Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 9: Team Rocket

As they walked along, Mr. Fuji fell into deep thought.

After a moment, he replied: "For now, I still think the Viridian Force is better."

"Because Rio’s ability—rather than just determining the number of training attempts needed for a move at a glance—I think it’s more like being able to see all of a Pokémon’s abilities and potential at a glance. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to say in one look which moves a Pokémon can learn and which it cannot. And look at how he’s arranged things for Charmander—when not battling, he has it repeatedly practice the moves it has already learned, and he’s clearly specifying how many times it should practice, which suggests he’s seeing something specific. This ability should help him maximize the potential of any Pokémon to the fullest extent."

"Grandpa, isn’t that a good thing?" Rina asked, puzzled. "Maximizing any Pokémon’s potential to the fullest—that sounds better than the Viridian Force you mentioned."

Mr. Fuji shook his head.

"No, Rina. If you had ever seen a user of the Viridian Force, you wouldn’t think that way. Compared to maximizing a Pokémon’s potential, the Viridian Force—aside from the three abilities I mentioned last night—can also allow Pokémon nurtured by it to break through their own species’ limits. My old acquaintance raised an incredibly powerful Beedrill using that ability, and its strength was unlike anything I have ever seen in my life."

After hearing her grandfather’s words, Rina’s mouth fell open slightly in amazement. She knew her grandfather’s breadth of experience well—if he said it was powerful, then that Beedrill was certainly outrageously strong.

Finally, she couldn’t help but sigh: "That’s a shame. I was thinking that if Rio’s ability turned out to be even more powerful than your acquaintance’s, then maybe I’d have a friend who could become a Pokémon Master someday."

Hearing his granddaughter say that, Mr. Fuji raised an eyebrow, stared at her for a few seconds, then chuckled. "Rina, what I’m saying might not be entirely correct. I’ve only observed him for one morning—Rio might still have surprises I don’t know about. And besides, Pokémon battles depend not only on how strong the Pokémon is, but also on the trainer’s commanding ability. Right now, I have only one word to describe Rio’s commanding skills: exceptional."

Chatting as they went, Mr. Fuji and Rina returned to the Pokémon House. The volunteers were busy preparing the Pokémon’s lunch, and the two joined in.

"Grandpa, I’m going to go find Charmander’s Poké Ball," Rina said, remembering her grandfather’s instruction. After a quick greeting, she left.

At the Pokémon House, Charmander was one of the few Pokémon that had arrived with its Poké Ball still intact.

Mr. Fuji was busy petting a Psyduck and merely waved his hand at his granddaughter’s departure.

Half an hour later, Mr. Fuji realized Rina still hadn’t returned.

"Have any of you seen Rina?" Mr. Fuji asked the volunteers.

The volunteers all shook their heads.

Puzzled, Mr. Fuji headed toward the room where the Poké Balls were stored.

He pushed the door open—it was empty.

The only thing there was an envelope with a red "R" emblem.

...

Night fell.

Rio and Charmander returned to the Pokémon House just in time for dinner.

"Charmander, don’t sneak out to practice again tonight. You need to get some proper rest. Overtraining will only wear your body down. And you don’t have to rush to get stronger—there’s plenty of time ahead."

While they were eating together, Rio thought of something and reminded the little Pokémon.

"Rua~" Charmander sat on the ground, tossing food into its mouth with one hand while nodding.

Seeing it nod, Rio didn’t say more and went back to his meal. Psychology taught him that excessive reminders only breed rebelliousness.

A little while later, Rio noticed that Mr. Fuji and Rina had been absent all evening. Normally, they would be in the main room with the volunteers.

"Xiaoya, where are Grandpa Fuji and Rina? I haven’t seen them all night," he asked the nearest volunteer.

The volunteer named Xiaoya replied: "Grandpa Fuji has been in his office. He suddenly locked himself in there this afternoon for some reason, and when Feliya went to check on him at dinner, he said not to worry about him. He seemed to be in a pretty bad mood. As for Rina... well, after she handed out lunch to the Pokémon at noon, she said she was going to find Charmander’s Poké Ball, and nobody’s seen her since."

Hearing this, Rio frowned slightly. That really sounds like something happened.

Charmander, who was eating at his feet, immediately looked up when it heard someone mention its Poké Ball.

A few minutes later, Rio finished his meal and headed toward Mr. Fuji’s office. Charmander followed behind him.

Soon, Rio arrived at the office. Mr. Fuji was standing by the window, seemingly deep in thought, completely unaware of Rio’s arrival.

"Grandpa Fuji?" Rio called out tentatively.

The voice snapped Mr. Fuji out of his thoughts. He turned around and, upon seeing Rio, immediately put on a friendly smile—though to Rio, it still seemed a bit forced.

"Is something the matter, Rio?" Mr. Fuji said.

Rio got straight to the point: "I just heard from Xiaoya that you’ve been in your office since this afternoon and haven’t eaten dinner. So I came to check on you—I wanted to know if there’s anything I can do to help."

As he finished speaking, Rio’s pupils contracted. He noticed a red envelope with an "R" emblem lying on the desk.

"Does Rina’s disappearance have something to do with Team Rocket?" Rio immediately speculated to himself.

"No need. I’m not hungry, and I don’t need any help. Thank you for your concern, Rio," Mr. Fuji replied with a stiff, forced smile.

Rio raised an eyebrow. He felt it was very likely that Mr. Fuji was being threatened by Team Rocket. After all, if he remembered correctly, Mr. Fuji didn’t like Team Rocket. One side selflessly took in abandoned Pokémon, while the other captured Pokémon for profit—sometimes even killing them. Their ideologies were completely opposed.

Just then, Mr. Fuji noticed that Rio had spotted the Team Rocket envelope on the desk. He quickly moved to put it away.

But Rio reached it first: "Grandpa Fuji, did Team Rocket kidnap Rina to blackmail you into doing something?"

Mr. Fuji’s expression changed. "How did you know?" he asked, alarmed.

Rio realized he had guessed correctly. Instantly, he switched into actor mode, making himself appear deeply sorrowful.

"My parents died because of them," he said in a low, slightly hoarse voice.

"Rua~" Charmander let out a comforting cry when it saw Rio like that.

"I’m fine, Charmander." Rio looked down with a bitter smile, then looked back at Mr. Fuji. "So, Grandpa Fuji, if you need any help from me, please don’t hesitate to tell me."

Mr. Fuji stared at Rio, thinking about Team Rocket’s modus operandi. Finally, he stepped forward and patted Rio on the shoulder, coming clean.

"You’re right. Team Rocket kidnapped Rina. They want me to hand over a certain research result from my past."

"They’re giving me five days to think it over. If I don’t show up at the exchange location with it in five days, they say I’ll never see Rina again. But that thing—I already destroyed it when I left the research institute."

"They also warned me not to contact the Pokémon Police. If they find out, they’ll immediately kill her. Rio, what do you think I should do?"

After hearing this, Rio fell into deep thought.

A short moment later, he said firmly: "Grandpa Fuji, leave this to me. In five days, I’ll go to the meeting in your place and bring Rina back."

"You?" Mr. Fuji was very surprised. "Are you sure you can do it, Rio?"

"I can." Rio’s tone remained resolute. "Charmander and I will bring Rina back. But I need you to give me Charmander’s Poké Ball first."

"Rua~" Charmander immediately responded with a cry of agreement, believing that, under Rio’s command, with its awakened talent, it could be unstoppable.

Mr. Fuji shook his head: "Charmander’s Poké Ball is probably with Rina right now. When I looked for her, I noticed that the spot where Charmander’s Poké Ball was kept was empty."

Rio’s resolute expression faltered slightly.

A Poké Ball could grant the holder a 30-point boost to a Pokémon’s friendship. Charmander’s current friendship toward him was 12 points. If he had the Poké Ball, its friendship would immediately reach 42 points. From -25 to 42, the total increase would be 67 points, allowing him to instantly unlock Charmander’s first-tier reward.

He didn’t know if it would solve this crisis, but anything the system produced probably wouldn’t disappoint.

"What’s wrong, Rio? Having second thoughts?" Mr. Fuji noticed Rio’s odd reaction.

"No, Grandpa Fuji. Just leave it to me," Rio said, patting his chest confidently.

Since Charmander’s Poké Ball was with Rina, he had to go whether he wanted to or not. Rather than acting hesitant, it was better to project confidence to strengthen Mr. Fuji’s trust.

Shortly after, Rio left the office with Charmander.

"Charmander, get a good rest tonight. Over the next few days, you’re going to be doing some very intense training. Do you have the confidence?"

"Rua~"

"Great. You really are the super genius I knew you were."