Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 328: Rainbow Rocket (Two-in-One)

"Charizard, dodge! Follow up with Dragon Breath!"

"Gengar, Shadow Ball!"

Above Birth Island, Rio directed Charizard and Gengar in battle against the two Deoxys. The two sides fought fiercely. The two Deoxys were clearly shocked by the fight — they hadn’t expected to encounter such troublesome opponents on this planet. Even as they constantly switched between their four forms, they couldn’t gain any advantage.

Eventually, their focus shifted to Rio, who was constantly issuing commands. One Deoxys clasped its tentacles together and hurled a Psycho Boost at Rio. Fortunately, Mewtwo was at Rio’s side — it used Protect to block the attack.

"Are you serious?! No honor?!" Rio, having narrowly escaped, glared at the Deoxys. He hadn’t expected that when the Deoxys couldn’t win, they’d attack him directly — and with their strongest move, Psycho Boost. In Attack Form, no less.

If he hadn’t sent out Mewtwo, or if he’d been riding on Charizard’s back, that would have been a disaster.

"Roooar~!"

Seeing Rio attacked, Charizard grew furious. The moment that Deoxys launched its Psycho Boost, Charizard poured its life force into maximizing Sacred Fire, while also charging in with Dragon Claw. The Deoxys shifted to Defense Form and used Barrier to block the Sacred Fire. But when Charizard closed in, Barrier began to crack under its Dragon Claw — because Charizard was fighting like its life depended on it. It turned Dragon Claw into a frenzy of slashes, and kept spitting Sacred Fire at the cost of its own stamina, finally driving the Deoxys down to the ground.

"Roooar~"

Charizard panted heavily, its tail flame dimmed from the exertion.

I’m moved... Watching from under Mewtwo’s protection, Rio couldn’t deny he was genuinely moved. Charizard was his first Pokémon — and seeing him attacked, it had fought with everything it had.

While Charizard was going all-out against one Deoxys, the other tried to intervene but was held back by Gengar — and was eventually blasted into the ground by a Roar of Time.

"Gengar~" — Alright, Little Charizard. Leave the rest to Old Ghost.

Gengar said to Charizard, then covered the severely wounded two Deoxys in its time-warping black mist.

"Roooar~" — No! I can still fight!

Charizard roared and tried to gather more flames, but they were weaker than before. Gengar, knowing Charizard’s stubborn nature, didn’t stop it — it would just watch out for it.

The battle continued for another half hour, until the two Deoxys were nearly out of energy. To prevent them from reverting to meteorite form, Rio called off Gengar and Charizard at the last moment, and had Mewtwo suppress them with psychic power while he threw two Luxury Balls.

Both Deoxys were drawn in — but one shook twice and burst out. It took a Psycho Cut from Mewtwo before Rio threw again. This time, it shook once and burst out again. Only when Rio threw an ordinary Poké Ball did it stay captured.

Rio laughed. Figures — just like Rayquaza, these Deoxys refuse to be caught in Luxury Balls, but a cheap Poké Ball works just fine.

"High-class food wasted on wild boars — they’d rather live in a shack than a mansion." Rio shook his head in exasperation.

Moments later, he released both Deoxys. They immediately attacked him — so Rio recalled them. After three seconds, he released them again — they attacked again. After five seconds, he recalled them again. This went on eight or nine times until the two Deoxys finally gave up, realizing they couldn’t resist the Poké Balls.

"Mewtwo, Gengar — teach them human language and Pokémon speech." Rio knew Deoxys were from outer space and couldn’t communicate with this planet’s lifeforms — they had to learn through other beings.

"Leave it to Old Ghost — I’ll make sure these space bumpkins experience the charm of our language!" Gengar agreed eagerly, and used psychic power to grab a wild Aipom that had been secretly watching, bringing it to the two Deoxys.

Gengar remembered that the Deoxys had communicated earlier through a Houndoom. The Deoxys understood and used their power to control the Aipom. Moments later, under their control, the Aipom spoke:

"Aipom~" — What are those things in his hands? Why can they trap us inside?

The Deoxys pointed at the Luxury Balls and Poké Ball in Rio’s hands. Mewtwo translated for Rio.

"Tell them the truth — tell them that if they follow me, this world is vast, and there are many beings stronger than them. If they wander blindly, they’ll die badly." Rio smiled.

Mewtwo took over and began communicating with the two Deoxys on Rio’s behalf.

As they communicated, a familiar group of figures appeared from the hole in the mountain that the Deoxys had blasted open earlier. Team Rocket. Leading them was Archer, one of the Four Generals.

When Archer saw Rio, Mewtwo, and Gengar standing across from the two Deoxys, his face drained of color — it was as if the sky had fallen. He nearly collapsed in terror.

"Don’t tell me Deoxys’s attack was all his scheme!" Archer muttered.

"Long time no see, General Archer." Rio flew over to Archer on Charizard, smiling.

"Rio — was this all your scheme?!" Archer demanded.

"General Archer, ’scheme’ sounds so ugly." Rio shrugged, wearing a look of pure righteousness. "I call it openly doing what’s right."

Archer gritted his teeth, staring at the two Deoxys. "Were they captured by you?"

"Of course. When I’m involved, there’s no Pokémon in this world I can’t catch." Rio said.

Archer grew even angrier. Rio then asked: "Where’s our old friend Giovanni? I haven’t heard from him since he took Beedrill’s Mega Stone."

"Don’t expect to get any information about Boss Giovanni from me! I’d rather die than betray him!" Archer said defiantly.

"Really?" Rio raised an eyebrow.

"Absolutely! Don’t think you can get a single word about Boss Giovanni from me!" Archer snorted.

Rio smiled and glanced at Gengar, who was nearby with Mewtwo and the Deoxys.

"Gengar." He called, and beckoned.

With Mewtwo present, neither Deoxys could escape — if it controlled one, the other wouldn’t flee. Gengar, seeing Rio’s gesture, floated over curiously.

"What are you going to do?!" Archer panicked as he saw the Gengar approach.

"What else? Hypnosis, of course." Rio smiled. "Since you won’t talk willingly, I’ll have Gengar help me out. Gengar, hypnotize him."

Archer’s eyes widened. He tried to run — but there was no escaping Gengar.

"Gengar~"

Gengar floated up to Archer, its eyes glowing. Within moments, Archer’s gaze went vacant.

"Tell me — what is Giovanni doing?" Rio asked.

Under hypnosis, Archer answered without hesitation: "Boss Giovanni is currently in the Unova region, preparing to capture the three legendary cloud spirits of Unova."

Unova? Capturing the three cloud spirits? Rio raised an eyebrow — no wonder Giovanni had been quiet for so long.

But Archer wasn’t finished: "And he’s also preparing to welcome the arrival of bosses from other dimensions."

Bosses from other dimensions? Rio’s brow furrowed. "What do you mean? Are there other versions of Giovanni?"

"Yes. Three months ago, a Rocket member from another dimension arrived and established contact between our Team Rocket and Rockets from parallel worlds." Archer explained.

Hearing this, Rio froze. A single phrase flashed through his mind:

Rainbow Rocket.

In the original lore, this was an organization led by an alternate-universe Giovanni who had mastered Mewtwo — with other regional villains who had captured their respective legendary Pokémon. They invaded other universes. They were arguably the most powerful villainous organization in that world.

Rio hadn’t expected them to come to this universe.

"You’re saying Rockets from other dimensions will come to our world?" Rio asked cautiously.

At this, the hypnotized Archer smiled — as if asked something pleasant.

"Yes. That dimension’s Team Rocket is incredibly powerful. Boss Giovanni there has perfectly mastered Mewtwo. With his help, our Team Rocket will rise again and defeat that Rio!"

"When will they arrive?" Rio pressed.

"There’s no exact date. Boss Giovanni said it might be six months from now, or a year from now. Currently, that dimension’s Team Rocket is gathering bosses from other dimensions who have captured legendary Pokémon — their goal is to capture all legendaries, then challenge Arceus together."

"Six months to a year... gathering bosses from other dimensions who have captured legendaries... to challenge Arceus." Rio muttered to himself.

If that was true, he was in big trouble. Once Rainbow Rocket arrived and turned its attention to him, he’d be facing Mewtwo, Groudon, Kyogre, Dialga, Palkia, Kyurem, Zygarde — at least seven regional guardian-level legendaries. On his side, he had Rayquaza, Ho-Oh, Lugia, Mewtwo — four regional guardian-level legendaries. With Greninja and Gengar, that made six. They could put up a fight, but it wouldn’t be decisive.

He didn’t know if Rainbow Rocket had other legendary forces beyond what he remembered. If they did, he needed to shore up his strength — capture more regional legends to even the odds. Or unlock the third and fourth friendship rewards for Charizard, Munchlax, and the others.

"Alright. I’ve heard enough." Rio signaled Gengar to release Archer from hypnosis.

Moments later, Archer snapped back to reality. "What did you do to me?!" he demanded in panic.

"What do you think I did?" Rio raised an eyebrow. "Don’t look at me like I took advantage of you — I have no interest in that. I just learned an interesting secret from you — about other dimensions."

At the words "other dimensions," Archer felt like he’d been struck by lightning. He realized he must have spilled everything. But then he thought: So what if they know? The other-dimension Rockets’ arrival is inevitable.

"So are you scared? Once the bosses from other dimensions arrive, you’re finished, Rio!" Archer said viciously.

"I’m so scared." Rio nodded seriously, but his face showed no tension. "But before I get scared, you should consider whether — if I send you to prison for the third time — you’ll ever get out again."

"I will! Boss Giovanni will rescue me!" Archer declared fiercely.

"Good. Keep that faith." Rio shrugged and pulled out his phone to call Serīna, telling her he’d dismantled another Rocket base and needed escort.

Three hours later, planes arrived at Birth Island. The entire base’s Rocket members were loaded onto League planes. By then, the two Deoxys — thanks to their high intelligence — had already been taught the planet’s language by Mewtwo. Though they still couldn’t speak, they could understand Rio and communicate telepathically.

Rio’s team now had two new Deoxys.

Time passed. Another month went by.

Secretary Serīna found Rio with a schedule:

"Mr. Rio, in a week, it’s the Day of the Hero Aaron. As Kanto’s Champion, you’re required to attend as a guest at Rota."

"Hero Aaron?" Rio said, surprised. The name sounded familiar — it was the Hero of Aura. And Rota was a city between Pewter City and Mt. Moon — an ancient city in the Kanto region.