Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 66: Challenging the Ace

Then, visibly terrified, the burly man turned and ran without looking back.

"Pu-cha~"

After finishing the job and venting its anger, Primeape returned to Rio’s side.

"Good work, Primeape." Rio smiled and recalled it.

Then he noticed the trainers behind him in line, all staring at him with their mouths wide open in shock.

(⊙０⊙)

Rio sighed. Ah, the burden of being strong—it just makes you stand out.

He’d wanted to keep a low profile, blend in with ordinary trainers, follow the rules, and wait in line like everyone else. But no—that muscle-bound idiot had to go and make him show off.

It’s really hard to stay humble.

Turning back to the line, he saw the trainer ahead of him—the one with a Victreebel—also staring at him in awe.

"Bro, why are you looking at me? Am I really that handsome? The swimsuit beauties from the Cerulean Gym behind you are way more worth your attention."

Rio reached out and turned the guy’s head back around.

A few minutes later, a young woman from the Cerulean Gym came out and called the trainer ahead of Rio in for his challenge.

"Hold on, hold on!"

Just as the trainer was about to enter, a shout came from behind. Rio turned to see a tattooed muscleman running toward them, followed by a Level 49 Machoke and the same burly man he’d scared off earlier.

The tattooed man glanced at Rio as he passed; the burly man behind him shot Rio a resentful glare—clearly, he’d regained his courage after finding backup.

"Hey, mind if I go first? I’m in a hurry—I have to catch a train to Saffron in two hours." The tattooed man forced a smile at the Victreebel trainer, his intimidating face struggling to look friendly.

Under that overwhelming pressure, the Victreebel trainer nervously swallowed and looked to the Gym staff for help. The young woman from the Gym was about to speak up in his defense—

But the tattooed man raised his right hand to stop her.

"I’ll give you 500 League coins and let you watch this battle as a spectator," he said.

He turned to face the rest of the line. "Everyone, I’m a trainer with six badges. Today I’m here for my seventh. That means I’ll be challenging the Cerulean Gym’s ace Pokémon. Any of you want to watch?"

The crowd behind him erupted with excitement at the prospect of seeing the Gym’s ace in action.

"Bro, take the deal! You get paid and get a rare chance to watch!"

"Yeah, do it! Watching a Gym Leader’s ace battle is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

Rio listened to the cheers and shook his head. Everyone was shouting for the Victreebel trainer to accept, but not a single one offered to give up their own spot in line. Still, it wasn’t his business—the Victreebel trainer had to decide for himself.

Judging by his expression, he was tempted. And sure enough, he agreed.

"Hey, want to watch my battle too?" The tattooed man, having secured the Victreebel trainer’s spot, turned to Rio with a smile that looked more pained than pleasant.

Oh, so you want to show off in front of me? Reclaim some dignity after your lackey’s Pokémon got crushed?

Rio glanced at the burly man behind the tattooed fighter. "Consider yourself lucky—you get to watch a Gym Leader’s ace battle," the burly man said smugly, puffing out his chest.

Rio laughed. Alright—I’ll watch. Let’s see how your Level 49 Machoke performs against a Level 50+ Gym ace. Unless you’ve got something even stronger hidden in your pocket.

Soon, after the Gym staff noted the new order, the trainers filed into the Cerulean Gym.

The current Gym Leader was Daisy—Misty’s older sister. She was a bit surprised when she heard someone wanted to challenge her ace Pokémon. After all, the last trainer confident enough to do that had been half a year ago—and he’d lost badly.

In the few years since she and her sisters had taken over the Gym, only three trainers had ever beaten her ace. Everyone else earned their badges by defeating her unevolved, non-ace Pokémon.

She hoped this Machoke trainer would surprise her.

"Come on out, Starmie."

At the start of the battle, Daisy sent out her Pokémon.

From the spectator stands, Rio raised an eyebrow. After seeing Daisy’s Starmie, he was even more certain the tattooed man was about to lose. Daisy’s Starmie was Level 53 with Quasi-Elite Four talent—one level higher than Sabrina’s Alakazam. Machoke was only Level 49 with Elite talent. There was no way the tattooed man could win unless his commanding skills were absolutely god-tier. If they were, Rio would gladly say, "Bro, please accept my kneel."

"Everyone, watch closely—battles at this level are rare even online, let alone live!" The burly man from before shouted from the stands, eventually standing right next to Rio. "Get ready to pick your jaws off the floor."

Rio rolled his eyes. Oh, I’m ready. I’m ready to drop my jaw when your boss gets thrashed. And then I’m ready to challenge the Gym’s ace right after him.

One minute later, as predicted, Machoke lost. It was completely outclassed—Starmie’s Psychic kept it at bay without breaking a sweat.

"Wow—what an amazing, thrilling battle!" Rio delivered his prepared jaw-drop performance.

The burly man glared at him, knowing full well Rio was mocking his boss.

"What are you ’wow’-ing about? If you’re so tough, you go challenge the Gym’s ace! And my boss still has one more Pokémon—this next one’s a sure win!"

As he spoke, a Level 48 Blastoise appeared on the battlefield. Rio prepared his jaw again. This time, the type matchup wasn’t as bad, so it lasted a bit longer—nearly two minutes—before losing.

"Wow—an incredibly amazing, thrilling battle!" Rio clapped this time, completely ignoring the burly man’s hateful glare.

Go ahead—send out your Machoke and try me. My rage-monkey Primeape is always ready.

"Let’s go, Kamon." The defeated tattooed man, too embarrassed to address the spectators, recalled his Blastoise and called to his subordinate.

Kamon—the burly man—shot one last angry glare at Rio before descending from the stands.

"Next challenger, please come to the battlefield!"

Daisy called out to the crowd. Rio raised his hand: "Gym Leader Daisy, I’m up next. But I think you should let your Pokémon rest first."

"No need—I used my ace just now, but I won’t need it for your match," Daisy said with a smile, thinking the boy was being naive. Of course she wouldn’t use her ace against a regular challenger.

But the next second, she felt like the naive one might be herself.

"I want to challenge your ace," Rio said, his voice echoing through the Gym.

The tattooed man, who had just reached the Gym entrance, froze and spun around.

Every eye in the Gym was now on Rio.

"You want to challenge my ace?" Daisy was astonished—she’d never had two trainers challenge her ace on the same day.

"Yes. So for fairness, your Pokémon should rest first," Rio said with a smile.

"Alright—understood." Daisy turned and walked off the battlefield.

"Boss, are we still leaving? We’ll miss the train if we don’t go soon," Kamon asked cautiously at the entrance.

SMACK! He got a slap to the back of his head.

"Leave what? Don’t you think this battle is worth watching? Change our tickets—the latest one today."