Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 34: The Raging Mankey (Part 2)

Rio couldn’t help but chuckle at that, then turned his attention back to Mankey.

He, too, thought this Mankey was well worth catching. So he needed to figure out how to capture it—and, more importantly, how to stop it from sneaking out in the middle of the night to beat him up.

By now, after seeing Butterfree get one-shot, the Gym trainees had abandoned one-on-one tactics and opted for a group assault instead. They sent a barrage of moves all at once—Razor Leaf, Ember, Water Gun, Gust, Thunder Shock, and more.

Facing this onslaught, Mankey stood its ground with its stick, showing no fear.

"Ho-ja~!"

Another pole-vault launch sent it high into the air, dodging the attacks. But this time, unlike before, it didn’t drop the stick—instead, it used its tail to grab it with impressive dexterity. The monkey and stick spun through the air; the stick had been held by its tail midair, but by the time it landed, it was back in its hands.

And that landing strike landed squarely on a Wartortle’s smooth head. Though it didn’t knock Wartortle out, it left it dazed—clutching its head and shaking wildly. Mankey then shoved Wartortle forward as a shield against the other Pokémon’s attacks, while simultaneously smacking its trainer with the stick, dropping them too.

"It’s way too smart! That stick work is practically acrobatic," Cynthia muttered in awe.

She glanced at Gabite beside her, tempted to send it in to capture Mankey—but Rio’s warning about Mankey beating up its trainer at night held her back. She had the power to catch it, but not to tame it.

Even Rio couldn’t help but mutter, "Damn impressive."

First, Monkey King wreaks havoc in heaven. Now we’ve got a Mankey wrecking my Lavender Gym, huh?

"Stun Spore! Anyone who has Stun Spore, use it now! This Mankey is too agile—we need to slow it down!" Paul, the trainee leader, was getting frustrated by how a single Mankey was making fools of them all.

"The rest of you keep firing at it! If it pole-vaults again, I’ll have Pidgeotto use Steel Wing!"

The other trainees followed Paul’s directions. Grass-types spread Stun Spore in Mankey’s direction, while others launched ranged attacks nonstop.

Faced with this, Mankey pole-vaulted once more.

"Pidgeotto, Steel Wing! Bring it down!" Xiao Hao seized the opportunity.

"Pidge~" Pidgeotto, already poised, spread its wings and dove at Mankey, which was mid-vault and trying to repeat its earlier maneuver. Pidgeotto’s wings flashed silver, turning to steel.

Whoosh—

Mankey was struck midair and sent crashing down into the Stun Spore zone. Its limbs immediately grew sluggish from the paralysis effect.

"Hahahaha! Got it! We got it!" Paul let out a villainous laugh of triumph. "Jump now, you monkey! Jump if you dare!"

"Your Gym trainees are kind of shameless," Cynthia couldn’t help but remark from nearby. "A whole group of them ganging up on one Mankey and gloating about it."

Rio rubbed his nose and said nothing. These were his trainees after all—agreeing would be slapping his own face.

Meanwhile, weakened by the Stun Spore, Mankey began taking hit after hit.

"Ho-ja~!" It screamed in pain and fury, its friendship dropping from -23 to -24.

Just then, Rio saw a system warning: if Mankey’s friendship dropped to -30, it would lock permanently and never be catchable.

Seeing that warning, Rio grew restless. He was about to step in when—

Surrounded and paralyzed, Mankey pole-vaulted again.

"Pidgeotto, Steel Wing!" Paul repeated his earlier command.

"Pidge~" Pidgeotto obeyed, diving at Mankey with steel-hard wings.

But this time, Mankey seemed prepared. It didn’t keep the stick—it launched itself, and as Pidgeotto approached, it let out a furious roar, tanked the Steel Wing, and grabbed hold of Pidgeotto with all its might.

"Ho-ja~!"

Midair, ignoring the pain, Mankey clutched Pidgeotto tightly with one arm while using Fury Swipes with the other, tearing at Pidgeotto’s back. Pidgeotto screamed in agony.

Eventually, Pidgeotto crashed to the ground with Mankey—both landing headfirst right at Charmeleon’s feet. Pidgeotto was already unconscious; Mankey could still move a little, but it was on the verge of fainting—one more hit would finish it off.

"Rua~" Charmeleon looked at Rio in confusion, as if asking what to do.

Rio said nothing, but his eyes frantically signaled Charmeleon to finish Mankey off. Pidgeotto was already down; Mankey was free EXP right in front of them. Letting that go would be incredibly stupid, especially since the others were too far to see Mankey’s exact condition.

Understanding Rio’s signal, Charmeleon delivered one claw swipe, turning Mankey’s "about to faint" state into a full knockout.

"Well, I take back what I said about them being shameless. Compared to these trainees, you’re the founding patriarch of shamelessness," Cynthia said flatly, having witnessed Rio’s silent instruction from beside him.

Rio coughed awkwardly and said nothing. Free EXP was free EXP—call it a tribute to the Gym Leader.

Soon, Paul and the others walked over. Seeing Mankey completely defeated, Paul puffed out his chest and boasted to his friends about how his Pidgeotto had brought down the Mankey.

"Take Mankey to the Pokémon Center in town. And get a better cage—it deserves one," Rio said, cutting off Paul’s boasting before Cynthia could open her mouth.

After they left, Rio resumed thinking about how to tame Mankey. Eventually, he borrowed Cynthia’s phone, stepped aside, and made a call to Silph Co.

"Why are you calling Silph Co.?" Cynthia asked curiously when he returned.

"Secret," Rio said with a mysterious smile.

Cynthia snorted in annoyance. "Fine. Eevee’s training is at 30 attempts now. Four more tries—if it doesn’t master Swift by then, you better get ready to transfer that money."

"We’ll see," Rio said with his usual nonchalant shrug.

"Hmph!" Cynthia snorted again and focused on the screen.

Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four.

On the thirty-fifth attempt, Cynthia’s pupils dilated.

Because stars of light—like bullets—actually shot out of Eevee’s mouth.

Eevee had successfully used Swift!

"Transfer the money." Without any extra words, Rio held his hand out in front of Cynthia.

"No—how is this even possible?" Cynthia ignored Rio, racking her brain to figure out what was happening.

"Rio, you didn’t set this whole thing up to trick me, did you?" she finally blurted out.

"You’re absolutely right—I wasted all that time with strangers, pre-arranged an elaborate act, just to scam you out of three thousand League coins," Rio shot back.

Cynthia was speechless.

Just then, the girl’s father’s excited voice came through the phone: "Bro—no, Master! That’s incredible! Eevee really did master Swift after exactly 34 tries! How could you tell?!"

"Nothing special—just talent," Rio said, taking the phone from Cynthia with a smile. "Now, sir, I ask you—were those five thousand League coins well spent?"