Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 99: Pokémon Ranger Aria Thornwick

On the other side, at one of the black market’s exits, Saurion—heir of the Goldenrod Department Store—pointed at three large trucks with a worried expression.

"Sure, I’ve got money, but this still cost me over ten million League coins. If something goes wrong, I’m not letting it slide."

"Don’t worry—absolutely no problems. These cages are all custom-made; Electric-type Pokémon can’t damage them at all," said a black market representative assigned to oversee the transaction, patting his chest confidently.

"Good." Saurion laughed and relaxed.

The representative looked at him and wondered why he was buying so many Electric-type Pokémon—it seemed unusual. But considering his role, he buried the question. Some things are better left unasked.

Moments later, Saurion climbed into the lead truck, and the convoy departed the black market into the night.

"Aria, I’ve got all the Electric-type Pokémon you need. I’m bringing them to Violet City right now—wait for me."

As soon as he got in the truck, Saurion excitedly pulled out his phone and called someone, quickly drifting into casual chatter.

"I’m telling you, it’s a good thing I got there early—otherwise, some other guy would’ve snagged all these Electric-types. He tried to outbid me, but the moment I revealed who I was, he ran off with his tail between his legs—hahaha... ah, what the—"

Halfway through his laugh, the truck suddenly slammed to a halt, and Saurion’s phone flew out of his hand.

Why? Because a terrifying ghostly face had appeared outside the window.

"Ghost!" the driver screamed in terror.

Saurion’s heart pounded too. But then he calmed down and snapped: "Ghost my ass! It’s obviously a Ghost-type Pokémon pulling some prank. And with me here, what are you scared of?"

He reached for his Poké Ball to release his Pokémon at the window—but the moment he turned back, he came face-to-face with a long-haired, soaking-wet female ghost crawling in through the window.

"GHOST!!!"

He screamed even louder than the driver. Without even pressing the Poké Ball’s release button, he passed out alongside the driver.

"Boring. Humans a hundred years later have such weak nerves—nowhere near as brave as the ones from my and Gus’s time. No challenge at all." Haunter dropped its illusion, looking at the unconscious Saurion with disdain.

The two trucks behind had been stopped in place by Psychic’s control, their drivers trembling in fear inside their cabs.

Rio and Charizard descended from the sky. He glanced at the unconscious Saurion, then at the phone on the floor. Though the screen was shattered, the call was clearly still connected. A pleasant female voice came through the speaker:

"Saurion? Saurion? Are you okay?!"

Rio glanced at it, raised his foot to physically end the call—then paused, thought better of it, and bent down to hang up manually.

"Haunter—enter his dream and hypnotize him. I have questions I need answered," Rio said calmly.

"Alright." Haunter complied.

Soon, though Saurion’s eyes were still closed, he sat up facing Rio from inside the truck.

Rio asked: "Saurion, why are you buying so many Electric-type Pokémon—even willing to pay a premium?"

The moment he finished, Saurion’s lips curled into a dreamy smile. "It’s for my goddess, Aria Thornwick, of course! She needs all these Electric-type Pokémon, so I had to get them for her—even if she asked for a star from the sky, I’d spend whatever it took to get it for her."

Damn—he’s just a lovesick fool. Rio was both amused and annoyed by the lovesick expression on the hypnotized man’s face.

Rio pressed: "Who is Aria Thornwick?"

"She’s my goddess."

Rio rolled his eyes. "I know she’s your goddess. I mean—what does she do?"

"Aria is a Pokémon Ranger."

Rio raised an eyebrow. "Why would a Pokémon Ranger need so many Electric-type Pokémon?"

"Because the Ranger organization recently assigned her a mission—to investigate why Electric-type Pokémon are disappearing in large numbers from the Johto restricted area. She’s traced it to Pokémon hunters. If she wants to go deeper, she needs a lot of Electric-type Pokémon."

So I’ve run into someone with the same goal as me. Rio frowned. From what Saurion said, there were now three parties involved in the Raikou hunting operation: himself, the Pokémon hunters, and the Pokémon Rangers. While he and the hunters both wanted to catch Raikou, the Rangers were clearly there to stop the hunters.

"This just got interesting—three-way struggle. I need to stay hidden," Rio muttered with a smirk.

With the information he needed, Rio moved on to the real business: "How much money do you have?"

Saurion hesitated for two seconds before replying: "I don’t remember the exact amount—I brought about forty million with me on this trip."

Rio’s eyes lit up. Excellent—as expected of the Goldenrod Department Store heir.

"Alright, Young Master Saurion—transfer all of it to me." Rio picked up the fallen phone.

A few minutes later, the phone had fulfilled its final purpose—tossed out of the truck alongside its owner.

Rio checked his phone balance and smiled: "Haunter—modify the memories of this driver and the two behind. Make them think they’re following my orders for now. My name is Young Master Goh."

"Alright." Haunter flew to the rear trucks.

Soon, the driver gradually woke up. He glanced at Rio in the passenger seat and asked in confusion: "Young Master Goh, what happened? How did I fall asleep?"

Rio rolled his eyes: "Don’t you remember? You got scared unconscious. I told you it was a Ghost-type Pokémon causing trouble, but you didn’t believe me."

The driver scratched his head as the memories came back. He nodded after a moment, looking relieved. "Right, right—I remember now. Damn, that scared the hell out of me! A female ghost crawled in through the window—I almost lost my soul!"

"But Young Master Goh, what happened in the end? Was it really a Ghost-type Pokémon causing trouble?"

Rio gestured with his chin toward Saurion lying outside the truck. "It was that guy outside—he was commanding Ghost-type Pokémon to attack us. But I, being brilliant and heroic, defeated him."

The driver stared at Saurion, then unbuckled his seatbelt. "Wait for me, Young Master Goh."

He stormed out of the truck and delivered several hard slaps and kicks to the unconscious Saurion. "You bastard—scaring people in the middle of the night! Thank goodness Young Master Goh was here, or you’d have scared me to death!"

Meanwhile, the drivers of the two rear trucks also woke up. Seeing their buddy beating someone, they got out. After hearing the story and recalling the "memories" in their heads, they joined in.

Between kicks and punches, they shouted: "You bastard—scaring people in the middle of the night!"

"Damn near gave me a heart attack! Keep hitting him, boys!"

Rio watched from the passenger seat for a while, eventually feeling a flicker of sympathy. "Alright, alright—don’t actually kill him. I’m sure he’s learned his lesson after this."

Hearing that, the three drivers stopped. "Pfft—consider yourself lucky Young Master Goh is kind-hearted. Otherwise, I’d have beaten you to death tonight."

"Exactly—Young Master Goh is too merciful. Pfft."

"Lucky bastard... pfft."

They each spat before climbing back into their trucks.

Moments later, the three trucks continued their journey through the night. Rio watched Saurion’s battered, swollen face in the rearview mirror and smirked.

So, kid—how does it feel to be rich?