Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

"It’s you!" Alain exclaimed in surprise when he saw the trainer and Charizard. He recognized the trainer—wasn’t this the same spectator who had watched him battle other trainers in Lumiose City a week ago? He never expected to see him here, riding a Charizard—and a Shiny one at that.

"It’s you! The one impersonating the Kanto Champion!" The Team Flare female executive also recognized him. She had been briefed that someone disguised as the Kanto Champion was active in Kalos—a figure wearing a hat and sunglasses, commanding the same Pokémon as the real Champion: a Shiny Charizard, a Shiny Gengar, and Mewtwo.

"Impersonating the Kanto Champion?" Alain was baffled. The mere mention of the Kanto Champion in Kalos was surprising enough—but the word "impersonator" only added to his confusion.

"Hey! What do you mean ’impersonating’? I go by one name and one name only—Rio, the strongest Champion Kanto has ever had!" Rio said indignantly from midair.

"Bullshit! You, the Kanto Champion? Stop pretending! Team Flare already knows someone impersonating Rio is in Kalos, targeting regional legendaries. You can’t fool me!" The Team Flare executive scoffed, then quickly ordered her subordinates: "Quick! Pick up the guns, capture Zygarde, and get out of here before he takes it!"

Then she turned to Alain: "Didn’t you say you wanted to beat the Kanto Champion’s Charizard and become the world’s strongest Charizard trainer? Well, here’s your chance! Sure, this guy’s a fake, but his Charizard is Shiny, just like the real Rio’s—so it should be close enough!"

Alain stared at the black Charizard and its rider. "Charizard." He called to his own, which had been wounded by Z2’s Land’s Wrath.

"Roooar~" His Mega Charizard X flew back to him.

"Mega Evolve! Let me see how much of a gap there is between you, a fake Kanto Champion, and the real one!" Alain declared, looking at the Mega Stone on the black Charizard’s chest.

"I told you—I am Rio, the Kanto Champion." Rio crossed his arms, his tone dripping with arrogance. "As for Mega Evolution—my Charizard doesn’t even need it to beat you into the ground."

"You’ll regret that arrogance." Alain frowned. "Charizard, Dragon Claw!"

"Roooar~" His Mega Charizard X, now level 72, spread its wings and charged, claws glowing with dragon energy.

"Charizard—someone wants to challenge you for the title of world’s strongest Charizard." Rio taunted instead of giving a command. Charizard responded by lunging with its own Dragon Claw. Two seconds later, Alain’s Charizard was one-shot, crashing to the ground and reverting from Mega Evolution.

"How—how is this possible?!" Alain cried in disbelief. Even the Team Flare members were stunned—they had hoped Alain would buy them time to subdue Z2, but he’d been defeated instantly.

"Still think you can become the world’s strongest Charizard trainer?" Rio laughed. He enjoyed the stunned expression on Alain’s face.

"You... you really are the fake Kanto Champion, aren’t you?" Alain hesitated.

"I told you—I’m Rio, the real Kanto Champion." Rio said smugly. "Losing to me is nothing to be ashamed of. Are you sending out more Pokémon? If not, I’ll deal with them."

Alain didn’t respond—his strongest Pokémon had been one-shot. What else could he do?

"Quick—shoot him down!" The Team Flare executive ordered her available members. "Houndoom, Hyper Beam!" Her level 58 Houndoom charged a Hyper Beam at Rio’s Charizard. The other subordinates followed suit with various attacks.

"Charizard, Flamethrower." Rio said casually.

"Roooar~" Charizard’s Flamethrower was nearly instantaneous compared to the others. A scorching, golden-tinged flame erupted, overwhelming the combined attacks and sweeping them aside. When it reached the Houndoom, its Hyper Beam was crushed. In just three seconds, all the Team Flare Pokémon were down.

"Charizard, Dragon Claw—break that barrier!" Rio gestured toward Z2, still pinned by the tech guns. Charizard dove. The Flare members couldn’t stop it—any new Pokémon they sent out would just get destroyed. They could only watch as Charizard’s Dragon Claw shattered the red barrier.

Z2, which had been on the verge of reverting to its core form, was suddenly free. It immediately retaliated with a Dragon Pulse—a massive dragon-shaped energy blast aimed at Charizard. Rio had Charizard dodge, and the attack struck the ground, creating a shockwave that sent the Flare members and their Pokémon flying.

"Z1, your partner Z2 is a bit aggressive. We just saved it, and it attacks us?" Rio said to Z1, which had jumped out of his bag.

"Rrrrr~" Z1 called out.

"It says not to worry—Z2 might be agitated. It’ll try to calm it down." Gengar translated.

Rio shrugged and watched. The battlefield was shrouded in smoke. Charizard fanned it away, revealing a massive crater ten meters wide and three meters deep—with Z2 standing at its center, already charging another Dragon Pulse.

"Rrrrr~" — Z2, stop attacking! Follow me—I’m Z1! Stop!

Z1 called from Rio’s shoulder, but Z2 ignored it and aimed its Dragon Pulse at Charizard.

"Looks like it needs a beating." Rio raised an eyebrow. "Charizard, Dragon Pulse."

"Roooar~" Charizard responded with its own Dragon Pulse. But Charizard was level 88, while Z2’s 50% Forme was level 85—a three-level gap that made a difference. Though it wasn’t a complete stomp, the clash forced Z2 back with recoil damage. Charizard then grabbed Z2 and proceeded to pummel it.

Z2 was being dominated. Alain watched in disbelief, wondering if this fake Champion might actually be stronger than the real one. He couldn’t believe the real Rio could one-shot his Mega Charizard—the gap shouldn’t have been that vast.

Z1 grew panicked as its partner took more damage. It knew that when both core cells were near each other and one entered 50% Forme with its stamina halved, it would trigger a full Forme change into complete Zygarde.

"Rrrrr~" — Stop! Don’t hit it anymore! If you keep going, it’ll trigger a full Forme change and pull me into complete form too!

Z1 frantically called out for Rio to stop, but Rio couldn’t understand it without a translation. And Old Ghost, the ever-reliable translator, knew that if Z2 kept getting beaten, complete Zygarde would appear—so it pretended not to hear. It even telepathically told Mewtwo to stay quiet and encouraged Charizard to hit harder. As long as it didn’t one-shot Z2, they could keep the beating going and set up the gang-battle they all wanted.

Thanks to Old Ghost’s efforts, Mewtwo stayed silent, and Charizard kept pounding Z2 with everything except Sacred Fire.

After about five minutes of this, three helicopters appeared in the distance, each carrying a Champion: Kalos’s Diantha, Hoenn’s Steven, and Unova’s Alder.

"Stop! Impersonator! I won’t allow you to run wild in Kalos!" Diantha shouted as she jumped down, releasing her ace Gardevoir. Steven released his Metagross, and Alder his Volcarona.

Facing three regional Champions, Rio stopped and had Charizard pull back. "Hey—I am Rio. There’s no impersonation here. Who else but me has a Shiny Charizard, a Shiny Gengar, and Mewtwo?" He threw two Poké Balls, releasing Old Ghost and Mewtwo.

"Don’t play games with us! We know you’re from Team Rocket, trying to pin your crimes on the real Champion! If we hadn’t met Rio in person, we might have been fooled!" Diantha scoffed.

"Idiot—the Rio in Kanto is the fake! I’m the real one! You’ve all been deceived by a Rocket imposter!" Rio shot back.

"You’re the fool! Does a Champion act like you? If we actually believed you, we’d be the real idiots!" Steven laughed. "Surrender now—or you’ll be making enemies of Hoenn, Kalos, Unova, Kanto—the entire world!"

"Believe what you want—I am Rio, and I will control every legendary Pokémon!" Rio shouted, preparing to have Mewtwo and Gengar take on the Champions.

"No—Mewtwo and Charizard handle these three small fries. I’m going to beat up Z2!" But Old Ghost ignored him, dead set on pummeling Z2.