Wait for it?!
That cold voice made Silas force a wry smile. He wanted to explain himself, but Sabrina wasn't giving him the chance—she and Alakazam had already vanished, leaving behind nothing but a single Marsh Badge.
"Keeheeheehee~" As Silas stood speechless, Gastly drifted up by his side, a smug grin plastered on his face. "So? Pretty awesome, right? I totally carried your fight, snagged you a win—heck, I even blew up the whole gym for you!"
"Heh…"
Seeing Gastly so smug made Silas's mouth twitch. He fought back the urge to let Dragonite and all his other Pokémon out and beat Gastly into a pulp. Shaking his head, he recalled Gastly, turned, and left Saffron Gym under the astonished stares of onlookers. Really, it wasn't just Gastly's fault—yeah, Gastly acted like a clown, but blowing up Saffron Gym was done by his command. So ultimately, Silas had to own the results.
Either way, he couldn't be bothered right now—Sabrina wasn't someone who'd throw a fit, demand compensation, or raise hell. If it were about money, fine—Silas was filthy rich. But with Sabrina? No way he'd ever predict her next move. So he gave up trying to guess, deciding to handle whatever she threw his way head-on when it came.
With that, Silas headed back to the hotel with Lorelei and the others—and instantly knocked out for a nap.
…
Three hours later.
The three girls came back, their chattering waking Silas from his groggy sleep.
"You're up?" Suzie was first to notice Silas crawling out of bed. She beamed and waved him over, pointing at the pile of shopping bags. "Perfect timing—come check out the clothes we picked out for you! If any don't fit, I'll go swap them out."
"That's… a lot." Silas blinked at the heap—there had to be over a dozen bags full of clothes, minimum!
"You think that's a lot?" Suzie looked baffled, then grinned. "Honestly, I don't. There were so many more that'd look great on you—I'm just making sure this batch fits before I go buy the next round."
There's a second round?!
The thought just left Silas dizzy—he'd never seen so many clothes in his life.
While he was still reeling, Suzie grabbed him, shoved a bag into his hands. "Here, try this on!"
"Right here?!" Silas stared, dumbfounded.
"Well, duh." Suzie rolled her eyes, still grinning. "It's just us. Even if there were strangers, you're just a ten-year-old brat—nobody would even blink if you stood around naked. What, you think we're going to get dirty thoughts about a literal child?"
A brat…
That line did Silas in, but then Lorelei jumped in for the kill-shot.
"Exactly!" Lorelei nodded, all seriousness. "You're ten, not twenty. What's there to be shy about? Even if anyone's taking a loss here, you're the last on the list."
"…." Silas.
"She's right!" Giselle piped up, twisting the dagger. "I'm twelve, and between the two of us, I'm the one who'd be embarrassed! If I'm not worried, what are you scared for?"
"…." Silas.
Right then, Silas felt a thousand wild Tauros stampeding through his soul. But he couldn't clap back—he really was just a ten-year-old in this world. So, holding back tears, he stripped down and started trying on all the clothes Suzie handed him.
No sooner had he slipped into one than Suzie nodded. "That looks good. Try this one next!"
"…Alright."
"Eh, this one's so-so. Next!"
"…Okay."
"This shirt doesn't go with those black pants. I'll get blue ones later. Next!"
"…Sure."
And so it went; Silas tried outfit after outfit, standing for review after review. His expression screamed dead-inside, making Lorelei and Giselle giggle uncontrollably. Neither of them thought the usually-mature Silas could ever look so defeated.
In the middle of this little fashion parade, the Master Ball at Silas's waist suddenly burst open!
Gastly shot out, eyes flaring with violet light, instantly wrapping the whole room in ghostly aura!
"What's wrong?" Silas paused mid-change at Gastly's sudden move.
"That psychic prodigy chick is looking for you," Gastly intoned seriously.
That startled Silas—he glanced quickly around the room. No sign of Sabrina, thank Arceus. He turned to Gastly, "How do you know she's looking for me? And how would she even find me?"
"Psychic powers," Gastly replied, sounding almost impressed. "She might not have fully tapped into her prodigy-level power, but she sure knows how to use it. Right now, she's channeling the energy from a bunch of Psychic-types, stacking all their abilities together to scan the entire city for your aura. If you step outside this room, she'll spot you instantly!"
"…That's insane," Silas muttered. "You can't be serious. Aren't powers like that kinda broken?"
"Definitely busted," Gastly nodded, tone almost envious. "If that girl ever maxed out her psychic prodigy powers, I bet she could go toe-to-toe with the strongest Legendary Pokémon!"
"Damn…" Silas was floored.
"Silas." At that, Lorelei spoke up. "What's going on? By psychic prodigy, do you mean Sabrina? Why is she hunting you down?"
"…." Silas hesitated, then grimaced. "I blew up the Saffron Gym battlefield."
"…." All three girls.
…
The hotel room fell into awkward silence.
The girls all gawked at Silas—none of them could believe he'd pull something so reckless, especially since they knew how powerful he really was. It was totally avoidable!
"So, uh…" Silas scratched his nose, feeling all the stares. "It was an accident, honest. I really thought Gastly was a lot weaker than that."
"You…" Lorelei sighed, her voice resigned. "Forget that Sabrina's a top League asset for now—her family's one of the Oak family's biggest backers at League meetings. What you did was way out of line. If rumors start flying, it'll be bad for both you and your family."
"…." Silas.
"What now?" Suzie asked, worried.
"No clue," Silas confessed with a rueful laugh. "No way I'm apologizing—not to Sabrina, anyway. She's nuts. If I show up in person, I'll probably spend the next week or two as one of her dollies."
"Dollies?" Giselle echoed in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Psychic powers…" Silas explained, exasperated. "She can literally turn people into dolls."
"Whoa," Giselle gasped, then beamed. "That's awesome!"
"Yeah, real awesome," Lorelei sighed, rubbing her temples. "But the more powerful her psychic stuff is, the bigger a mess this turns into for us."
"…So what now?" Giselle blinked, at a loss.
Lorelei considered, then suggested, "…why don't we just run for it?"
Run?
That caught Silas totally off guard.
Truthfully, that option wasn't even on his radar—he never considered just fleeing. But the more he thought, the more sense it made. Sure, Gastly could curb-stomp Sabrina in a real fight, but he'd messed up first, and Sabrina's family was politically important. No way he could just start a war for such a petty reason.
So after a moment's thought, Silas nodded. "Good idea. I already got the badge, so we can just bail. I'll message my grandpa, let him smooth things out with her family. That should do the trick."
"Nice." Lorelei approved warmly. "That's probably the best option—and no real consequences."
As Lorelei and Silas wrapped things up, Suzie asked hesitantly, "But… how do we get out? Didn't Gastly say that if Silas steps outside, Sabrina will know right away?"
Her question turned everyone's eyes to Gastly. He rolled his own eyes right back. "Don't look at me! I can block her psychic sense in one room, sure, but if we move around, I can't keep her out."
"Nothing you can do at all?" Silas frowned.
"Nope," Gastly admitted, frustration showing. "All we can do is wait. There's no way she can keep up a citywide scan like this forever—once she gives up, we split."
"Alright," Silas sighed, resigning himself.
…
One hour…
Two hours…
Five hours…
Night fell!
He glanced at the window, then at the clock—it was close to midnight. The girls had all gone to bed, but Silas was starting to lose patience. He turned to Gastly, "Didn't you say there's no way she could keep this up? It's been, what, nine hours? She's still going strong?"
"No clue," Gastly replied, looking miserable. "I think that crazy girl's using not just a few psychic Pokémon, but an entire squad. If that's the case, we better settle in—she could keep this going forever. Aside from eating and drinking, she doesn't need a break."
"…You mean she can skip sleep, too?"
"Yup," Gastly said, matter-of-fact. "Psychic power's all about mental energy. She's meshed hers with all those Pokémon—so the drain is actually less than usual. She could keep this up for weeks."
…
Weeks…
That was more than Silas could take. There was no way he was waiting around that long. If worst came to worst, he'd just have Gastly sneak over and KO Sabrina so they could make their escape—though that was his absolute last resort.
Right in the middle of this crisis, a freezing, almost suffocating voice suddenly rang out behind him, scaring Silas half to death.
"So here you are."
The sound came out of nowhere, ice-cold as the grave!
When Silas turned, disbelief on his face, he found Sabrina standing there, giving him a look that could chill a Charizard's flame.
"How did you find me?!" Silas burst out, glancing at Gastly for answers. Gastly just shook his head—he was stumped, too.
"How did I find you?" Sabrina's lips curled into one of those frosty smiles, her eyes brimming with mocking amusement. "Your Gastly is strong, and that fancy barrier did block my psychic scan. But this is Saffron City. My city. If psychic power doesn't cut it, you really think I can't just use manpower?"
Smack!
Silas slapped his palm to his face, totally defeated. "Fine. You win. Just say what you want."