Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 93: Testing the Haunter

Above Saffron City, Rio gazed happily at the Master Ball in his hand. He knew getting involved with Silph Co. would never be a loss.

And honestly, Team Rocket had been his lucky charm. The first time he crossed paths with them, he saved Mr. Fuji and obtained something related to Mewtwo, the promise of a Mega Stone reward, and unlocked Charmander’s first-tier system reward.

The second time was when they caused chaos in Pewter City over Lugia’s treasure map—somehow, Munchlax ended up with it, and it fell into Rio’s hands, giving him a chance to meet Lugia.

The third time was when Sabrina led a raid—not much gain, just some pocket money from a few dozen Rockets, but it brought him news of the Red Gyarados.

The fourth time was when he went to the Lake of Rage, caught the Red Gyarados that Team Rocket had painstakingly developed, and used it to solve his biggest headache—Primeape.

The fifth time was today—again, not much, just over thirty million League coins from Apollo and a Master Ball.

When he thought about it, Team Rocket really was his lucky charm. Every encounter came with huge rewards.

"Man, I’m almost looking forward to our next meeting—wonder what I’ll get out of it then." Rio laughed heartily and tucked the Master Ball into his pocket. Then he pulled out the ancient Poké Ball.

Looking at it, he remembered the shiny Haunter inside that had put half of Blaze Island to sleep, and his smile faded.

"Charizard is Level 65 now—75 after Mega Evolution. That should be enough to protect me while I have a friendly chat with the Haunter, right?" he muttered.

He glanced down at Saffron City below and imagined the chaos if something went wrong in the most developed city in Kanto.

"Forget it—I’ll wait until I’m back in Lavender Town."

"Lance—where are the Rockets?"

When Rio returned to Lavender Town, the sun was already setting. Seeing no sign of Team Rocket in town, he immediately sought out Cynthia.

He still had a lot of money to collect from them.

"I already had Officer Jenny take them away," Cynthia said.

"What?! You let Officer Jenny take all of them?!" Rio’s eyes bulged in panic. "Why rush? One more day wouldn’t have made a difference!"

But then his panic subsided—because Cynthia held up her phone, showing a balance of fifteen million League coins.

Cynthia smirked: "Don’t worry—after last time, I knew the Kanto League couldn’t be trusted. So before Officer Jenny arrived, I collected all the Rockets’ money. Total was twenty million—I gave ten million to the trainers who helped defend the town, and we split the remaining ten million."

Good girl—I’ve trained you well. Rio gave her a thumbs-up, then asked: "Wait—ten million? That’s fifteen million on your phone."

"The other five million is my own money!" Cynthia bristled. "You money-grubber—you’re not getting a cut of that!"

"Sorry—didn’t realize you were that loaded." Rio coughed awkwardly. As expected of Professor Cattleya’s granddaughter—traveling with five million in allowance.

A moment later, Rio received a transfer of five million from Cynthia.

With the money in hand, he contacted the construction crew that had built his Lavender Gym and sent them photos of the battlefield, now reduced to ash by Sacred Fire. The workers were stunned to see the Gym they’d just completed two weeks ago reduced to ruins.

After contacting the crew, Rio took the ancient Poké Ball outside Lavender Town. He released Charizard to protect himself, then began twisting the ancient Poké Ball’s switch.

Moments later, a wisp of pale purple smoke emerged, and a shiny purple Haunter materialized before him.

"Liar! You lied to me!!!" Haunter screamed at him, its telepathic voice echoing in Rio’s mind. Its expression was so twisted with rage it looked ready to tear him apart.

Rio quickly ducked behind Charizard.

"Roaar~" Charizard responded with a roar, purple flames flickering at its mouth, radiating an overwhelming pressure.

Haunter faltered.

Seizing the opportunity, Rio tried to reason with it: "Haunter, I didn’t mean to lie to you last time—but this isn’t the world you remember anymore. It’s been over a hundred years since you and your trainer Gus were separated. He’s long gone."

"You’re lying! Gus can’t be dead!" Unsurprisingly, Haunter didn’t believe him.

"Ghos~" In a fit of rage, it hurled a Shadow Ball at Charizard.

"Charizard, Dragon Claw!" Rio commanded from behind.

"Roaar~" Charizard raised its right claw and shattered the Shadow Ball with a single swipe.

Haunter’s eyes glowed, and both Rio and Charizard began to float.

Psychic? Rio thought in alarm. "Charizard, Sacred Fire!"

Charizard tilted its head back and unleashed a torrent of purple flames.

"Ghos~" Haunter shrieked in pain as the Sacred Fire seared it, breaking its Psychic hold and dropping Rio and Charizard to the ground.

Rio pressed on: "Haunter, I’m not lying—I have no reason to. When you were out last time, you absorbed so many people’s memories—didn’t you notice anything? Didn’t you realize this world is completely different from the one you knew? Face it—Gus is dead. He was human, and a hundred years is more than enough to—"

Before he could finish, a Dark Pulse shot toward him, and Haunter’s furious voice rang in his mind: "No! Gus said we’d never be apart—he said we’d travel together even into old age!"

Damn it—another stubborn mule that doesn’t listen to reason... Rio had Charizard block the Dark Pulse with Dragon Claw, then tried again, speaking more gently: "Yes—he wouldn’t lie to you. I believe you. He was a good trainer and a good person."

"But time forced him to break that promise. No matter how much he wanted to stay with you, he couldn’t see you again—unless you could reverse time, go back a hundred years, and change what happened. But can you? If you can’t, you have to accept reality."

"No! That’s not reality! You’ll never understand the bond we shared—because he said we’d never be apart, even into old age!" Haunter repeated.

Rio’s eyes widened. He quickly pulled out the ancient Poké Ball and recalled Haunter.

"Damn it—another stubborn mule! I don’t care about your ’bond’!" Rio growled at the Poké Ball. "Whether it’s reality or not, you can think it over while you’re stuck in there!"

He sighed in exasperation. It struck him that every single one of his Pokémon had started out as a stubborn mule. Charmander was the one who wouldn’t eat. Munchlax was the one who only thought about eating. Primeape was the one who only wanted to fight. Red Gyarados was the one who only wanted to be beaten.

And now this Haunter? It’s the one who only misses its previous trainer.

A hundred years dead, and it was still going on about "bonds."

Would the next Pokémon be one that stubbornly believed the next trainer was the best?

Sigh—life is so hard. Can’t I just get a Pokémon that’s easy to catch?