Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Rio rubbed his eyes, confirmed he wasn’t mistaken about the islands’ shape, and couldn’t help but laugh. This was an opportunity he had to seize. Of course, if Lugia showed up again, that would just be fate messing with him—and he’d turn tail and run without a second thought. No way he’d make the same mistake twice.

A few minutes later, Rio landed on the right island. He remembered the Three Birds Capture Plan notes saying the two islands were connected underground—enter from one, and you’d come out the other.

With a flash of light, Rio released Gengar. "Gengar—go scout ahead. See if Team Rocket is down there."

"Old ghost never gets a break—always the one sent to scout," Gengar sighed before sinking into the ground.

While Gengar was away, Rio wandered the island with Charizard and Munchlax, hoping Munchlax’s luck might turn up some edible berries.

Ten minutes later, they found a few berries, a couple of items—and Rio spotted an ice-covered rock. The moment he saw it, he thought of Eevee and the conditions for evolving into Glaceon.

With a flash of light, he released Eevee. "Little Eevee—let’s try evolving here today." He placed the Ice Stone in front of it.

"Eevee~" Eevee nodded, stood on the ice-covered rock, and began absorbing the Ice Stone. Within two seconds, its body was enveloped in the light of evolution. Under the watchful eyes of Rio, Charizard, Munchlax—and Greninja, who had burst out of its Luxury Ball with a cry of "Gren!"—the evolution began.

When the light faded, a fox-like, pale blue Pokémon with a double-braided winter hat stood before Rio—a Glaceon.

Rio’s face lit up with joy. It worked! His earlier theory was correct—Eevee could evolve into other forms as long as the conditions were met.

"Eevee—try switching to the other forms now."

"Eevee~" Glaceon tapped into its other evolution energies. The light returned—two seconds later, it became Flareon. Then Jolteon, then Vaporeon, and finally back to its normal form. No pain whatsoever.

Rio nodded in satisfaction. The name "Arceus-vee" was now official.

Just then, Gengar drifted over, dragging a Team Rocket member with it. "You were right—Team Rocket is down there. Ask this guy for details. He seems to be in charge—he was giving orders earlier." Gengar’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind as it dropped the unconscious Rocket at his feet.

Rio gave Gengar a thumbs-up. Why waste time scouting when you can just grab a Rocket executive?

"Tell me—is Team Rocket here on the Twin Islands to capture Articuno?" Rio asked the unconscious man under hypnosis.

"Yes," the Rocket replied truthfully.

Rio nodded. "Who’s in charge of this operation?"

"General Lance is in command," the Rocket said.

"Boss Giovanni isn’t coming?"

"No—Boss Giovanni won’t make it. Word just came in that the Moltres capture operation at Mt. Ember failed. His Beedrill was severely injured, and Zapdos slipped out of our control. So this operation is under General Lance’s full command."

"Zapdos slipped out of control?" Rio raised an eyebrow, barely suppressing a smirk.

What happened after I left? Did Lugia take Zapdos back from Team Rocket? He was glad he’d run when he did.

"Do you have a prediction for Articuno’s appearance, or are you just waiting here?" Rio asked, holding back his amusement.

"We predict Articuno will appear in about three days. Everyone here is currently setting up capture mechanisms," the Rocket replied.

Rio nodded, making a mental plan. If Articuno was showing up in three days, he could take a proper rest—neither he nor his Pokémon had slept since yesterday.

"Give me your phone." Rio took the Rocket’s phone and checked the map. The Twin Islands were apparently not far from Cinnabar Island.

"Cinnabar Island—isn’t that where Grandpa Fuji used to have his research lab?" Rio muttered, deciding to head there to rest.

About an hour later, he arrived on Cinnabar Island. First, he found a phone shop and asked them to either repair his phone or transfer its data to a new one. The shop said they couldn’t repair it, but they could transfer the data—it would just take some time. Rio agreed. Using the Rocket’s phone, he booked a nearby inn, had a good meal, and checked in. He slept for a full twelve hours.

When he woke up, he picked up his new phone from the shop and started exploring Cinnabar Island. The island was large, with a volcano at its center that had erupted once before, destroying much of the island. As a result, everything on Cinnabar looked relatively new—except for one large, abandoned mansion.

Rio remembered that in the original story, this mansion was where Mr. Fuji had once lived. Curiosity piqued, he decided to take a look inside. But as he approached the entrance, he was stopped by a middle-aged man.

"Sorry—this is private property. No entry," the man said.

"Understood—sorry, I’ll leave right away," Rio said, turning around without argument.

A few minutes later, however, he and Gengar floated in from the other side. Inside, the mansion looked like it had been ravaged by fire—broken bricks, charred debris, and cobwebs everywhere. But what caught Rio’s attention most was the statue standing in the center of the main hall.

A statue of Mewtwo.