Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 96: Kneel. Pay Two Thousand, and I Won’t Hit You

Rio took an inter-region train from Saffron City and arrived at Goldenrod City in the Johto region.

There were still eleven days until the Raikou hunting operation began. He needed to get there early to prepare. As for what to prepare—Electric-type Pokémon, of course. The Pokémon Hunter group chat required a large shipment of Electric-types. If he showed up empty-handed, he wouldn’t even pass the first checkpoint, let alone catch Raikou.

As for how to acquire dozens of Electric-type Pokémon in just eleven days, his plan was to buy them from the Pokémon black market—only the black market could fulfill such a request. The problem was, he didn’t know where the black market was yet.

"Excuse me, where’s the Cycling Road?" Rio asked a passerby after arriving in Goldenrod City.

Though he didn’t know where the black market was, he knew who might. The Cycling Road thugs found in every region—those guys did nothing productive all day except ambush passing trainers, forcing them into bounty battles to earn a living.

Soon, Rio got his answer from the passerby: the Cycling Road was west of Goldenrod City. Instead of heading there right away, he had a good meal in Goldenrod City before flying over on Charizard.

After about twenty minutes of flight, Rio arrived at the Cycling Road. From above, he could see clusters of thugs waiting by the roadside like spiders in a web. Just then, a passing trainer defeated the first two thugs, only to be stopped again further down the road.

"How about I do some pest control?" Rio muttered, directing Charizard to land at the far end of the Cycling Road.

He left Charizard there with instructions: "Charizard—if anyone comes riding a bike toward you, block them. Got it? Those people are money."

"Roaar~" Charizard nodded confidently, hands on its hips, looking like it had everything under control.

Satisfied, Rio released the Red Gyarados and had it carry him to the other end of the Cycling Road. As for why he didn’t leave Primeape or the Red Gyarados to do the blocking—simple. Those two had terrible tempers. One punch from Primeape or a Hyper Beam from the Gyarados could kill someone, and Rio would become an investigation target for the Goldenrod Pokémon Police.

Moments later, Rio appeared at the other end of the Cycling Road. Just as he recalled the Red Gyarados and stepped onto the road, he was stopped by two punks—one with yellow hair, one with blue.

"Hey kid—don’t you know this is the Cycling Road? No bikes, no entry. You have to pay a fine!"

"That’s right—pay up! Two thousand League coins and we’ll let you off."

The two thugs talked over each other, treating Rio like a fat lamb ready for slaughter.

Rio raised an eyebrow. "And if I refuse?"

"Refuse?" The two exchanged a glance, then grinned menacingly. "Then don’t blame us for getting rough."

With a flash of light, they released their Pokémon—a Level 24 Victreebel and a Level 26 Croconaw.

The yellow-haired thug sneered: "Last chance, kid—pay the fine, and you and your Pokémon won’t get hurt."

Rio smiled and tossed out a Poké Ball. "Primeape—don’t hurt yourself. Just give them a couple of punches."

With a flash of light, Primeape appeared.

Seeing Rio fight back, the blue-haired thug laughed. "Kid, you’ve got guts! Croconaw, use—"

Before he could finish, a "Pu-cha" rang out, and his Croconaw was punched clean off the Cycling Road. A second "Pu-cha" followed, and his buddy’s Victreebel was sent flying as well.

All in under two seconds.

The yellow and blue-haired thugs stood frozen, their pupils trembling. A chilling cold shot from the soles of their feet straight to their heads.

Rio: "Kneel. Pay two thousand, and I won’t hit you."

Without hesitation, both dropped to their knees and pulled out their phones.

Rio nodded approvingly—he loved people who knew how to read the room.

"Good. Now—where’s the Pokémon black market?"

The two exchanged a glance, then shook their heads.

SMACK! SMACK!

Rio slapped them both. "Useless! You call yourselves thugs and you don’t even know where the black market is? Go back to school!"

After collecting their money, Rio moved on. About a hundred meters ahead, two more thugs on bikes blocked his path.

"Hey kid—don’t you know this is the Cycling Road? No bikes, no entry! Pay the fine!"

Half a minute later—SMACK! SMACK!

"Useless! You don’t know the black market, and you call yourselves thugs? Go back to school!"

Rio pressed on. Another hundred meters, and he was stopped again—but this time by about eight thugs. The leader was a bandana-wearing brute who looked over two meters tall.

"Kid—I hear you’ve been causing trouble on our Cycling Road," the brute said, looking down at him.

Rio figured this guy probably knew where the black market was.

A minute later—SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!—eight slaps in total.

"I told you I know where the black market is! Why did you hit me?!" the bandana leader whined, clutching his face.

Rio: "I don’t like people whose height still rivals mine even when they’re kneeling."

A moment later, having learned the black market’s location, Rio continued on with the bandana leader in tow. But this time, he traveled a couple of kilometers without being stopped—the Cycling Road thugs had apparently all heard about him.

Sure enough, when he reached the end of the Cycling Road, he found a group of thugs cowering before Charizard, surrounded by defeated Pokémon. They assumed Rio was just another unlucky trainer—until they saw Charizard happily trot over to him, lowering its head for a pat.

They stood there, dumbfounded in the wind. Even the slowest among them could figure out what had just happened.

Rio looked at them and said just one thing: "Kneel. Pay two thousand, and I won’t hit you."