Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 6: Charmander’s Special Training

If everything the young man in front of it said was true—

Then it really was a genius. A super genius among Pokémon. One in a million among Charmanders. It just lacked the right guidance to unlock its talent.

And after it nodded, the young man broke into a bright smile. With the sun at his back, he extended his fist toward it:

"Now, are you willing to do some special training with me? Training that will awaken your talent and help you defeat Munchlax?"

Charmander was stunned.

Warmth.

It felt incredibly warm.

It was a warmth it hadn’t felt since being abandoned—and now, in this moment, it had suddenly returned. That warmth came not just from the sunlight, but also from the young man’s smile.

In its eyes, that smile seemed to merge with the sun behind him.

Unable to resist, Charmander stepped forward and reached out its little arm, pressing its fist against his.

[Charmander’s friendship increased.]

[Friendship: 0 (range: -25 to 0)]

The moment their fists touched, the information panel above Charmander’s head refreshed instantly in Rio’s vision. Friendship had jumped by fifteen points, rising all the way from -15 to 0.

"Rua~" Charmander cried out to Rio, as if asking how they should begin the training.

Rio put away his smile and grew serious: "I already have a plan."

"What you need to do right now is also move training—learning Dragon Breath. That’s a move you can currently master."

"As a genius, you only need to practice it three hundred and twenty-one times to master it."

"Rua~?" Charmander pointed a short arm at itself, then at the Pidgeotto that had just finished its training, as if to say, If I need three hundred and twenty-one practices, does that still make me a genius?

"That’s exactly right. Needing only three hundred and twenty-one practices proves your talent. Ordinary Pokémon have to practice moves thousands of times! That Pidgeotto only needed eighty-nine because its trainer had already been training it for a long time before that." Rio patted his chest as he spoke. "Besides, if I say you’re a genius, then you’re a genius. Don’t doubt my judgment, and don’t sell yourself short. You need to believe in your own potential."

Looking at Rio’s resolute and confident gaze, the doubt and lack of self-confidence in Charmander’s eyes began to fade. In their place, determination and self-belief emerged.

"Rua~" Charmander cried out confidently.

Then it walked over to an open space, ready to practice Dragon Breath for the first time.

Seeing this, Rio’s face lit up with a look of paternal pride.

It wasn’t easy—finally, with his encouragement, this child was starting to emerge from its shadow.

But that proud expression lasted only about seven or eight seconds before slowly turning stiff.

Because he sensed something was wrong.

Charmander stood there and then stopped moving entirely.

"Do you not know how to practice? Have you never seen another Pokémon use Dragon Breath?" he asked tentatively.

Charmander turned back awkwardly, scratching its bare little head with its short arms.

"Rua~"

Rio called out to the trainers in the park: "Excuse me, does anyone here have a Pokémon that knows Dragon Breath? I’ll help take a look at your Pokémon’s training progress afterward."

As his voice trailed off, the trainers exchanged glances. Only a young man in a black cap stepped forward excitedly.

"My Swablu knows Dragon Breath," the young man said, taking out a Poké Ball. With a flash of light, a Swablu was released.

"Have it demonstrate Dragon Breath for Charmander," Rio said.

"Swablu, use Dragon Breath!" the young man commanded immediately.

"Swab~"

Swablu, hovering in midair, opened its beak slightly as energy gathered in its mouth. Two or three seconds later, a scorching jet of pitch-black energy burst forth, blasting a one-meter-deep crater into the sandpit in the park.

"Charmander, now do you know how to practice?" Rio asked.

"Rua~" Charmander nodded confidently.

It turned around and began practicing Dragon Breath the same way Swablu had—opening its mouth slightly, tilting its head back, and after two seconds, exhaling forward.

A wisp of warm breath came out of its mouth.

Charmander looked back at Rio.

Rio immediately gave it a big thumbs-up.

"Nice! You’ve successfully reduced the number of practices by one—only three hundred and twenty left now. That means you practiced really well just now," Rio praised without holding back.

"Rua~" Hearing the praise, Charmander’s confidence instantly multiplied, and it practiced with even more vigor.

Every so often after that, it would hear words of encouragement from behind:

"Charmander, you’re doing great!"

"Wow, you really are the genius I knew you were! Only two hundred and eighty tries left!"

Each compliment made Charmander’s heart swell with emotion. It had never imagined it could be praised like this—that someone could value it so highly. It began to look forward to the moment it would master the move, to the look of joy and approval that would appear on Rio’s face.

Time passed slowly. Charmander’s training continued until the sun had set, when Rio finally called a halt.

"Charmander, let’s head back. You’ve been training for so long—it’s time to rest and eat."

"We’ll do the remaining one hundred and sixty-five practices tomorrow."

"Rua~" Charmander shook its head, wanting to keep going.

"You need food just as much as you need training. If you don’t eat, you’ll be hungry when you sleep, and being hungry will affect your practice tomorrow. And affecting your practice means wasting your talent. Do you want to waste your talent?"

At the words "wasting your talent," Charmander paused. It stared at Rio in the wheelchair for a few seconds, then finally came over to stand beside it.

"That’s right. Eat when it’s time to eat, rest when it’s time to rest. That way, you’ll have a good body and good energy for training—that’s what it means to not waste your talent." Rio nodded approvingly, while quietly rubbing his own stomach, which was about to cave in from hunger.

Damn it. If we don’t get back soon, Munchlax will probably have eaten everything.

He suddenly remembered—Munchlax was supposed to get an extra meal tonight.

...

Back at the Pokémon House.

Before going to bed, Rina told Mr. Fuji everything she’d seen that afternoon.

"Rina, don’t fool your grandfather. How could anyone tell at a glance exactly how many practice attempts a Pokémon needs to master a move?" Mr. Fuji was highly skeptical after hearing her account.

"Grandpa, I’m telling the truth! He really did it. If you don’t believe me, you can come and see for yourself tomorrow. There are already a lot of trainers in the park who want to pay him League coins to check their Pokémon’s training progress."

Seeing his granddaughter’s anxious insistence, Mr. Fuji furrowed his brow slightly.

"Could it really be true?" he murmured to himself. Rina had hardly ever lied to him since she was little.

A moment later, he remembered an email he’d received that afternoon. Its sender was a Bug Catcher who had walked out of Viridian Forest decades ago.

He spoke slowly: "Rina, what you’ve said reminds me of an old acquaintance."

"An old acquaintance?" Rina asked, puzzled.

"Rina, the world of Pokémon is vast, and there are people with special abilities—they are the darlings of the heavens. The person I know, for instance, possesses an ability called the Viridian Force. With it, one can communicate with Pokémon telepathically, heal them, and even temporarily boost their power."

"If what you’re saying is true, then Rio is likely one of those people as well—though his ability seems to differ in nature from the Viridian Force."

After hearing her grandfather’s explanation, Rina frowned slightly and murmured the words "Viridian Force" to herself.

A moment later, she couldn’t help but ask: "Grandpa, that young man you knew—what happened to him?"

"Him..." Mr. Fuji looked toward a corner of the room, thinking about the contents of the email he had received. After a pause, he spoke again:

"The Viridian Force gave him extraordinary abilities—and also enormous ambition. Right now, he is striving to control a Pokémon with enough power to overturn the world."

Mr. Fuji paused for two seconds.

"And I hope he never succeeds."

"A Pokémon that can overturn the world?" Rina’s eyes widened—she felt like she was hearing something enormous. "Grandpa, what Pokémon are you talking about?"

Mr. Fuji didn’t answer directly.

"Rina, I’ll go to the park and see for myself tomorrow."