Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 67: Underestimating Me?

At a computer in the Cerulean Gym, Daisy stared at the League challenger records on the screen, dumbfounded.

Earlier, before the tattooed man’s battle, she’d checked his record and seen that he held six badges—so his challenge to her ace made complete sense.

But this guy—Rio—had only one badge, and he wanted to challenge her ace?

Dude, do you have any idea how out of your league you are?

Daisy was speechless. She decided not to use her ace after all. In her mind, a trainer with only one badge needed nothing more than a standard Gym Pokémon to be put in his place.

"Hm?"

"Brock actually gave him an S-rank rating? Did he make a mistake?"

As she continued scrolling, Daisy spotted the evaluation from Pewter City Gym Leader Brock. She double-checked the rating, then read further. Rio had commanded a Charmeleon to defeat Brock’s Quasi-Elite Four Onix during his challenge.

"No wonder he’s confident enough to challenge my ace. But this is still overconfidence—it’s only been about three months since that battle. There’s no way he’s improved to the level of matching a Gym Leader’s ace."

"Young people—confidence is good, but too much is a problem. Brock’s right—this guy needs a reality check."

"Alright—I’ll still send out Starmie, but I don’t even need to let it rest. One or two moves should be enough to show him the gap between his dreams and reality."

Daisy glanced at Starmie’s Poké Ball in her hand and decided there was no need to let it recover. Beating a challenger’s two Pokémon with a partially exhausted ace would be even more humbling for this Rio fellow.

"Ready to start the battle."

Moments later, Daisy returned to the battlefield and tossed out Starmie’s Poké Ball, calling out to Rio.

"Starting already?" Rio was taken aback. That was fast—has Starmie already recovered?

But looking at it, the Starmie seemed just as worn out as it was after beating Blastoise.

Daisy spoke again: "No need. I checked your League record—you only have one badge. Starmie doesn’t need to be fully rested for this."

The spectators erupted in murmurs.

"Only one badge?"

"And he’s challenging the Gym’s ace?"

Kamon’s eyes went wide.

SMACK! A slap hit the back of his head.

"Haven’t you changed our tickets yet? Let’s go—this battle’s not worth watching. Total waste of time," the tattooed man growled, annoyed.

He’d stayed because he expected a high-level battle that would give him more insight into the Cerulean Gym’s ace. But now he finds out the guy behind him in line has one badge? This was a joke.

He slapped Kamon’s head again.

"Boss, why’d you hit me again?" Kamon asked, confused.

"You lied to me! A trainer with only one badge? And you’re telling me his Primeape one-shot your Machoke?" the tattooed man fumed. "I wasted my time here because of you."

He stormed toward the exit.

On the other side—

"So I’m being underestimated, huh?" Rio clicked his tongue, a little annoyed by Daisy’s dismissiveness.

"Fine then. Charizard—let the Cerulean Gym see your inverse-type battle prowess!"

"Roaar~"

With a flash of light, Charizard appeared, performing a 360-degree spin in the air. Its jet-black coloring immediately drew gasps from the crowd—a shiny Charizard was a rare sight.

Even Daisy looked surprised. She remembered Brock’s notes—the one who beat his Quasi-Elite Four Onix was a Charmeleon. Had it evolved into a Charizard in just three months?

The tattooed man paused at the door, then scoffed and kept walking. A shiny Charizard—so what? His Blastoise would crush it. Against a Gym ace, it would be no contest.

But then his pupils contracted.

His feet froze.

The referee announced the start of the battle, and Rio immediately touched the Key Stone on his chest.

"Charizard—unleash the power hidden within you!"

The Key Stone burst into rainbow light.

"Roaar~" The Y Mega Stone on Charizard’s tail began to glow.

Under everyone’s stunned gazes, Charizard evolved into Mega Charizard Y.

"Charizard can actually..." The tattooed man’s mouth hung open. He felt like his brain was learning new things today.

"Boss, are we leaving?" Kamon asked cautiously, seeing his boss stop again.

SMACK! Another slap to the back of his head.

"Are you an idiot?! Don’t you see this battle is worth watching?! Have you ever seen a Charizard evolve again? This is mind-blowing! Change our tickets—I don’t care if we miss Saffron, we’re watching this battle to the end!"

The tattooed man sprinted back to the spectator stands.

"Your Charizard... evolved again?" Daisy stared at the transformed Pokémon in the sky, utterly shocked—she even forgot to give a command.

"That’s right—it’s called Mega Evolution. It unlocks the deeper power within Charizard," Rio said with a shrug, openly explaining.

"Mega Evolution..." Daisy murmured.

Then she felt the temperature spike. She looked up—the sun, which had been mild, was now blazing so brightly it was hard to look at.

Her heart began to pound.

"This is—"

Before she could finish, the crowd beat her to it.

"Sunny Day! Why did the weather suddenly change?"

"Can this Charizard control the weather after evolving?"

"How is that even possible?!"

Rio couldn’t help but feel like these spectators were planted in the audience just to hype him up.

He shrugged and looked at Daisy. "Gym Leader Daisy—if you’re not going to attack, I will. I might just evaporate all the water in your Gym."

"Charizard—Flamethrower!"

"Roaar~"