Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Together with Rio’s Greninja, they blocked the incoming ice blades. Meanwhile, Lance, still nursing the gash from earlier, winced in pain as the cold air bit into his wound.

"General Lance—how about handing command over to me?" Rio seized the moment.

"You?" Lance’s eyes widened in surprise at Rio’s boldness. Though he’d been calling Kojiro "Rio," deep down he knew this wasn’t the real one. If it were the real Rio, he’d have sent out Charizard long ago. And from what he’d heard, that guy had even commanded Raikou during the Mt. Ember battle—nothing like this current situation. Of course, if it were the real Rio, he’d never have let Lance boss him around.

"Kid, what nonsense are you spouting? Do you even understand how important this operation is?" Lt. Surge barked from nearby.

"Trust me," Rio said, turning to him with a serious look.

Trust you? You’re just a stand-in—don’t actually think you’re Rio! Lt. Surge opened his mouth to curse—

"Ten seconds. I’ll land a heavy blow on Articuno," Rio said before he could speak.

"You?!" Lt. Surge scoffed.

"Greninja—Spikes!"

Rio let results speak for themselves. Greninja swung its arms, scattering hundreds of miniature Water Shurikens—not on the ground, but into the air, raining down on Articuno like a net.

Articuno responded with another flurry of ice blades.

"Greninja—Shadow Sneak!"

"Gren~" Greninja formed a single hand seal, and its shadow stretched like a rope, threading through the shadows cast by the falling Water Shurikens.

Whoosh— Greninja appeared above the heads of Lance and the others like a phantom. From that moment on, Lt. Surge and Lance’s jaws stayed wide open.

In their vision, Greninja—wreathed in flowing water and a faint golden glow—shot between the Water Shurikens like a streak of lightning, shattering each ice blade as it passed.

"Fuu~" Articuno was equally startled. As Greninja closed in, it panicked and unleashed Sheer Cold—an instant-KO move. A blue beam shot toward Greninja.

Whoosh— The beam was about to hit when Greninja vanished, reappearing beside Rio in an instant. The Sheer Cold froze the Water Shurikens in midair.

Rio looked down—the shadow cast by those frozen Shurikens stretched all the way back to Articuno itself. He and Greninja locked eyes—and Greninja vanished again.

It reappeared behind Articuno, driving a Water Shuriken deep into its neck. Articuno screamed in pain and plummeted from the sky.

Well—looks like I don’t need to ask for command anymore... Rio quickly pulled out a Poké Ball and threw it. With a flash of light, the falling Articuno was drawn inside.

"Kojiro—what are you doing?!" Lance shouted.

What else? Betrayal, Rio thought, reaching for Charizard’s Poké Ball.

"I’m doing what any loyal subordinate would do—capturing Articuno for—" But before he could finish, Articuno burst out of the ball, breaking free of Greninja’s Water Shuriken.

"—for you, General Lance!" Rio quickly recovered, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his forehead.

Just like Rio’s brother—you can see the strength in his blood, Lance thought, patting Rio’s shoulder. "You did well just now—command is yours."

"General Lance—this is unacceptable!" Lt. Surge objected.

"Then you go land a heavy blow on Articuno like he did," Lance shot back.

Lt. Surge fell silent, staring at the increasingly furious Articuno with a flicker of fear. Lance, wincing from his wound again, had himself escorted to a safe distance.

With command in hand, Rio ordered the Rockets to support Greninja. Before long, Greninja was once again behind Articuno, landing another backstab—not enough to take it down, but enough to bring it close to collapse.

"Beautiful!" Lance nodded approvingly. He felt Kojiro was truly Rio’s brother—their talent was virtually identical.

"Greninja—give it an opening. Lead Articuno out of here," Rio commanded mentally.

Soon, Articuno broke through the Rocket encirclement and fled toward the outside.

"After it! Don’t let it escape—it’s on its last legs!" Rio shouted, then turned to Lance. "General Lance—I’ll bring Articuno back to you!"

"Go." Lance nodded with satisfaction.

Look at that—a subordinate who knows how to ease his leader’s burden. That’s a real subordinate.

Minutes later, Rio led a group of Rockets out of the Ice Cave to intercept Articuno, leaving only a few to tend to Lance’s injured leg.

A short while later, Lance received word: "General Lance—Articuno is down! Kojiro threw a Poké Ball!"

"Excellent, excellent!" Lance beamed, turning to his men. "Learn from Kojiro, all of you."

Seven or eight seconds later, the communicator crackled again: "General Lance—it’s done! Kojiro caught Articuno!"

"Hah! I knew he could do it!" Lance laughed heartily.

Four or five seconds later, the communicator spoke again: "General Lance—Kojiro just released a black Charizard."

"Haha—you see how well he handles things? He can’t wait to deliver Articuno to me personally." Lance turned to praise him again—then his expression froze. "Wait—say that again. A black Charizard?"

The communicator didn’t answer—only the sound of chaos. More than ten seconds later, a new voice came through:

"General Lance—this is Rio. Thank you for your generous assistance today. I’ll be taking Articuno with me."

"Oh, and give my regards to Boss Giovanni. I know our last collaboration didn’t go so well, but I do sympathize with him over the injuries from Lugia, the failed Moltres capture, and losing control of Zapdos."

"General Lance? General Lance?"

At the other end of the communicator, Lance’s mind had gone completely blank—nothing but a dull buzzing filled his head.

"General Lance! What’s wrong?!"

"Medic! Someone get a medic!"