Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Gengar looked at the two cases of beer and let out a gleeful cackle. "Finally—finally, Old Ghost gets to drink again! Gus—let me taste the flavor of beer a hundred years later for you. If you didn’t drink any, I would’ve thought beer had disappeared from the world after all this time."

Just like Mewtwo, Gengar used Psychic to open a bottle and poured the beer straight down its throat. Watching Gengar’s excited reaction, Mewtwo’s expression turned strange—it hadn’t expected any Pokémon to enjoy beer as much as Rio did, almost as if it had been craving it for a long time.

Soon, Gengar finished the bottle and smacked its lips in satisfaction. "Not bad—still tastes like beer from a hundred years ago. But something feels a little off..." It looked around and spotted the plate of peanuts in front of Rio. In an instant, it used Psychic to scoop up half the peanuts and toss them into its mouth.

"Hey—that’s my only plate of peanuts! I’ve been eating them one by one, and you just ate half of them in one gulp! I swear I’ll pound you!" Rio’s eyes went wide, and for once, he actually swore. What’s the point of drinking without peanuts? If the peanuts are gone, why even drink?

Gengar ignored Rio, chewing the peanuts with an even more satisfied expression, then opened another beer and poured it down. "That’s it—that’s the taste! Hehehehe... perfect."

On the other side, Mewtwo watched Gengar, whose expression was even more blissful than Rio’s. It glanced at the peanuts in front of Rio, then mimicked Gengar—using Psychic to grab half the peanuts and toss them into its mouth, followed by another swig of beer.

This time, Mewtwo’s eyes lit up. Huh—it does taste a little better. Still not great, but definitely not as bitter as before. There’s actually a hint of sweetness now. Is it because I paired it with peanuts?

And wait—my mind feels clearer. All that noise is gone.

Mewtwo started looking at the beer with a different kind of interest. This stuff seemed to have some kind of unusual power.

"Are you kidding me?! You ate all the peanuts—what am I supposed to eat now?! Go buy more! And do you even know how to eat peanuts?! When you drink, you eat them one at a time—that’s the right way! You’re not Snorlax!" Rio scrambled to protect the last of the peanuts—but Mewtwo used Psychic to float them all into the air.

The only thing it did listen to was Rio’s advice about eating peanuts one by one. So Mewtwo started taking a peanut, then a sip of beer.

And its eyes brightened even more. This is better. It actually tastes sweeter this way. And my jaw doesn’t hurt as much from chewing too many at once.

Charizard, watching Mewtwo begin to enjoy itself, grew curious again despite its earlier disgust. It opened its mouth, grabbed a mouthful of the floating peanuts, and chased it with beer. Its face immediately twisted into a knot, tongue sticking out.

This is good? It’s still awful! But seeing Mewtwo’s shift from anger to enjoyment, Charizard glanced at its beer again. Remembering Rio’s words—that beer gets better the more you drink—it thought: Maybe I just haven’t drunk enough yet.

So it forced itself to take a few more swigs. After about four or five gulps, something felt different. A warmth spread through its body, and the beer actually started to taste a little sweet. Charizard’s eyes lit up. Rio was right—it does get better! It was starting to get hooked.

Gengar, having finished the peanuts, turned its attention to the sunflower seeds. With a single Psychic flick, it shelled dozens at once and sent them straight into its mouth along with the beer.

Rio was even more furious. Big deal—you can shell seeds with Psychic! Well, fine—it was a big deal.

"I can’t with you guys—if you’re going to eat, go buy more yourselves! This is not how civilized people drink!" Rio snapped.

But then he saw Mewtwo join Gengar in the seed-shelling spree—another Psychic flick, another dozen seeds cracked open. Rio’s eyes widened. If I try to be civilized with these maniacs, I’m the one who loses.

Without any further pretense, Rio started wolfing down food too. He grabbed sausages and rice crackers from the plates, stuffing them into his mouth. He knew he could never beat Gengar and Mewtwo at seed-shelling—they used Psychic—but he could still win at sausages and rice crackers. Just down them with beer and call it a day.

Meanwhile, inside one of the Poké Balls on Rio’s belt, Munchlax, who had been fast asleep, heard its name being called. It slowly opened its eyes. Through the ball’s screen, it saw Rio, Gengar, and the others eating and drinking happily.

Its expression turned slightly angry. So you guys are having a feast without me.

With a flash of light, Munchlax appeared. "Ka~" It glared at Rio, Gengar, and Charizard with mild indignation. So much for calling me a kind-hearted Pokémon this morning—this is how you treat kindness?

But Rio, Charizard, and Gengar were already tipsy. They didn’t even notice Munchlax’s arrival. As for Mewtwo—its face was flushed red. It had stopped thinking about the meaning of life altogether, simply savoring the beer.

"Ka~" Seeing herself so blatantly ignored, Munchlax thought: Well, don’t blame me then. With a cry, it charged into the fray. In one hand, it grabbed a plate of sausages; in the other, a plate of rice crackers—and dumped everything into its mouth in one go. Then it turned to the beer. It didn’t bother opening the bottles—it just tipped them all straight down its throat, bottles and all. One by one, the bottles burst open inside its mouth, and it spat out the empty shells.

In under a minute, all the beer was gone. Rio, Charizard, Gengar, and Mewtwo—all slightly buzzed—stared in stunned silence.

The beer... was gone.