Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 5: A Genius’s Intuition

Rio had Rina push his wheelchair, with Charmander following, to the Pokémon Park in Lavender Town.

At this hour, many trainers were there playing with their Pokémon, and some were doing special training.

"Charmander, do you believe that Poliwag over there only needs to practice fifty-six more times to successfully use Bubble Beam?"

Rio looked around for a moment, then pointed at a Poliwag that was doing move training with its trainer not far away.

Charmander looked at Rio in surprise, its eyes full of doubt.

At this point, Rina couldn’t help but speak up: "Rio, that’s way too much of a stretch. You’re saying that if Poliwag practices fifty-six times, it’ll definitely learn Bubble Beam?"

"Rua~" Charmander chimed in with a cry of agreement.

Rio smiled and turned back: "Tell you what, Rina, let’s make a bet. If that Poliwag really masters Bubble Beam after fifty-six practices, you buy one ice cream for me and one for Charmander. If it doesn’t, you can make one request of me—anything I can do, I’ll make it happen."

"Fine, I’ll take that bet." Rina didn’t hesitate at all and accepted right away.

Then she fixed her gaze intently on the Poliwag doing its move training, counting the practice attempts under her breath.

One, two, three, four...

When it reached the forty-first attempt, the trainer, frustrated by the lack of progress, decided to call it quits. He grumpily told Poliwag to go home with him.

Seeing this, Rina excitedly slapped the wheelchair. "Hahaha... Rio, you lost! The trainer is taking Poliwag home after just forty-one practices!"

"Rua~" Charmander also cried out at Rio, as if scolding him for being a liar.

"What’s the rush? Just because Poliwag is stopping its training, does that mean my prediction was wrong?" Rio said calmly.

With that, he called out loudly to the Poliwag trainer, who was about to leave.

The trainer came over to Rio, looking puzzled.

"Hey, don’t go home yet. Your Poliwag will learn Bubble Beam after another fifteen practices," Rio said.

The trainer immediately furrowed his brows deeply.

"You can try it. If it doesn’t learn it, I’ll give you two thousand," Rio added.

The trainer’s knitted brows immediately relaxed into a raised arch. "Alright, you said it, buddy."

With a cheerful grin, he turned around and continued the special training with his Poliwag.

"Rio, are you crazy? Where are you going to get the money? If it doesn’t learn it, I’m not paying for you," Rina said discontentedly after the trainer left. She distinctly remembered that when Rio applied at the Pokémon House, he said his parents had died and he was completely broke. That was why the Pokémon House had offered him free room and board.

"Don’t worry. Just wait and see," Rio said with a shrug.

Rina shot him a glare, then turned her attention back to Poliwag, counting its practice attempts.

Forty-two, forty-three, forty-four... fifty-five, fifty-six.

When it reached the fifty-seventh attempt, something astonishing happened right before Rina’s eyes.

That Poliwag seemed to have been enlightened. Its little pink mouth opened wide, and one after another, fist-sized, crystalline bubbles shot out like bullets, blasting pockmarks all over the ground.

Rina covered her mouth in amazement: "Oh my god, it really was fifty-six times! Rio, how did you figure that out?"

"I didn’t figure it out—pure intuition. A genius’s intuition." Rio’s lips curled upward, and he turned his gaze toward Charmander. "I’m a super genius among trainers."

Charmander looked at Rio, who suddenly radiated such confidence, and was a little awestruck. It recalled the moment when Rio had called it a super genius among Pokémon.

"Buddy, you were right! My Poliwag really did learn Bubble Beam after those fifteen more tries!"

At that moment, the Poliwag’s trainer came running over to Rio, full of excitement, and grabbed his hand tightly.

"How did you know that? That’s incredible!"

"I also have a Pidgeotto that needs move training. Can you take a look at it for me? I’ll give you two thousand League coins as payment."

Faced with the Poliwag trainer’s excitement, Rio remained very composed.

"Hold on. Right now, you should have your Poliwag use Bubble Beam a few more times to see if it really has mastered it."

"Right, right, right."

Hearing that, the Poliwag trainer quickly had Poliwag fire off a few more Bubble Beams. And sure enough, every single one after that succeeded.

The Poliwag trainer grew even more excited. "Buddy, please, take a look at my Pidgeotto too. I’ll transfer the money to you right now."

He eagerly pulled out his phone, wanting to pay upfront.

Rio didn’t refuse and took out his own phone. To build his image in front of Charmander, one successful example wasn’t enough—he needed multiple confirmations. Plus, it was a great opportunity to earn some money for his broke self. Perfect.

After the transfer was completed, the Poliwag trainer immediately took out a Poké Ball. With a flash of red light, a Pidgeotto was released.

"Buddy, my Pidgeotto has been training in Twister for half a month now, but I haven’t seen any progress at all. How many more times do you think I should have it practice?"

The Poliwag trainer looked at Rio expectantly. Rina and Charmander also turned their attention to Rio, curious to see what he would say this time.

Rio studied the Pidgeotto for a moment, then slowly raised an eyebrow.

After that, he shook his head: "Buddy, put a pause on that move training for now. Your Pidgeotto can’t learn Twister yet. All those practices are just wasted effort."

In the information panel Rio could see in front of him, Twister wasn’t listed as a move. Since it was a move that Pidgeotto could normally learn, the only explanation for its absence was that this particular Pidgeotto’s level was still too low—it hadn’t reached the minimum requirement to learn it.

"Can’t learn it? Why?" The trainer’s expression instantly soured, as if he was already thinking about taking back the money he’d just transferred.

"Don’t rush. I’m not done yet." Rio remained unfazed by the trainer’s change in attitude.

"You have two options right now. One is to have your Pidgeotto battle other Pokémon more often to raise its level, and then try learning it. The other is to train it in a different move instead."

"A different move? Which one?" The trainer completely ignored the first option.

"Steel Wing," Rio said calmly.

Although Twister wasn’t shown on the info panel, another move—Steel Wing—was listed as "Learnable."

When the trainer heard Rio say "Steel Wing," he froze for a moment. Then, in a flash of realization, he slapped his thigh excitedly: "I remember now! Last month, I took my Pidgeotto into the wild and ran into a Skarmory—we battled it. At one point, Pidgeotto’s wings briefly shone with a silvery light. I wondered if it might be Steel Wing, so I tried training it in that move afterward. But the glow never appeared again, so I figured I’d imagined it and stopped the training."

"Then have it practice eighty-nine more times and see," Rio said with a smile.

Hearing that, the trainer was instantly filled with renewed motivation. "Alright! I’ll start the training right now!"

He turned around and began the Steel Wing training with Pidgeotto.

While they were training, Rio casually spoke up: "Rina, remember our bet? One ice cream for me and one for Charmander."

Rina’s face changed color. She’d been hoping he’d forgotten. She made a face behind his back, then walked off to buy the ice cream.

By the time she came back with the ice cream, she saw the Pidgeotto’s wings flashing with a silvery light during training. It only lasted for about two seconds, but it proved Rio was right—this Pidgeotto really could learn Steel Wing.

"This guy—aside from his Oscar-worthy acting—seems to have real skill too," she couldn’t help but think to herself.

Over an hour later, after eighty-nine practice attempts, Pidgeotto successfully executed a genuine Steel Wing, slicing straight through a piece of gym equipment in the park. Even though they’d have to pay for the damages afterward, the trainer was laughing with sheer delight at the result.

He came back to Rio, eagerly ready to transfer another two thousand as thanks, and asked for his contact information for future reference.

By then, their interaction had already drawn the attention of other trainers nearby. After learning that Rio could accurately tell whether a Pokémon could master a move and exactly how many practices it would take, they all swarmed around him, wanting him to check on the training progress of their own Pokémon. They were all fed up with the uncertainty—they just wanted a straight answer.

Facing the flood of requests, Rio firmly told them all to come back tomorrow. He had already proven himself—now it was time to focus on Charmander.

After the crowd dispersed, Rio turned to look at Charmander and said softly:

"So, do you think my words are trustworthy now?"