong. It couldn’t break free, and its stamina drained as the Whirlpool continued to damage it.

The Gyarados trainer, now calm and confident, gave another order: "Gyarados, wait for the Whirlpool to end, then use Aqua Tail."

Half a minute later, as the Whirlpool subsided, Primeape finally broke free, using Fury Swipes. But as soon as it emerged, it was met with Gyarados’s Aqua Tail—a crashing wave of water that sent Primeape flying, knocked out.

The winner was Gyarados.

On the guest platform, Charizard, Gengar, Munchlax, Greninja, and Eevee all turned to look at Red Gyarados and Annihilape, clearly enjoying the spectacle. Earlier, Red Gyarados had belittled its own junior to suck up to Annihilape—and now its junior had just embarrassed its "big brother." How would they handle this?

If Annihilape got angry and beat up Red Gyarados, that would be rewarding it. But if it didn’t get angry and beat up Red Gyarados, it might not be able to contain its own frustration.

"Kyash~" — That little Primeape is useless!

Annihilape, watching the fallen Primeape on the big screen, was furious—it felt deeply humiliated, hopping with rage.

Red Gyarados hurriedly tried to comfort it: "ROAR!!!" — What a shame! I really thought my big brother’s side would win. I didn’t expect our line to pull off a comeback with Whirlpool.

"ROAR!!!" — It was just luck, big brother. Don’t take it too hard. Victory and defeat are common in battle. Next time, it’ll probably be our Gyarados line’s turn to suffer. If you’re really upset, take it out on me!

With that, Red Gyarados offered its tail to Annihilape, looking expectant.

"Hey hey, this is the guest platform. If you want to fight, take it outside." Rio interjected. As a master of psychology, he could see right through Red Gyarados’s scheme. Seeing its junior win, it was probably overjoyed inside. And now its "big brother" was angry—since no other Pokémon loved getting beaten up as much as it did, no one would compete for the privilege of taking that beating. It was a double win.

"ROAR!!!" — Don’t interfere! My big brother can beat me wherever he wants!

Red Gyarados glared at Rio, then turned back to Annihilape with eager anticipation.

"ROAR!!!" — Come on, Big Brother Monkey! I’m ready!

Annihilape, already worked up, looked at the expectant Red Gyarados and realized what it was up to—it was practically begging to be beaten. Beating Red Gyarados wouldn’t change the fact that its junior had lost; it would only reward Red Gyarados. Not beating it, though, left Annihilape frustrated.

After a moment’s thought, Annihilape managed to hold back its urge to lash out. It couldn’t reward Red Gyarados—that would be a double victory for the creature: its junior had won, and it got its beating. The only loser would be Annihilape itself, betrayed by its own junior and forced to give Red Gyarados a free massage.

"Kyash~" — Get lost. I don’t want to hit you right now. You’re right—victory and defeat are common. My junior just lost one match. Nothing to get worked up about.

Annihilape pushed Red Gyarados away. Its words drew looks of surprise from Charizard, Gengar, Munchlax, Greninja, Eevee, and even Rio. They hadn’t expected Annihilape to actually hold back this time. It seemed even it was disgusted by Red Gyarados and didn’t want to reward it.

Meanwhile, in the Hoenn region.

A long, green dragon descended from the atmosphere high above Hoenn. It looked down over the region, its expression cold and grim.

"Ray~" — Where is that Rio? Didn’t he promise to destroy the Devon Corporation, the Pokémon Association, and the Belari family? Why hasn’t there been any movement after a whole year?