Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 52: The Red Gyarados

"If I want to get my hands on Raikou, I’ll need to make Charizard and the others stronger within these two months," Rio muttered, holding the Pokémon Hunter’s phone while flying over Ilex Forest.

He didn’t think he was currently capable of capturing Raikou. "And I need to find out where their operation is taking place, or all of this is pointless."

As he was muttering, he spotted Primeape. It had already caught the Aipom and beaten it into a limp, motionless heap on the ground.

"Pu-cha~" Primeape stood atop the Aipom, showing off its bulging arm muscles and flaunting its strength. Its face no longer showed any obvious anger.

Rio patted Charizard’s back. Charizard understood and descended.

"Primeape."

"Pu-cha~" Primeape spotted Rio and immediately ran over happily, scooping him up in a hug.

Rio sucked in a sharp breath—the grip was so strong he felt like he was being crushed. Fortunately, Primeape noticed his discomfort and quickly put him down.

"Pu-cha~" It looked at him apologetically.

"It’s okay, it’s okay." Rio smiled and patted its head. "You must be tired from all that fighting. Here, have some Energy Cubes to recover."

He pulled out a few Energy Cubes from his backpack and handed them to Primeape.

"Pu-cha~" Primeape’s mood brightened again.

Watching it, Rio couldn’t help but reflect—the wild Pokémon of Ilex Forest had really drawn the short straw today. Primeape’s level had shot up to 40—from 22 to 40, a full eighteen-level jump. That just showed how many wild Pokémon it had pummeled today.

I need to find a way to control Primeape’s temper. If it goes berserk in Lavender Town, the whole town will be ruined.

"Sorry, Aipom," Rio apologized silently in his heart. After all, this entire incident had ultimately been triggered by his experiment.

He placed a Revival Herb into the Aipom’s mouth, then contacted the Pokémon Center and the Pokémon Police. After that, he recalled Primeape, climbed onto Charizard, and continued toward Mahogany Town.

About half an hour later, the Ecruteak City Pokémon Center and police arrived at the scene. When they saw the dozens of wild Pokémon lying on the ground, they were shocked and immediately launched a rescue operation. They also found the wanted Pokémon Hunter deep in the forest—already dead.

The next day at noon.

Rio arrived in Mahogany Town with dark circles under his eyes. Why? Because the night before, while camping in the wild, he’d barely slept—every time he closed his eyes, he worried that Primeape might snap in the middle of the night and punch him to death. After all, his Ghost-type suit was now destroyed.

He’d contacted Silph Co. about it. At first they didn’t believe him, but when they saw the photo of the suit with a fist-sized hole punched through it, they fell silent for a long time. Finally, they offered two compensation options:

A full refund at triple the purchase price, plus coverage for all losses caused by the incident.

Immediately expedite development of a better Ghost-type suit, and gift him a Luxury Ball—a newly developed technology that would make a Pokémon more comfortable inside, increase friendship, and reduce resentment.

Without a second thought, Rio chose the second option and asked them to rush the Luxury Ball to Blackthorn City, not far from Mahogany.

He was genuinely terrified. Fortunately, the night passed peacefully—Primeape stayed calm inside its Poké Ball.

"Excuse me, where’s the Lake of Rage?" Rio asked a villager upon arriving in Mahogany.

The villager’s expression changed at the mention of the Lake of Rage. He quickly tried to dissuade Rio: "Young man, are you a fisherman heading to the Lake of Rage? I advise you not to go right now. There’s a ferocious red Gyarados on the lake—it attacks anyone who comes near. You should wait until the League sends someone to deal with it."

"Actually, I’m the one the League sent to handle this."

"What—you’re from the League? Why didn’t you say so?! Come, come—I’ll take you there right away!" The villager’s attitude did a complete one-eighty, and he eagerly led Rio toward the lake.

About half an hour later, Rio arrived at a vast, mist-shrouded lake. From the shore, he could hear a deafening roar and faintly see a massive silhouette moving through the fog.

The villager, visibly nervous, said: "Young man, I’ve brought you here—I’ll be heading off now!" He turned and ran.

Rio didn’t mind. He took out a Poké Ball and released Charizard, then flew out over the lake.

As he drew closer, the massive silhouette became clearer. Soon, he could see the famous Red Gyarados clearly.

At the same time, the raging Gyarados spotted him and Charizard.

"ROAR!!!" Without warning, it fired a Hyper Beam.

"Charizard, Flamethrower!" Rio commanded quickly.

Charizard pulled its head back and unleashed a torrent of flame. The Hyper Beam and Flamethrower collided midair, creating a powerful shockwave that instantly cleared the mist from the lake, giving Rio an unobstructed view of his opponent.

[Pokémon: Gyarados (Shiny)]

[Level: 35 (Time until next level: 157 days)]

[Talent: Elite Four]

[Friendship: -20]

[Ability: Moxie]

[Gender: Male]

[Moves: Thrash (44%), Bite (44%), Dragon Rage (45%), Twister (44%), Rain Dance (43%), Hydro Pump (43%), Hyper Beam (32%)]

[Description: It was once a carefree Magikarp living in the Lake of Rage. Due to increased fishing by the villagers of Mahogany Town, it was forced to live in constant fear, hiding day and night. One day, Team Rocket set up a base here to research the Evolution Wave. Accidentally, it activated a portion of its ancient genes and successfully evolved. The ancient genes granted it tremendous power, but also made it far more savage—now, its goal is to destroy everything in its path.]

"Impressive—that’s the Red Gyarados for you. Look at that talent and those move proficiencies," Rio marveled after reading the stats.

Then his attention was drawn to the words "ancient genes" in the description.