Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Rio looked at the Gengar beside him with a face full of disbelief.

"Are you serious? You’re Ghost-type Gengar—why are you guarding a Psychic-type Alakazam Mega Stone?!"

"You should be guarding your own kind’s Mega Stone! Or at least a Ghost-type Mega Stone!"

"Give me a good explanation—if I’m not satisfied, I might really have to beat you."

Rio was genuinely frustrated. He had gotten his hopes up for nothing, thinking his luck was incredible—finding Gengar’s Mega Stone the moment he arrived at Geosenge Town.

The level 52 Gengar was startled by Rio’s reaction and let out a fearful cry.

"Gengar~"

"It says they’re guarding this Alakazam Mega Stone specifically to prevent any Alakazam from Mega Evolving." Old Ghost translated.

"Huh? You’re guarding it just to stop Alakazam from Mega Evolving?!"

Rio was taken aback. He wanted to argue against the Gengar’s absurd reasoning, but he couldn’t find a proper counter. When considering the rivalry between Gengar and Alakazam, it actually made sense—they didn’t want Alakazam to gain Mega Evolution, so they guarded the stone and blocked challengers.

"Gengar~" The Gengar called out nervously again.

"It’s asking if that reason is acceptable." Old Ghost translated. "Honestly, I think it’s pretty valid—even Old Ghost can’t find fault with it."

"Forget it—you win. Pretend I said nothing." Rio waved his hand.

"Gengar~" The level 52 Gengar sighed in relief.

"Do you know where the Gengar Mega Stone is?" Rio asked.

"Gengar~"

"It says it doesn’t know. If it did, it wouldn’t be guarding this stone—it would be guarding its own kind’s Mega Stone, waiting for a stronger Gengar to inherit it, like Old Ghost." Old Ghost patted the younger Gengar’s head approvingly. "Not bad, kid—you’ve got good judgment. Mega Stones are for Pokémon like Old Ghost."

Rio shrugged after hearing the translation. Sure enough, luck couldn’t last forever—there would always be setbacks.

"Gengar~" The level 55 Gengar floated over to its partner. The level 52 Gengar called out to it, and the level 55’s expression shifted, looking nervously at Rio and Old Ghost.

"Don’t worry—we’re not here to cause trouble." Rio waved again. The level 55 Gengar relaxed.

"Gengar~" The level 52 called out once more.

"The little Gengar asks if you’re still going to take this Alakazam Mega Stone." Old Ghost translated.

"Of course I’ll take it! Since I’m here, why not?" Rio said decisively. "Even if I can’t use it, I can take it back as a reward for outstanding trainers in the Kanto League."

"Old Ghost, grab it and put it in a box for me."

Old Ghost used Psychic to retrieve the floating yellow crystal and brought it before Rio. Rio pulled out a small box from his backpack and stored it away.

"Alright—let’s go." Rio waved and turned to leave with Old Ghost. The two Gengar stood behind them, exchanging glances.

"Gengar~" — Big brother, the Alakazam Mega Stone is gone. What do we do now? Keep wandering?

"Gengar~" — I don’t know... but I’m starting to think about finding a trainer.

"Gengar~" — Why, big brother?

"Gengar~" — Didn’t you see our ancestor has a trainer and is doing really well? I think my old views might have been wrong. Maybe having a trainer could make me stronger.

"Gengar~" — What about me, big brother?

"Gengar~" — Find one too.

The two Gengar whispered among themselves. Just then, Rio turned back.

"By the way—if you’re free, I have a task for you. Interested?"

The two Gengar looked at him curiously.

"Gengar~" The level 55 Gengar called out.

"It’s asking what the task is." Old Ghost translated.

"Simple—over the next few days, search the ruins nearby for any Gengar Mega Stones. If you find one, come see me at the Ocean Snow Hotel in Geosenge Town. With your abilities, you should be able to find me easily."

"If you do well, I can help you find good trainers." Rio added.

The two Gengar exchanged glances.

"Gengar~" The level 55 nodded eagerly. The level 52 reluctantly nodded as well. Rio noticed, but didn’t press—he turned and walked away.

"Finding them trainers? Where?" Old Ghost’s voice echoed in his mind.

"I’ve got plenty of capable people in the Kanto League—they can take their pick." Rio shrugged. "Of course, if they’re impressive enough, I could recommend them to the second-strongest trainer in Kanto. But then it wouldn’t be them choosing—it’d be him choosing them."

"The second-strongest trainer in Kanto? You mean Lance? Doesn’t he only train Dragon-types?" Old Ghost asked.

"Who said the second-strongest is Lance? There’s someone else—Blue. Apart from me, he can match any regional Champion." Rio shrugged.

"Blue?" Old Ghost thought for a moment, then let out a long "Oh." "You mean the Blastoise trainer? He’s strong, but still behind Lance, isn’t he?"

"You’re underestimating him. It’s been a year or two since we last met. He’s definitely on par with Lance now—maybe even better." Rio smiled. He had high regard for Blue.

After leaving the cave, Rio saw the two men and one woman waiting outside.

"What, waiting to rob me?" Rio raised an eyebrow.

They quickly shook their heads. Old Ghost’s strength had shown them that the masked man was far beyond them.

"We just wanted to ask—if the Mega Stone you got isn’t what you need, would you be willing to trade? We could buy it." The Gothitelle trainer spoke up.

"Trade?" Rio studied the three. Given the tall man’s poor commanding skills earlier, they were clearly spoiled rich kids. Rich kids only had money and connections—nothing else.

"A trade is fine—but do you know which Mega Stone I got?"

"No—just that it’s a Psychic-type Mega Stone."

Rio raised an eyebrow. "I got an Alakazam Mega Stone. Do you have a Gengar Mega Stone?"

The Gothitelle trainer’s face lit up at the mention of Alakazam—then fell when Rio said he wanted Gengar’s. "What, no Gengar Mega Stone? Sorry, no deal then." Rio turned to leave.

"Sir, how about money? I’ll pay two million for that Alakazam Mega Stone." She called out.

Rio laughed at the offer. "Sorry, money is the last thing I need right now."

"Of course, if you have information on a Gengar Mega Stone, I’d be willing to pay for that." Rio waved without looking back.

The three exchanged glances and sighed.

Rio returned to his hotel and continued asking around for more information on the ruins, hoping to find Gengar’s Mega Stone. He spent a full day gathering leads. That night, he went to check one out—but instead of Gengar’s Mega Stone, he found a Beedrill Mega Stone.

"Beedrill again—I really have a connection with them. Too bad Giovanni only has one Beedrill, or I’d sell him another." Rio shrugged, returning to the hotel disappointed. He planned to continue his search the next day.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the Kanto League faced a major event.

Rayquaza and Kyogre from Hoenn, along with Reshiram from Unova, launched a surprise attack on Kanto—ganging up on Lugia in the region’s airspace. Many Kanto residents witnessed it. Within minutes, word reached the Kanto League’s high officials, who were all terrified.

"Mr. Rio! Bad news! Hoenn’s Rayquaza and Kyogre, and Unova’s Reshiram, have appeared in Kanto! They’re ganging up on Lugia above the Sevii Islands!" Serīna rushed to inform Zoroark, who was disguised as Rio and about to depart for Kalos.

"What?! Three legendaries ganging up on Lugia?!"

Zoroark-as-Rio immediately stepped off the plane. It had been wondering if Rio had forgotten his plan—if the attack hadn’t happened soon, it would have had to go to Kalos and meet Rio face-to-face, which would have been a headache.

"Let’s go! That villainous organization is asking for trouble—attacking my Kanto region! Woman, watch me teach them a lesson!" Zoroark summoned an illusory Charizard and flew toward the Sevii Islands.

"Greninja—go fetch Munchlax and the others!" It sent Greninja, its supervisor, to the Champion’s estate to gather reinforcements.

Better to make it look real—bringing all of Rio’s Pokémon would make it more convincing to the public and other regional Leagues.

"Koga~" Greninja agreed and rushed off.

By the time they arrived, another legendary had joined the fray—Ho-Oh had entered the battle, fighting alongside Lugia against Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Reshiram.

Though it was all staged, the battle was still intense. When Zoroark—the Phantom’s Overlord—joined, things got even more dramatic. It created an illusory Dialga to join the attackers, making it four-on-two.

"This is bad—our region is doomed! Why are so many legendaries attacking us?!" Fear spread among the public, first through Kanto and Johto, then to other regions.

When the Unova, Hoenn, and Sinnoh Leagues learned of the attack on Kanto, they were stunned. They had all arrived in Kalos and were mocking Kanto for being slow—only to find that their region was under assault.

"What’s going on?! We were told the villainous organization was in Kalos! Why are Rayquaza, Kyogre, Dialga, and Reshiram in Kanto, ganging up on Lugia and Ho-Oh?!" Unova’s Champion Alder slammed the table, demanding answers from the Kalos officials.

"We all came to Kalos because of your information—but there’s no attack here! Instead, Kanto is the one under siege!" The Kalos officials were at a loss. They had received their intel from Fire-type Elite Four Malva—a powerful, lavender Gengar had appeared in Kalos, suspected to be connected to the organization that had attacked Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Unova. How could they not take a message from an Elite Four seriously?

"Enough—this isn’t about blame right now. We need to get to Kanto immediately. If we can make it in time, we might catch this organization that’s controlling legendaries." Hoenn’s Champion Steven stepped in to mediate.

The Kalos officials nodded gratefully. "He’s right—we have to support Kanto now. If we’re too late, we’ll have a real problem." A Sinnoh official agreed.

And so, the regional leaders who had just arrived in Kalos boarded planes again, heading for Kanto.

News of this quickly reached Lysandre, leader of Team Flare. When he learned Kanto was under attack, he was initially skeptical. But it meant Kalos was safe for now.

"Could I have been wrong? Was that Gengar not part of the organization? Just another Shiny Gengar?" Lysandre muttered, relieved. A misjudgment was fine—it meant his plans wouldn’t be disrupted.