Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 64: A Man’s Mouth

When Rio woke up, he was drenched in sweat. In his dream, he’d been chased by countless Beedrill and Tauros—it had nearly scared him to death.

He took a few deep breaths to calm down, then looked around. Nothing in the room was damaged. Munchlax was still passed out at his feet, snoring soundly. The ancient Poké Ball was still in his hand. The only thing missing was the Haunter.

Oh—and the Silver Wing.

Rio frantically patted himself down and let out a huge sigh of relief. "Good, good—still here."

Thank goodness this Haunter wasn’t like the Gyarados, trying to kill me on sight. Otherwise, I’d be meeting my great-grandma by now.

"But where did that Haunter go?" Rio picked up the ancient Poké Ball, which he hadn’t closed properly, and recalled the Haunter’s stats from earlier.

Level 60. Champion talent. Friendship -30. Trapped in the ball for a hundred years. Missing its trainer dearly.

"Could it have gone looking for its trainer, still thinking they’re alive?" he wondered.

In his dream, the reason he’d been chased by Beedrill and Tauros was that someone had asked him if he knew a Champion trainer named Gus. He’d said he didn’t know him at all—Who’s Gus? In my dreams, I’m the Champion! The strongest Pokémon trainer! All other Champions are just my defeated rivals! And then... he’d been swarmed.

Out of nowhere, countless Beedrill and Tauros appeared in his dream, chasing him like he’d dug up their ancestors’ graves. He ran and ran, for what felt like forever, until he finally woke up.

Rio glanced at Munchlax, still sleeping soundly at his feet. He’d bet Haunter hadn’t messed with it at all—and it was probably having a dream about eating, judging by the drool pooling on the floor.

"Whatever—go back to sleep in your ball." Rio sighed, recalled Munchlax, then packed up the ancient Poké Ball, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and left the room.

As he stepped out, he faintly heard a familiar voice from the next room: "Help! Help! I’m not a professional! Tentacruel, save me!"

"Looks like he got hit by Haunter too—having a nightmare." Rio’s mood immediately leveled out. It’s not about having less—it’s about everyone sharing. Since you’re having nightmares too, I feel much better.

Downstairs, the hotel owner was also having a nightmare—sprawled across the sofa at the entrance, tears streaming down her face, mumbling: "Mus, don’t leave me..."

Alright—probably some old heartbreak.

Stepping out of the hotel, Rio walked through the streets of Blaze Island. As he’d suspected, every person he saw was unconscious, trapped in a nightmare. Even Officer Jenny at the Pokémon Police station was slumped by the roadside, crying out: "Growlithe, hang in there! We’re almost at the Pokémon Center! I can’t lose you—we still have to fight evil together!"

"Did that Haunter put the entire island to sleep? This is bad." Rio swallowed hard.

It seemed very likely. A Level 60, Champion-talent Haunter—not just on Blaze Island, but probably in the entire Johto region, there were very few Pokémon that could take it down. Don’t even mention legendaries.

With a flash of light, Rio released Charizard. He had to recall that Haunter as soon as possible—if it left Blaze Island, the consequences would be catastrophic.

"Is it over there?" After Charizard took off, Rio spotted chairs and other objects flying erratically in the northwest—clearly under the influence of telekinesis. And there were shouts.

Soon, Rio spotted Haunter on the street below. It was using its psychic powers to force people to shout: "Gus, where are you?! I’m your little ghost! Have you abandoned me?!"

"If you can hear me, answer! We still have so much of our journey left to share!"

The shouts were deafening. Many Blaze Island residents who hadn’t yet fallen asleep fled in terror. Those who were too slow fell within Haunter’s telekinetic range and were dragged before it. Haunter would use Hypnosis to ask if they knew Gus—and when the answer wasn’t satisfactory, they too joined the shouting crowd.

Some trainers tried to fight back, but Haunter took them out with a single Shadow Ball.

Watching this, Rio swallowed hard. Honestly, he was scared. He wanted to recall Haunter into its ball, but he felt like he’d be put under Hypnosis and added to the shouting army before he even got close. Yet if he did nothing, the situation would only spiral further out of control.

SMACK!

"To hell with it—fear is pointless! If you don’t like it, fight!" Rio suddenly declared with bravado.

"Roaar~" Charizard turned its head and growled in protest—Rio had just smacked its head.

"Sorry—got carried away. I meant to smack my own leg," Rio said sheepishly.

He lowered his voice: "Besides, Haunter probably wouldn’t kill me—otherwise, I’d be dead already."

Clearing his throat, he straightened up and shouted down at the street: "Little Ghost! I know your trainer Gus!"

The moving crowd below instantly froze, then collapsed one by one. Rio felt himself being locked onto. A moment later, Haunter rose swiftly into the air.

"You know Gus?" Haunter’s voice was full of emotion—it was using telepathy.

Rio’s pupils contracted—telepathy! "Of course! He sent me to pick you up," he said with a smile, slipping his right hand into his pocket—the ancient Poké Ball was right there.

"Really?" Haunter grew even more excited, as if years of waiting were finally about to pay off.

"Yes. He misses you terribly too, but for certain reasons, he couldn’t come himself—so he asked me to bring you to him."

Haunter hesitated, drifting closer. But the nearer it got, the more something felt off. Rio’s face looked familiar.

"No—you don’t know Gus," Haunter said, its excitement fading into anger. "I entered your dream! You said you didn’t know him! You said all the other Champions were just your defeated rivals!"

It was about to punish the liar—

But Rio was faster. He pulled out the ancient Poké Ball that had trapped Haunter for a century. The powerful suction pulled Haunter back inside in an instant.

"In you go! Didn’t you know that the most untrustworthy thing in this world is a man’s mouth?"

After sealing Haunter back in, Rio twisted the ancient Poké Ball’s switch as tight as it would go. He wouldn’t open it again until he was absolutely prepared.

As he did, he noticed Charizard eyeing him suspiciously.

Rio coughed. "That saying, ’a man’s mouth’—there’s a second half to it: ’is the ghost of a liar.’ It means that when dealing with cunning Ghost-types, you need to use sweet talk, or else you’ll never get through to them. But with you guys? I’d never lie! You’re not Ghost-types. Charizard, be honest—have I ever lied to you?"

Charizard tilted its head and thought for a moment. Then it shook its head—no, it didn’t think so.

"See? I’ve never lied to you. Let’s head back to the hotel, pack up, and head back to Kanto tomorrow. We’ve got time—before we go to James’s place, we can grab the Cerulean City Gym badge too."