Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 77: Silph Co.

"That’s right, Grandpa Fuji—that’s how bizarre it is. Did you really think I’d deliberately let my own Pokémon get hurt?"

A few minutes later, after hearing the full explanation, Mr. Fuji looked at the Red Gyarados, which had been beaten down again, with a speechless expression. He’d thought that, at his age, he’d seen enough strange and absurd things that nothing could surprise him anymore. Yet today, he still witnessed something new—the world was truly full of wonders. A Red Gyarados that actually asked to be beaten? Who could have imagined that?

"By the way, where’s Cynthia? I haven’t seen her," Rio said, looking around. Normally, she’d be right in the middle of anything this interesting.

Mr. Fuji replied: "She left the same day you did. She said studying ancient script alone wasn’t fun, so she took Gabite to travel around Kanto."

"She went traveling around Kanto?" Rio couldn’t help but laugh.

There was a nagging feeling that she might like him—she’d left right after he did. That girl is probably already in love with me, he thought. But that made sense—how could anyone not like someone as handsome, strong, sharp-tongued, and thick-skinned as him?

Two days later, early in the morning.

Rio rode Charizard toward Saffron City. It was going to be a busy day. First, he needed to get to James’s place in the morning to guide his Growlithe’s training, then head to Silph Co. for the testing the president had mentioned, and finally return to Lavender Town before nightfall.

After flying for over an hour, Rio and Charizard arrived at the James family estate. Today, James wasn’t there to greet him—only butler Hopkins was waiting outside the villa.

"Young Master James is currently in his piano lesson. He’ll come find you once it’s over. In the meantime, you can meet with Growlithe," Hopkins explained.

"Got it—no problem," Rio said, not taking offense. He actually felt sorry for James. If he remembered correctly from the original story, the reason James had run away from home—besides his parents forcing him into marriage—was because he couldn’t stand the suffocating etiquette of high society, where even holding a spoon required following strict rules. Rio wondered how much longer James had before he’d run away.

From a selfish standpoint, he hoped it wouldn’t be anytime soon—the longer James stayed, the more money Rio would make. A million League coins a month was basically free money. And he didn’t even have to deal with the employer’s bad attitude—ever since that day, James’s father turned around and walked the other way the moment he saw Rio.

Right on cue, Rio looked up and spotted Dairo on his balcony, stretching his arms. The moment Dairo saw Rio, he looked like he’d swallowed something foul, and quickly disappeared back inside—as if afraid that lingering for even a second would make him hear those three cursed words: "You’re backing out."

"Growlithe—come out, your teacher is here!"

A moment later, Rio was taken aback. Hopkins had led him to Growlithe’s house. Just like in the original story, Growlithe lived in a massive villa—hundreds of times nicer than where Rio lived.

"This decadent high society..." He couldn’t help but feel that a million a month was still too little.

"Woof~"

A Growlithe emerged at Hopkins’s call, lively and alert, sizing Rio up at the entrance.

"Decent talent," Rio thought. The Growlithe was Level 24 with Quasi-Elite Four talent, but its move proficiency was quite low—clearly, it had been living too comfortably in this wealthy household.

"What’s this—looking down on me?" Rio noticed something off in Growlithe’s gaze. Even though he was looking down at it, he felt like it was the one looking down on him.

"Growlithe only listens to the young master. For training, Young Master James needs to be present, or it won’t follow any commands," Hopkins explained.

"Got it—so it is looking down on me." Rio felt he had developed some expertise in handling stubborn Pokémon. Sometimes, you couldn’t rely solely on love and respect—otherwise, they’d think you were weak. When necessary, you had to show them some force.

With a flash of red light, Rio released the Red Gyarados.

"ROAR!!!"

The deafening roar echoed across the estate. The Red Gyarados looked down at Growlithe, and the combination of its Elite Four–talent presence and the thirteen-level gap immediately made Growlithe shrink back, taking two steps backward.

"Growlithe—come here and let me pet you." Rio beckoned.

Growlithe ignored him.

"Got it—still looking down on me." With another flash of light, Rio released Primeape.

The moment Primeape appeared and saw the Red Gyarados beside it, it didn’t even need a command—it immediately punched itself in the face. Then, right before Growlithe’s horrified eyes, the scene of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven beating up the Dragon King of the East Sea played out in full.

"Growlithe—come here and let me pet you." Rio beckoned again.

This time, Growlithe came over, its head lowered submissively, letting Rio pat it.

"See? Now it listens." Rio turned to look at Hopkins.

Hopkins: "..."

Two hours later, after finishing the guidance session, Rio flew off on Charizard. Twenty minutes later, he arrived at the Silph Co. headquarters in central Saffron City.

He was greeted by President Takuma’s beautiful secretary, Sheila.

"Hello, Mr. Rio. President Takuma is currently in a project meeting. I’ll be handling your visit today," Sheila said with a smile. "Did you bring Primeape?"

"Yep." Rio nodded and followed the beautiful secretary, taking a tour of the world’s top Pokémon item company.

The first floor lobby displayed most of the company’s current products: Poké Balls, potions, Special Attack boosters, and more.

"By the way, can I ask what kind of strength test Primeape will be doing?" Rio asked casually as they walked.

"Of course—it’s not really a secret. Our company has been developing an item called the Ghost-type Suit, and we’ve hit some technical difficulties. We need a Fighting-type Pokémon to help our researchers make a breakthrough," Sheila said, walking ahead with a smile.

As soon as she finished speaking, she noticed the footsteps behind her had stopped. She turned around and saw Rio frozen in place.