Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 42: Dark Void and Charizard

Munchlax received the command and began waving its chubby little arms in circles in the air.

"Here it comes." On the Rocket side, Sabrina, who had been watching with amusement, suddenly remembered the darkness from her Future Sight as soon as Rio gave the order. Her smile vanished.

"Alakazam, Psycho Cut!"

"Ala~" Alakazam, on high alert, swung its spoons and sent out two white blades of psychic energy.

But the moment the blades were released, Sabrina’s pupils contracted.

Because the Munchlax across from her had somehow raised its hands to the sky, and a pitch-black sphere of light had materialized out of nowhere. The sphere started small—no bigger than a fist at first glance—but it expanded at an inconceivable speed. In less than the blink of an eye, it had reached her and engulfed her completely.

From that moment on, she could see nothing but darkness.

"Alakazam! Alakazam, where are you?!" she shouted.

Silence. Dead silence.

No sound responded from anywhere. She called out to the other Rocket members. Still no answer.

Sabrina began to panic. She radiated her psychic power in all directions, trying to create some kind of disturbance. But it was as if she had fallen into an endless, empty void—no matter how much psychic energy she used, she received no feedback whatsoever.

She seemed to be the only human in this world.

"Ahhh—!" Finally, Sabrina broke down, screaming. She remembered her childhood—the loneliness of being the only one with psychic powers.

In the real world.

Rio watched as all the Team Rocket members suddenly fell into a deep sleep. He marveled: "Did Munchlax just roll Darkrai’s Dark Void?"

Among legendary Pokémon, only Darkrai—the Nightmare Pokémon—had a divine move capable of putting a large number of people and Pokémon into a deep sleep.

Then a thought struck Rio. He quickly released Charmeleon.

"Charmeleon, level up time! Hurry—take out all the Rockets’ sleeping Pokémon!" he said excitedly.

Opportunities like this don’t come twice. There was a whole pile of helpless prey here, perfect for grinding Charmeleon’s levels.

"Start with that Alakazam!"

"Rua~" Following Rio’s command, Charmeleon charged straight at the unconscious Alakazam.

First, a Slash. Then Fire Fang. After several moves in quick succession, Rio watched Charmeleon’s level indicator skyrocket.

In the blink of an eye, it jumped from Level 29 to 30, 31, 32, 33... finally stopping at Level 37—a full nine-level increase.

The moment it stopped, Charmeleon began to change. The light of evolution appeared once again, enveloping its body. Under its glow, Charmeleon’s form grew rapidly.

"Rua~" Two seconds later, with an earth-shaking roar, the evolution light burst apart.

A massive, jet-black Charizard stood before Rio, its wings spread wide.

Man and Pokémon locked eyes from a few meters apart.

Rio smiled. Charizard’s expression was resolute.

"Ka~"

But the stirring moment was cut short by Munchlax. Rio looked down to see Munchlax tugging at his pants, looking exhausted and slightly reproachful—as if to say: It’s been this long since I used the move—why haven’t you fed me yet?

"Sorry, sorry—Munchlax, my bad." Rio crouched down and quickly pulled out some Snorlax Energy Cubes to replenish its energy.

At the same time, he waved for Charizard to keep farming the other unconscious Rockets.

"Hm?" While feeding Munchlax, Rio noticed its level had also climbed—from 31 to 38. Clearly, the experience from Alakazam had been shared between Munchlax and Charizard. He wondered if they could push Munchlax past Level 40 after cleaning up the rest of the Rockets’ Pokémon.

"So you’re not a spy?" Cynthia’s hesitant voice came from beside him.

Hearing that, Rio’s irritation flared up again. "Spy my ass! Do I look like a spy with this righteous face?!"

"Then why were you wearing a Rocket uniform and standing with them? And why were you standing so close to that female leader?"

"Long story short—I’m sworn enemies with evil, and I’d never join Team Rocket. I was standing close to her because your Gabite’s Sandstorm was kicking up dust everywhere, and she used psychic powers to block the sand. I was just taking cover—just taking cover!"

He flicked Cynthia hard on the forehead with his middle finger.

"Ow!" Cynthia cried out in pain, but instead of getting angry, she suddenly looked relieved and cheerful. As long as he’s not with Team Rocket, we’re still friends. I can still keep betting with this guy who’s always trying to cheat me out of money.

"You idiot! Next time, think before you yell. Do I really seem like the type?" Rio said, then turned to the Gym trainees, who had been shouting at him earlier and now looked utterly dumbfounded.

He charged at them like a whack-a-mole game, smacking each one on the head in turn, repeating their insults:

"Refund, huh?"

"You too—refund, right?"

"I’ll give you a refund! A refund!"

"And you—you wanted to join Team Rocket, didn’t you?"

Each of them hung their heads, trying to talk back, only to receive an even harder rap on the skull. Once Rio had vented his frustration, he let them take their own Pokémon to farm the Rockets’ unconscious Pokémon for experience too.

Sure, they had been clueless and insulted him, but they had also been on the front lines when the Rockets first invaded. At heart, they were still reliable people—they hadn’t let his training down.

"Oh, and tie up all these Rocket members!" Rio reminded them as they started grinding.

But—

Not long after—

The unconscious Sabrina opened her eyes.