Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 35: Treasure Map Deciphered Successfully

The girl’s father was thrilled. In the past, when he’d paid for guidance, it was always a mess of trial and error—if the training failed, the instructor would either say they hadn’t put in enough effort, or that the Pokémon simply didn’t have the talent to learn the move, and the money would be wasted.

It made him anxious every time he trained his Pokémon, afraid he’d spend the money for nothing and still not learn the move. And that agonizing wait—the uncertainty—was the worst part. This was far better: a straight answer—yes or no—in one sentence.

Of course, the best method was to send the Pokémon away for the instructor to train directly, which greatly increased the chances of success—but it also cost several times more than a video consultation.

"Master, I have a Marill that I want to train in Aqua Ring. Can you tell if it can learn it?"

The girl’s father took out a Poké Ball from his belt. With a flash of light, a Marill appeared.

"Marill, come here—let the Master take a look at you."

"Ruri~"

Marill appeared in front of the camera.

Rio didn’t speak at first, his brow furrowing slightly. Seeing this, the father quickly said: "Master, don’t worry—this is a second consultation, and I’ll pay for it too."

Rio’s brow immediately relaxed. He gets it. He smiled and said: "Your Marill can’t learn Aqua Ring at the moment."

The father’s face instantly clouded over.

"But it can learn Ice Beam."

In an instant, the clouds parted. "Really, Master? Marill can learn Ice Beam—an Ice-type move?" he asked excitedly.

"Of course it can. As long as you prepare five pieces of Geometric Snow ice, three Shellder pearls, and three Delibird packages, and place them in front of Marill, it will start practicing on its own after touching them. After 87 practices, it will master Ice Beam," Rio said, reading from the info panel with a smile.

While Rio spoke with confidence, Cynthia’s delicate brows remained furrowed the entire time.

She felt like he was constantly challenging her understanding of reality.

First, in Pokémon battles: other trainers used Metronome only as a last-ditch gamble, but Rio opened every battle with it—and rolled the Spatial God Palkia’s divine move. You could call that a fluke, but the very next day, he rolled the Time God Dialga’s divine move. That was way beyond luck.

And now, in front of her, he was casually demonstrating the ability to tell, at a single glance, exactly how many practice attempts a Pokémon needed. Damn it—are you Arceus’s favorite child or something?

After Rio finished his conversation with the father, the guidance session ended. The next video call would be when the father reported the results.

"So, want to bet again? Bet on whether Marill can learn Ice Beam?" Rio grinned, noticing Cynthia still frowning at him.

Seeing his smug look, a competitive fire blazed in Cynthia. She lifted her chin defiantly: "Fine! I’ve never been afraid of anyone. How much this time?"

"Still three thousand League coins," Rio said with a shrug. "But first, you need to settle the last round."

"Fine—three thousand it is." Cynthia pulled out her phone and transferred the money, then dropped a parting shot: "I bet no girl will ever like you."

Before Rio could respond, she stormed off with Gabite, grinding her teeth.

Rio watched her retreating figure and flashed a sly grin. "You never know~"

Humming a little tune—"Making money, making money"—he picked up his phone and updated his online guide profile. He left only six words:

[No success, no charge]

After that first order, he felt that adding this guarantee would make his service more appealing.

Once that was done, he called Silph Co. again. Earlier, using Cynthia’s phone, he’d inquired about having a custom-made outfit that could withstand Fighting-type Pokémon attacks. Silph Co. said they could do it, but required a thirty-thousand deposit upfront. Now he needed to transfer the payment with his own phone; the balance would be due when the finished product arrived.

...

Days passed.

Another half month went by.

After finishing another ancient script lesson with Mr. Fuji, Rio returned to his dorm and finally deciphered every character on the treasure map.

The text roughly said that a treasure was stored on an island called the Blaze Island in the Johto region. That treasure was the Silver Wing—a feather of the legendary Pokémon Lugia. By taking that Silver Wing to a place called the Whirl Islands, one could meet the legendary Lugia.

The map’s illustrations guided the holder on how to reach Blaze Island and where the Silver Wing was located nearby.

"When should I go?" Rio pondered, staring at the map. "No rush, really. It’s better to wait until Charmeleon evolves into Charizard and I have a Water-type Pokémon with me."

After these half-month’s training, Charmeleon had risen from Level 24 to 28—eight more levels until evolution into Charizard. At that point, it could carry him anywhere. And if he remembered correctly, Mr. Fuji had promised a gift once Charmeleon evolved.

"So now I need to consider catching a Water-type Pokémon—Charizard for the skies, and something to carry me through the sea."

Rio started thinking about which Water-type would be best. Then he remembered that the Pokémon House only had two Poliwags and a Marill—none of which really excited him. He wanted something he could ride on, like a Lapras.

But in this world, who would abandon a caught Lapras? They were highly intelligent, gentle, and powerful. He couldn’t think of any reason to abandon one.

"Buzz~"

Just then, his phone vibrated. Rio answered and broke into a smile.

It was Silph Co.—his custom-made outfit had arrived and was ready for pickup.