Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Seeing the complete Zygarde appear after its beating, Old Ghost puffed out its chest and laughed triumphantly.

"Gengar~" — Hahaha! That’s what I wanted! Old Ghost’s efforts weren’t in vain! Little Dialga, Little Palkia, and Little Giratina better thank me properly—without my quick thinking, they’d have missed out on another round of fun!

Compared to Old Ghost’s gloating, Rio was calmer. He wasn’t too surprised by Zygarde’s complete form. He shifted his attention from the three Champions to the complete Zygarde, and its level information appeared before him.

[Pokémon: Zygarde (Complete Forme)

[Level: 95 (—)

[Talent: Legendary]

[Friendship: 0]

[Ability 1: Power Construct]

[Gender: —]

[Moves: Bite (150%), Glare (150%), Dragon Breath (150%), Stomp (150%), Safeguard (150%), Dig (150%), Dragon Claw (150%), Land’s Wrath (150%), Sandstorm (150%), Haze (—), Crunch (150%), Earthquake (150%), Dragon Pulse (150%), Dragon Dance (150%), Extreme Speed (150%), Thousand Arrows (150%), Thousand Waves (150%), Core Enforcer (150%)...]

[Description: A legendary Mythical Pokémon and the guardian of Kalos’s ecosystem. Its cells are scattered throughout the Kalos region. When the ecosystem is threatened, or when its life is in danger, it appears—from 10% to 50% to Complete Forme. Even a single core cell can reach Complete Forme, but it cannot sustain that form for long. ]

"A single core cell can reach Complete Forme too?" Rio raised an eyebrow at the description. He hadn’t known that—he’d always assumed both core cells were needed.

"But that’s not the priority right now. The priority is making Z2 face reality." Rio looked at complete Zygarde with clear intent to capture. Though he had already captured Z1, the complete Zygarde’s body—controlled by one of its two brains—seemed beyond Z1’s influence.

For example, Zygarde raised its hand to fire a Dragon Pulse at Gengar, but the attack dissipated midway—a sign of conflict between Z2 and Z1. One wanted to attack, the other didn’t, and their wills were clashing.

Since that was the case, Rio decided to help Z1 by giving Zygarde a beating—letting Z2 understand what it was up against. This would also satisfy Dialga and the others’ long-held desire to gang up on another legendary, and boost his friendship with them. Of course, that was only if Z1 lost the internal struggle or called for help. Intervening prematurely would lower his friendship with Z1.

He reached into his bag, preparing to summon the Sinnoh Three and Yveltal. Xerneas, on the other hand, seemed uninterested in gang-beatings—a truly gentle legendary.

"Th-that’s the complete Zygarde—the guardian of Kalos’s order!" Diantha was stunned. "It’s really appeared! That impersonator must be trying to capture it! We have to stop him—at all costs!"

She threw five more Poké Balls, releasing Aurorus, Gourgeist, Goodra, Hawlucha, and Tyrantrum. Steven and Alder also released their remaining Pokémon.

"Don’t just stand there—help us stop him from taking Zygarde!" Diantha shouted at the Flare members and Alain, who were also frozen in shock. Using Team Flare’s help was better than nothing.

Alain released his remaining Pokémon. Meanwhile, Rio, who had just finished calling the Sinnoh Three and Yveltal, heard the commotion behind him and scoffed.

"Mewtwo, handle them. Take them out of the fight, then join the Zygarde beatdown." Rio called out, then began summoning through the three stones and Yveltal’s feather.

Mewtwo glanced at the eager Old Ghost, then at Zygarde, still struggling for control, and finally at the Champions, Alain, and Team Flare. Their Pokémon were preparing to attack. Mewtwo’s body erupted in evolution light, shifting into Y Forme. It raised both hands, forming a translucent barrier that absorbed all incoming attacks. Then its eyes glowed silver, and the dozens of Pokémon below were lifted into the air by a powerful psychic force. Mewtwo slowly clenched its fists, and the Pokémon writhed in pain before falling unconscious.

In less than ten seconds, all the Champions’, Alain’s, and Team Flare’s Pokémon were down. Diantha, Steven, and Alder were frozen in terror.

"It’s... it’s that strong..." Diantha collapsed to her knees, defeated. "How are we supposed to save the world now..." Steven stared at his trembling hands.

"Done." Mewtwo’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind. Rio turned and gave a thumbs-up. But when he looked back, he noticed Diancie’s friendship had dropped from 58 to 57—his actions had clearly unsettled her.

"What’s wrong, Diancie?" Rio asked. Diancie didn’t respond. Rio quickly reviewed his recent actions and words to figure out what could have caused the drop. After ten seconds, he had it.

"You think I’m a bad person—because I just beat up all those people, don’t you?" Diancie’s pupils contracted—he’d hit the mark. Rio continued: "I agree with you. From their perspective, I’d look like a villain—capturing regionals legendaries and having them gang up on others."

Diancie’s eyes widened—she hadn’t expected him to admit it. "So... you really are a bad person?" She asked hesitantly.

"Of course not." Rio’s words made her relax. "Because from my perspective, I don’t see myself that way. First, I don’t restrict my legendaries’ freedom, and I don’t command them to harm innocent people or Pokémon."

"Second, in the near future, an evil force will arrive from another dimension with legendary Pokémon from other worlds, aiming to conquer this one. I refuse to be a sitting duck. I’m capturing these legendaries now so they won’t fall into the wrong hands."

"An evil force? Legendaries from other dimensions?" Diancie was shocked.

"Yes—an evil organization that has captured legendaries from other dimensions. They’ll have Xerneas, Yveltal, even Zygarde, and Mewtwo among their ranks." Rio said. Diancie looked at the struggling Zygarde and the newly dominating Mewtwo, imagining the chaos such a force would bring.

"What would I do if I hadn’t prepared? Rely on those people to save the world?" Rio scoffed. "They can’t even stop me—what chance would they have against real threats?"

"I’m sorry, Rio—I misunderstood you." Diancie apologized.

"Anyone would think I’m the villain without knowing the full story." Rio shrugged, then patted Diancie’s head. "But as long as you understand, that’s what matters."

[Diancie’s friendship has increased]

[Friendship: 59 (0 → 59) ]

Diancie’s friendship rose from 57 to 59—just one point away from unlocking the first-level reward. Rio smiled with satisfaction—but it didn’t last two seconds. Zygarde had apparently resolved its internal struggle and fired a Dragon Pulse at them. Charizard countered with Flamethrower, but the seven-level gap meant the attack was overwhelmed, and Charizard was sent flying—along with Rio and Diancie. Mewtwo caught them with Psychic.

"Roooar~" Charizard growled, eyeing the Key Stone on Rio’s chest—it wanted to Mega Evolve and fight back.

"Looks like Z1 lost." Rio didn’t immediately approve Charizard’s request. After landing its Dragon Pulse on Charizard, Zygarde fired another at Old Ghost without hesitation—no more interference from Z1.

"Charizard, Mega Evolve." Rio finally agreed, activating the Key Stone. Rainbow light connected with Charizard’s X Mega Stone, and it evolved into its close-combat X Forme.

Just then, two dimensional rifts tore open in the sky, and two dragon roars echoed. Dialga and Palkia emerged, grinning excitedly—they hadn’t fought each other over territory since becoming Rio’s Pokémon, and instead waited for him to summon them for gang-beatings.

"Dialga~!" — Zygarde! Your big brother Dialga is here—prepare to die!

"Palkia~!" — Zygarde! Your big brother Palkia is here too—lie down and take a few Aura Spheres!

They announced themselves, then saw Old Ghost retreating from Zygarde’s Dragon Pulse and laughed.

"Dialga~!" — Old Ghost, you’re useless! Move aside—watch how your big brother handles it!

Dialga fired a Dragon Breath—only to have it crushed by Zygarde’s own Dragon Breath, sending Dialga flying.

"Gengar~" — Oh yeah, you’re doing great!

Old Ghost mocked mercilessly. "Gengar~" — Watch Old Ghost evolve and avenge you!

It asked Rio for permission to Mega Evolve. "No way, Rio! I need to Mega Evolve too—otherwise, I might end up getting beaten instead of doing the beating!"

But Rio shook his head. "Old Ghost, it’s not that I don’t want to—it’s just that only one Pokémon can Mega Evolve per battle. Charizard already did, so you can’t."

Old Ghost was stunned—it had never known that. That meant it would have to compete with Charizard for Mega Evolution in the future.

"What about him? Why can Mewtwo do it?" Old Ghost pointed at Mewtwo, already in Y Forme.

"Unlike you, you hundred-year-old fossil, I can Mega Evolve on my own." Mewtwo said with great satisfaction.

Old Ghost’s expression froze—it felt like a critical hit.