Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 90: Rio vs. Giovanni (Part 2)

Neither Rio nor Giovanni spoke first. Both wanted to play it cool, waiting for the other to make the first move so they could counter. Three awkward seconds passed. On the fourth, they both spoke at once.

"Rhyperior, Rock Blast!"

"Charizard, Flamethrower!"

"Rhy~"

"Roaar~"

Rhyperior aimed both hands at Charizard. The next second, two half-meter stone spheres materialized in its palms. With a bang, they shot toward Charizard like cannonballs, colliding with Charizard’s Flamethrower midair. The two moves clashed—the stone spheres briefly halted in the air, then visibly pushed forward toward Charizard.

"Charizard, ascend and charge Sacred Fire!" Seeing that Flamethrower couldn’t hold, Rio commanded a retreat.

"Roaar~" Charizard roared, flapped its wings, and shot upward, the incoming rocks grazing past its feet while purple flames gathered in its mouth.

On the other side, Giovanni ordered Rhyperior to use Stomp. The battlefield shattered, and fist-sized rocks emerged from the debris. When Charizard’s Sacred Fire came, Giovanni had Rhyperior use Wide Guard. One by one, the rocks were flung by Rhyperior’s tail to intercept the Sacred Fire. The searing purple flames consumed the rocks, scattering in the process. By the time the flames reached Rhyperior, it only needed to raise its left hand and block with a Rock Blast stone—the remaining Sacred Fire was perfectly neutralized. Then it hurled another stone back at Charizard.

"Charizard, Slash!" Rio frowned, commanding.

Giovanni truly lived up to his reputation—his battle techniques were masterful. Rio hadn’t understood the point of Stomp earlier, but now he saw it clearly. Giovanni had completely predicted his next move and prepared a counter-strategy in advance.

On the sidelines, Lance was seething internally. If Giovanni weren’t right there, he’d have grabbed a megaphone and screamed at Rio: Look! I told you this would happen. You had to show off, didn’t you? Regretting evaporating all that water now? If this were still a Water-type field, could Giovanni have used Stomp to create those rocks? Could he have weakened Sacred Fire with Wide Guard and even counterattacked? You idiot—get ready to lose and become my new boss... sob...

Rio was oblivious to Lance’s internal meltdown—his full attention was on the battle, his mind racing with strategies.

"Charizard—unleash your hidden power! Mega Evolve!" With the Key Stone on his chest glowing in rainbow light, Rio commanded Charizard’s transformation.

"Roaar~" Charizard roared as the X Mega Stone on its neck responded.

Rio believed that victory would come through close-quarters combat with Mega Charizard X. While Mega Charizard Y’s firepower was high, Giovanni would surely have a way to counter it.

"Is this... Mega Evolution?" Giovanni narrowed his eyes. Old Man Fuji had told him about the strange stones in Kalos that could trigger a Pokémon’s further evolution—but finding the matching stone was difficult. He’d sent people to search for a Beedrill Mega Stone, but they’d never found one. Now this young man, who came from Fuji’s Pokémon House, perfectly fit Fuji’s description. Seems Old Man Fuji also holds this kid in high regard.

Giovanni gave a new command: "Rhyperior, Stomp!"

"Rhy~" Rhyperior stomped the ground hard, shattering the already broken terrain even further. Meanwhile, Rio commanded the fully evolved Mega Charizard X to use Sunny Day.

"Hm?" Giovanni’s eyes widened in surprise as he was about to follow up Stomp with Earth Power. He hadn’t expected this Charizard to know Sunny Day. The next second, blinding sunlight poured through the open ceiling above, bathing Charizard in radiance. It began charging Sacred Fire once more under Rio’s command.

"Rhyperior, Wide Guard!" Giovanni repeated his previous tactic.

"Rhy~" More shattered rocks were flung by Rhyperior’s tail at the Sacred Fire. But this time, the power of Sacred Fire was on a completely different level. The flames consumed the rocks in an unstoppable surge; though scattered, much of the purple fire still fell upon Rhyperior. Even with a Rock Blast stone raised to block, the Sacred Fire engulfed it entirely.

"Rhy~" Rhyperior cried out in pain, now afflicted with a burn.

"Such a massive power increase from evolution?" Giovanni frowned. Though he knew of Mega Evolution, this was his first time battling against a Mega-Evolved Pokémon.

"Rhyperior, Drill Run!" he commanded calmly.

"Rhy~" Despite the burning pain, Rhyperior twisted its body and spun like a drill, splitting the purple flames apart and preventing further damage.

"Charizard, Growl!" Rio narrowed his eyes—Drill Run reminded him that most of Rhyperior’s moves were physical attacks. Growl, which lowered the target’s Attack, would be very useful.

"Roaar~" Charizard roared.

At the same time, Giovanni issued another command: Rock Tomb. Countless rubble fragments floated up from the ground and shot toward the sky. Though some fell back due to Growl’s effect, hundreds still flew upward, aiming to bring Charizard down. Giovanni also added: "Rhyperior, Horn Drill!"

"Rhy~" The drill on Rhyperior’s head spun violently. This was a one-hit KO move—if it landed, the target would be instantly knocked out.