Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

"Coward—if you’ve got the guts, leave your branch address!" Rio muttered at the disconnected call on the island.

He hadn’t planned to answer, but it kept ringing, so he picked up. He’d barely said two sentences before they hung up in fear—boring. More interesting was the thought of making Zapdos his own.

Rio glanced at the Poké Ball in his hand, which he’d taken from Lt. Surge’s pocket. It contained Zapdos.

"Now that Team Rocket are prisoners of the League, as League Champion, I should have the authority to handle the prisoners’ Pokémon, right?" Rio mused, a grin spreading across his face. Becoming League Champion was turning out to be one of his most brilliant decisions. If he were just an ordinary trainer, he’d have no claim to Zapdos—the League would probably take it, claiming to set it free, though who knows which official would actually pocket it. Just like what happened with Rayquaza in Hoenn, where a Meteorite person ended up dead.

But now, he was the authority. His word wasn’t law, but it carried more weight than anyone else’s. No one had the right to challenge his claim to Zapdos. If someone tried, they’d have to battle him—win, and he’d hand it over; lose, and they’d shut up.

With a flash of light, Zapdos appeared. It was still incapacitated from its earlier beating by Regirock and Regice.

"Charizard—remove the iron rod controlling Zapdos’s mind," Rio said.

Team Rocket needed technology to control Zapdos; he didn’t. He planned to use psychological therapy (talk-no-jutsu) to build rapport first. It might be more work, but there was no risk of sudden betrayal if the tech failed. More importantly, Zapdos’s friendship was at -20. If he used technology to control its mind, he’d never raise that friendship.

Soon, the rod was removed. After Rio fed it a Revival Herb, Zapdos woke up. Without hesitation, the moment it saw Rio, it fired a Thunderbolt. Charizard reacted quickly, taking the hit and retaliating with Sacred Fire. Zapdos cried out and was knocked out again.

Rio was speechless. Damn it—wasted a Revival Herb.

With a flash of light, he released Articuno.

"When it wakes up, talk to it first—tell it not to attack me on sight," Rio said to Articuno. Then he noticed Articuno’s friendship was just one point away from unlocking its first-tier reward. He added: "If you handle this well, you might get that power you’ve been wanting today."

"That power?" Articuno’s pupils dilated, excitement surging. "The power to rival Lord Lugia and Lord Ho-Oh?"

Rio nodded. Articuno’s joy was impossible to hide. After all this time of currying favor with Rio, harvest time had finally come. It was going to rise to the top of the three legendary birds.

Just then, a notification rang in Rio’s mind:

[Articuno’s friendship increased.]

[Friendship: 40 (from -20 to 40)]

[Articuno’s starting friendship was -20. Current friendship is 40. Increase of 60 points qualifies for First-Tier Reward Unlock.]

[Reward Unlocked: Articuno’s level increased by 3. Received one Move Disk.]

Level up by three and a Move Disk? Rio smiled. Not bad—pretty good, actually. As a legendary Pokémon already at Level 80, further leveling was extremely slow. Gaining three levels was something to be grateful for—and on top of that, a Move Disk.

[Would you like to use the Move Disk?]

"Yes."

The familiar disk appeared before Rio, visible only to him. This time, however, it displayed only three moves: Freezing Glare, Glaciate, and Aeroblast.

If I remember correctly, Freezing Glare is Galarian Articuno’s signature move. It’s still a divine move, but I’d rather not roll that one, Rio muttered. Kyurem’s Glaciate and Lugia’s Aeroblast were clearly better options.

The disk began to spin. Rio watched intently. Three seconds later, it stopped—the pointer landed on Glaciate.

Rio’s grin widened. Perfect. Glaciate is the best fit.

He recalled Articuno into its Poké Ball, waited a moment, and released it again. Its stats had updated: from Level 81 to 84, with Glaciate now in its move list.

"I can feel the immense power inside me," Articuno’s confident voice echoed in Rio’s mind. The next moment, it shot into the sky and unleashed a blast of freezing wind over the vast sea. Within seconds, the ocean surface for miles around was frozen solid.

Articuno let out an excited cry. Gengar translated: Articuno was feeling quite full of itself—convinced it was now the most powerful legendary Pokémon, capable of taking on Ho-Oh and Lugia, and had dropped the honorifics.

Rio’s mouth twitched. Humility leads to progress; pride leads to downfall. Sure, Articuno had gotten stronger and could now claim the title of strongest of the three birds—but taking on Ho-Oh and Lugia was a stretch.

After a few minutes, Articuno’s excitement subsided. Rio asked if it was ready to help recruit Zapdos. Articuno nodded proudly. What’s the point of gaining power if you can’t show it off?