Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 82: Charizard’s Second Friendship Reward Unlocked

After all, before it had been imposing; now it was imposingly ugly.

Outside Lavender Town, Archer, one of Team Rocket’s Four Generals, stared at the re-evolved Charizard in disbelief.

"Impossible—this Charizard can evolve again?!" He quickly turned to Sabrina: "Did you see this in your battle with him?"

Sabrina was equally stunned. "No—last time I only saw a regular shiny Charizard."

While they were talking, the battle between Mega Charizard X and Garchomp had already begun.

"Garchomp, Dragon Rage!" Cynthia struck first.

"Garch~" Following the command, Garchomp spat a dragon-headed energy beam from its mouth.

She didn’t use Sandstorm because she knew Rio’s Charizard could use Sunny Day. Whoever used a weather move first would have it overwritten by the other, giving their opponent an advantage and wasting time. Rio, thinking the same way, made no move to change the weather—whoever used a weather move first would be the fool.

So he calmly commanded: "Charizard, Thunder Punch—smash it!"

"Roaar~" Mega Charizard X raised its fist, crackling electricity surging around it. When Dragon Rage came, the Thunder Punch connected and dispersed the attack midair.

"Charizard, Dragon Claw!" Rio followed up.

"Roaar~" Charizard dove toward Garchomp, a fiery red dragon-claw imprint forming around its right paw.

"Garchomp, use Dragon Claw too—meet it head-on!" Cynthia commanded.

"Garch~" Garchomp launched itself into the air, extending its right claw. Unlike Charizard’s red imprint, its Dragon Claw was deep blue.

The two Pokémon clashed midair, claws scraping against each other with a harsh screech. They held for a second—then Garchomp was sent flying backward, slammed heavily into the ground, leaving a large crater.

"Garchomp!" Cynthia cried out in shock. She hadn’t expected their Dragon Claw clash to end in such a crushing defeat for Garchomp.

"This Charizard completely dominated that exchange!" Archer, watching from afar, was equally astonished. He knew what Garchomp was—a rare and powerful Pokémon unique to Sinnoh, on par with Kanto’s Dragonite and Johto’s Tyranitar. It wasn’t something an ordinary Charizard could easily contend with.

"I want that Charizard," Archer said, greed flickering in his eyes.

The battle wasn’t over yet. With Garchomp knocked to the ground, Rio pressed the advantage: "Charizard, Dragon Breath!"

Cynthia quickly responded: "Garchomp, Dig!"

Garchomp burrowed underground just as the Dragon Breath struck, narrowly escaping.

"Charizard, Sunny Day!" Rio changed tactics, using the moment of evasion to shift the weather in his favor.

"Roaar~" Charizard roared at the sky, and the ordinary sunlight began to intensify, growing scorching and bright.

Cynthia seized the opening: "Garchomp, Slash!"

"Garch~" Garchomp burst from the ground like a jet, its arm-blades aimed straight at Charizard, moving at terrifying speed.

Rio’s pupils contracted: "Charizard, Fire Fang—bite it!"

"Roaar~" Charizard’s teeth ignited with flames. When Garchomp’s blades came, it clamped down with its burning fangs, locking them in place. The two Pokémon were suspended midair, locked in a stalemate.

Both trainers issued new commands simultaneously:

"Charizard, Dragon Claw!"

"Garchomp, Crunch!"

Charizard slashed at Garchomp’s abdomen while Garchomp sank its sharp fangs into Charizard’s neck. Both Pokémon cried out in pain—but neither let go. They crashed to the ground together, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

When the dust cleared, only Charizard remained standing.

"Roaar~" It let out a deafening roar to the sky, proclaiming its victory.

"Excellent, Charizard!" Rio immediately praised.

Thank goodness Charizard could Mega Evolve—its stats had temporarily far surpassed Garchomp’s. Otherwise, it was anyone’s guess who’d be standing now.

"Roaar~" Charizard responded with its draconic smile.

The next moment—

[Charizard’s friendship increased.]

[Friendship: 95 (from -25 to 95)]

[Charizard’s starting friendship was -25. Current friendship is 95. Increase of 120 points qualifies for Second-Tier Reward Unlock.]

[Reward Unlocked: Charizard’s talent upgraded to Champion level. Level increased to 65. Received one Move Disk.]

Rio’s pupils contracted. Then the corners of his mouth began to curl upward uncontrollably.

Finally—finally—his Charizard had unlocked the second-tier reward! Not only was its talent upgraded to Champion, but its level had jumped to 65, and it came with another Move Disk.

Damn it—System Dad, I love you!

Rio excitedly recalled Charizard into its Poké Ball—the system’s upgrades took effect inside the ball.

At the same time, another prompt appeared:

[Would you like to use the Move Disk?]

"Yes." Rio didn’t hesitate.

The familiar disk, visible only to him, appeared before his eyes, displaying six moves: Flame Charge, Flame Vortex, Sacred Fire, Blast Burn, Flare Blitz, and Aeroblast.

"Aeroblast!" Rio’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t expected this round of the Move Disk to include Lugia’s signature move—that meant two of the six moves were legendary-tier.

While he was still in shock, the disk began to spin.