Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 86: Rushing to Aid Silph Co.

Not much—just over thirty million League coins. Enough to rebuild his Lavender Gym bigger and better than before.

Initially, Archer refused to cooperate. But when Rio threatened the lives of his two incapacitated Pokémon—Houndoom and Magmortar—he caved. So it turned out that even Team Rocket members had a heart. It just so happened that their hearts only cared about their own Pokémon—everyone else’s were beneath their notice.

"Now can you tell me how your Charizard learned Sacred Fire?" Archer asked through gritted teeth after transferring the money.

"Of course." Rio, facing that eager, desperate gaze, generously gave an answer.

"To be honest, about a month ago, Charizard and I ran into Ho-Oh in the sky. It saw that my Charizard had unparalleled talent and took a liking to it, so it shared its origin flame with Charizard. That’s how my Charizard learned Sacred Fire. Right, Charizard?"

"Roaar~" Charizard nodded emphatically behind Rio.

Archer stared in disbelief. Ho-Oh took a liking to a Charizard and shared its origin flame? That was absurd. But then again, he couldn’t find a counterargument—a Charizard wielding Sacred Fire was already an impossible event in itself. Only an equally impossible explanation could match it.

"Alright—enough chatting. You Rockets can wait for the League to deal with you." Rio didn’t care whether Archer believed him or not—he’d made it all up anyway.

His priority now was to sweep through the remaining Rockets in Lavender Town. But just as he was about to head out with Charizard, Cynthia ran into the Gym.

She told him that all the Rockets in town had already been subdued. From interrogating some of them, she’d learned that today’s invasion wasn’t just targeting Lavender Town—another location had also been attacked. That location was Silph Co.

The moment Rio heard that, his mind went blank.

It meant the Master Ball had already been successfully developed. In the original story, Team Rocket—led by Boss Giovanni himself—had raided Silph Co. upon learning of the Master Ball’s completion.

"Cynthia—watch this guy. I’m heading to Silph Co. to help!" Without a second thought, Rio kicked Archer over to Cynthia and took off on Charizard.

Hang on, Silph Co.—please hold out until I get there!

Meanwhile, in the woods outside Lavender Town, Sabrina was on the phone with Boss Giovanni.

When he learned that the Lavender Town operation had failed once again—and that General Archer had been captured—Giovanni’s usually unflappable demeanor finally showed a hint of surprise.

"What happened? Were two League Elite Four members lying in ambush there?" He didn’t doubt his subordinates’ abilities; in his mind, the only way such a situation could occur was if the League had been tipped off and set a trap. Though that scenario seemed unlikely, he couldn’t think of any other explanation.

Sabrina explained: "No, Boss—just like the previous two missions, it was a trainer named Rio who foiled our plans."

"Rio?" Giovanni paused. "I’ve read the reports from the last two Lavender Town operations. Wasn’t he just a Charmander trainer half a year ago? Now he’s strong enough to defeat Archer?"

"Yes, Boss. His Charmander has evolved into a Charizard now. With that Charizard and a Munchlax, General Archer and I were completely powerless to resist."

Giovanni fell silent on the other end. After a long pause, his voice turned cold: "Sabrina, you know I can tolerate mission failures—but I don’t tolerate excuses."

Sabrina broke out in a cold sweat. She quickly recounted the battle in detail: Charizard wielding Sacred Fire, Munchlax’s Metronome—everything.

Giovanni was silent again for a long while. Finally, he said just one thing: "Sabrina, I’ll say this one last time—I hate being lied to."

"Boss, I’m not lying! Everything I said is the truth!" Sabrina felt like she couldn’t defend herself.

Just then, she spotted a black Charizard flying out of Lavender Town, soaring overhead.

"Boss—Rio is heading toward Saffron City!" she quickly reported. "I think he might have learned about our raid on Silph Co. and is going to help them."

"In that case—perfect. Let me see for myself whether he’s as impressive as you claim." With that, Giovanni hung up.

Sabrina stared at the phone and sighed. She could tell Giovanni still didn’t believe her. But at least Boss Giovanni himself was stationed at Silph Co. Even if he didn’t believe her, she was confident he could handle Rio. Because she firmly believed that Boss Giovanni was the strongest trainer in the world.