Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

A charming, enchanting voice emanated from Gardevoir. The sound reached Annihilape’s ears, causing its rage-filled expression to flicker with brief confusion. Then, as if falling into a berserk confusion state, it punched itself twice more.

"Just as expected—no male Pokémon can resist my Gardevoir’s charm," Yuya murmured with satisfaction.

"That Gardevoir... is doomed," Rio thought on the other side, watching Annihilape grow even more furious from the confusion. While self-inflicted confusion would be a problem for other Pokémon, for Annihilape, it was the perfect rage-boosting buff.

Moreover, after a month and a half of training, Annihilape had unlocked its second-tier friendship reward two weeks ago—its talent had risen from Elite Four to Champion, and its level had reached 65. Against a Level 55 Gardevoir, Rio couldn’t even imagine how much damage a rage-stacked Annihilape punch would do.

Just as Rio was thinking that, Yuya gave his second command: "Gardevoir—Aura Sphere!"

"Gardevoir~" Gardevoir gathered aura energy in front of its chest. An Aura Sphere formed within two seconds and shot toward the still-confused Annihilape.

The Aura Sphere passed right through Annihilape’s body.

"How is that possible? Why did Aura Sphere pass through that Pokémon?" Yuya’s pupils contracted. "Is it... Ghost-type?"

While Yuya was reeling from shock, Annihilape snapped out of its confusion. Its rage at its peak, it didn’t wait for Rio’s command—with a guttural roar, it launched itself forward. Midair, it swung its fist toward Gardevoir, spectral energy swirling around it.

It used its signature move—Rage Fist.

"Gardevoir—Double Team!" Yuya commanded quickly.

"Gardevoir~" Gardevoir split from one into two, four, then eight copies on the Water-type arena’s platform, facing Annihilape.

Annihilape was a straightforward fighter—no tricks, no thinking. It simply aimed at the spot where Gardevoir had originally stood and punched. The hit landed on a copy, which dissolved instantly.

Monkey see, monkey do, Yuya thought, smirking. "Gardevoir—Magical—"

Before he could finish, Annihilape’s missed punch struck the platform, shattering the sturdy stone stage completely and sending a massive wave erupting from the water arena.

"Th-this..." Yuya’s pupils shrank again at the sheer destructive power of Annihilape’s punch. The platform was made of tough stone meant to withstand most attacks—and Annihilape had just destroyed it with one blow.

"I can’t let that Pokémon get close," Yuya decided. "Gardevoir—Baby-Doll Eyes!"

If the opponent’s attack power was that high, he’d lower it.

"Gardevoir~" Gardevoir called out playfully to Annihilape, sending a pink heart floating toward it.

But to Yuya’s shock, the usually irresistible male-targeting move failed. The pink heart was shattered midair by Annihilape’s brutal fist before it could reach its eyes. Annihilape’s mind was consumed by rage—no love, only killing intent. The spectral energy around its fist grew even denser.

Rage Fist had reached its thirteenth stack. The previous twelve stacks had carried over from earlier battles—Rage Fist’s count didn’t reset when the Pokémon was recalled or fainted. Once used again, it continued from where it left off.

Meanwhile, inside one of Rio’s Luxury Balls, the Red Gyarados watched the scene unfold. It felt no anger at what Gardevoir was about to endure—only envy and jealousy.

"ROAR!!!" The Red Gyarados let out an envious cry from inside its ball.

Outside, Annihilape, having shattered the pink heart, swung its thirteenth-stack Rage Fist at Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir—Teleport!" Yuya shouted in alarm.

"Gardevoir~" Gardevoir vanished from its spot and reappeared midair.

"Gardevoir—Mystical Fire!" Yuya followed up.

"Gardevoir~" Gardevoir spat a stream of starlight-like fire that snaked toward Annihilape. Annihilape tanked the hit—and Rage Fist’s stack count rose to fourteen.

The rest of the battle became a pattern: Gardevoir used Teleport to kite Annihilape from a distance, while Annihilape’s Rage Fist stacks kept climbing. By the time it reached eighteen, and Yuya felt victory was within reach, Rio gave Annihilape its first command of the match.

"Annihilape—Night Shade!"

"Annih~" Annihilape’s furious glare locked onto Gardevoir midair. A terrifying visage formed behind it—unavoidable by Teleport—causing Gardevoir to freeze as its mind was assaulted by psychic damage.

"Annihilape—NOW!"

"Annih~" Annihilape launched off a platform, leaping four or five meters high.

"Gardevoir—Teleport!" Yuya shouted frantically. But Gardevoir was still paralyzed by Night Shade—it couldn’t respond.

By the time it could, Annihilape’s fist was already there. Under the watchful eyes of the entire stadium—BOOM!—Gardevoir was punched from the sky straight into the water, sending waves crashing.

"Gardevoir!" Yuya screamed—Gardevoir had been driven all the way to the bottom of the arena. What kind of force could punch a Gardevoir from midair into the water and then slam it into the floor?

But it wasn’t over. Before anyone could tell if Gardevoir was down, Annihilape’s fist came down again—hitting the water and splitting it apart, revealing Gardevoir already unconscious from the first hit.

"Stop!" Yuya shouted in terror. Annihilape ignored him—the second fist came down anyway. The crowd gasped as they saw a meter-deep crater at the bottom of the arena, the force transferred through Gardevoir’s body. Yuya recalled Gardevoir just in time to save it from a third hit.

"Annih~" Annihilape, having hit nothing, roared at Yuya—looking ready to leap onto the trainer’s platform and attack him directly. The sheer menace made Yuya flinch.

"Annihilape—hold your rage. Give it five seconds," Rio commanded.

Annihilape spun and glared at Rio—but it obeyed, suppressing its fury. However, the more it held back, the hotter its rage burned. The spectral energy that had just been released began to thicken again.

"Hurry—if you don’t want to get hit, send out your next Pokémon!" Rio yelled at Yuya.

Startled, Yuya released his final Pokémon—a Level 44 Rhydon.

"Rhy!!!" It let out a confident roar.

"Rhydon—Drill Run!" Yuya commanded—but by the time he gave the order, Annihilape had already charged. Fist met Rhydon’s spinning drill head.

Under normal circumstances, the drill would win—but this was not a normal fight. Under high-definition cameras, everyone watched Annihilape punch Rhydon—just like Gardevoir—from the platform straight into the water, its horn shattered in the process.

The stadium erupted again. Yuya stared in disbelief—his Pokémon had been one-shot again, despite using Drill Run.

"Stop—stop! My Rhydon is down!" Yuya shouted as Annihilape prepared to punch the fallen Rhydon. Again, Annihilape ignored him, swinging a third time before Rhydon was recalled.

"Annih~" It glared at Yuya, who trembled and looked at Rio. Rio scratched his head.

"Now it’s a problem—I was so focused on building Annihilape’s rage that I forgot it needs to vent. If it doesn’t get to hit something, it’ll hit me," Rio muttered, glancing at the Luxury Ball containing the Red Gyarados.

He hesitated to release it in front of such a large audience—it might look bad. But before he could decide, the Red Gyarados burst out on its own.

"ROAR!!!" — Brother Monkey, I’m here! Don’t hold back—take it all out on me!

The Red Gyarados swam excitedly toward Annihilape. And from that moment on, Rio couldn’t stop it even if he wanted to. On the Water-type arena, in full view of the stadium, Annihilape began its beatdown.

The crowd that had been roaring fell into stunned silence. Even the announcer, who had been marveling at Annihilape’s strength, went quiet. All that could be heard was "Annih~" and the Gyarados’s satisfied roars.

"Is this trainer—Rio—crazy? How could he abuse his own Pokémon on live television during the Indigo Conference?" someone in the audience muttered.

"Won’t the League disqualify him?"

Beside them, Mr. Fuji watched Annihilape pound the Red Gyarados and sighed. "Well, Rio’s definitely famous now—those two little ones are going to be known across Kanto."

The moment Rio stepped off the battlefield, he was surrounded by League officials and Officer Jenny, who escorted him to the station.

"I swear—I didn’t intentionally release Gyarados for Annihilape to vent on. I didn’t command Annihilape to attack Gyarados or abuse it—Gyarados ran out on its own and asked to be hit. That’s just how they’ve always been," Rio said, looking wronged.

"Don’t make excuses—why would a Pokémon beg to be beaten? And you actually feed it Revival Herbs so it can take more abuse!" Officer Jenny snapped. "You’re inhuman. If people hadn’t held me back, I’d have handcuffed you on the spot."

"If you don’t believe me, give me a chance to prove it. I’ll show you the truth—and please have the League film it to clear things up. Otherwise, it’s a huge misunderstanding," Rio pleaded.

"Give you another chance to have Gyarados beaten?" Officer Jenny scoffed.

"If you don’t believe me, see for yourself right now." Rio released both Annihilape and the Red Gyarados again.

"Annih~"

"ROAR!!!"

"Rio—!" Officer Jenny glared at him as the two appeared. But then she noticed—the Red Gyarados voluntarily placed its tail in Annihilape’s hand, with a pleading expression.

"See? I only released them—I didn’t say a word. Gyarados put its tail in Annihilape’s hand all on its own." Rio shrugged. As he spoke, Annihilape started its usual beatdown in front of everyone.

Officer Jenny’s mouth fell open, her worldview crumbling—especially as she watched the Red Gyarados wear an expression of pure satisfaction during the pummeling.

"If you still don’t believe me, you can get a Psychic-type Pokémon to translate and confirm," Rio added.

Officer Jenny didn’t respond.

Four hours later, Rio was released. The League needed time to create a public announcement explaining that this was normal behavior—otherwise, Rio would have been disqualified. By the time he returned to the conference grounds, night had fallen, and the last match of the first day had just ended.

The entire Kanto region began covering the day’s highlights—and of course, the most talked-about contestant was Rio. Not just because of his powerful Aerodactyl, but more importantly, his terrifying Annihilape and the masochistic Red Gyarados.

Right after Rio, another contestant had also made waves on the first day with a Charizard—completing a clean sweep. But when Rio saw that news, his own Charizard burst out of its Poké Ball, its gaze fixed on the screen, locked onto the trainer commanding that Charizard.