Chapter 8: Challenging Sabrina
Three days passed quickly, and a plane landed safely at the airport in the bustling metropolis of Saffron City. Ryan escorted Lillie off the plane. She was dressed in pure white casual clothes, her long hair now tied in a ponytail. In her arms, she clutched a snow-white Pokémon egg.
The egg was contained in a temperature-controlled incubator, which allowed Lillie to hold it without fear. This Pokémon egg had been entrusted to Professor Oak by Lillie's mother and the Aether Foundation. Ryan suspected it was an Alolan Vulpix egg - a reversal of the typical situation where Kanto Pokémon were sent to Alola for research.
The Ice-type Vulpix was destined to be Lillie's starter Pokémon. After all, Ryan wouldn't make another trip to Pallet Town just for a Pokémon egg delivery. At worst, he could take the already-hatched Vulpix to Professor Oak later. He didn't believe Oak would take a young girl's first Pokémon.
After flying for most of the day, everyone was exhausted. Ryan first took Lillie to the Pokémon Center to rest and have their Pokémon and the egg checked, then they both took a well-deserved nap.
Once fully rested, Ryan immediately took Lillie to the Saffron Gym. Arriving at the massive psychic-type gym, Ryan didn't see any sign of Sabrina's father or the gym's usual assistants. He knew what was going on and wasn't intimidated by Sabrina's psychic abilities.
Even during their vacation, he'd encountered several trainers who enjoyed battling. After three days of sporadic battles, all four of his Pokémon were in their mid-30s level-wise. Charmeleon was on the verge of evolving into Charizard, and Froakie had already evolved into Frogadier.
It was unfortunate that Frogadier was only level 31 - too early for its final evolution. Otherwise, Greninja's Water/Dark typing would have easily defeated Sabrina's Psychic-types. However, both Charmeleon and Beedrill were high-damage attackers, and given the typically frail nature of Psychic-types, they could potentially score quick knockouts.
Pushing open the gym's doors, Ryan and Lillie spotted several people sitting in meditation poses, practicing telekinesis on spoons and other objects. Lillie watched with fascination, while Ryan remained unimpressed. Such basic psychic displays couldn't compare to his Bond Power.
A gym trainer approached and asked, "Are you here to challenge the gym? Do either of you possess psychic abilities?"
"I don't, but Ryan does. He wants to challenge the gym, and we need a favor from your Gym Leader," Lillie said directly.
Upon hearing that Ryan possessed special abilities, the trainer nodded and said, "Follow me. I'll take you to Gym Leader Sabrina."
He led Ryan and Lillie deeper into the gym. They arrived at a large battle arena with an elevated platform. Spotlights illuminated the arena, revealing Sabrina sitting regally on a high chair, holding an ornate doll.
Seeing them enter the arena, the doll in her arms spoke in Sabrina's voice through telepathy: "You are the challengers. I am Sabrina. If you win, I will give you the Marsh Badge, but if you lose, you must stay here and become part of my collection."
Lillie immediately whispered to Ryan curiously, "Is that really Sabrina? Why is the doll talking?"
"Yeah, it's just psychic ventriloquism. She's projecting her voice through the doll using telepathy," Ryan explained, then addressed Sabrina directly. "Gym Leader Sabrina, I accept your conditions, but if I win, I want to ask you for a favor. This is Lillie, and there's a psychic seal in her mind blocking her memories. If I win, please help remove that seal."
"Hmm, I can sense the seal. It's powerful but not impossible to break. I accept your terms. Let the battle begin - we'll settle this in a single round. Go, Kadabra." The doll spoke as Sabrina used her psychic powers to float a Poké Ball to the center of the field, releasing her Psychic-type Pokémon.
"It's a deal. Go, Charmeleon!" Ryan sent out his Fire-type. "Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!"
Charmeleon immediately launched a stream of fire at Kadabra. The Psychic-type vanished from the spot using Teleport, reappearing on the opposite side of the field. Ryan suddenly felt uneasy about this development.
Teleport in real battles was far more problematic than in the games. This instant repositioning ability, unless countered by specific moves or abilities, would make tracking Kadabra incredibly difficult. Furthermore, he suspected Sabrina was enhancing Kadabra's abilities with her own psychic powers.
Ryan glanced at the stoic Sabrina. He knew she was definitely using her psychic abilities to assist Kadabra, but calling her out would be pointless. He came up with a desperate strategy and shouted, "Charmeleon, use Smokescreen, then Flame Burst!"
Black smoke instantly filled the battlefield, followed by multiple fireballs exploding throughout the arena, creating a spectacular but dangerous display that shook the entire Saffron Gym. When the smoke cleared, Charmeleon stood panting heavily in the center. Kadabra was surrounded by a pale blue psychic barrier, completely unharmed!
However, a glance at Sabrina's slightly pale complexion revealed that maintaining such a powerful Reflect barrier had cost her significant energy. The high-risk, high-reward strategy had worked partially - Ryan could see Charmeleon's health was down to about a quarter, making this battle extremely precarious.
Charmeleon roared in determination, the flame on its tail blazing fiercely as its Blaze ability activated. Then, a brilliant white light enveloped its body. When the evolution light faded, a magnificent Charizard stood on the battlefield.
Kadabra's psychic barrier disappeared, and it too began glowing with evolutionary light. When the light faded, an Alakazam holding two spoons appeared across from Charizard.
"Charizard, use Wing Attack!" Ryan commanded. Evolving into Charizard had significantly boosted its speed, and aerial combat was much more advantageous than ground-based fighting.
Alakazam dodged the Wing Attack using Teleport, raised its spoons, and with blue light emanating from its eyes, used Psychic to try restraining Charizard. Charizard struggled against the telekinetic hold, broke free with raw strength, and immediately countered with Flamethrower, successfully striking the momentarily focused Alakazam.
The Fire-type attack left Alakazam with only a sliver of health remaining. Ryan grinned, "Charizard, finish it with another Flamethrower!"
Charizard roared and unleashed another flame attack. Alakazam attempted to Teleport away but was still clipped by the flames. As it materialized on the side of the arena, it collapsed, unable to battle further.
Ryan ran over to Charizard and gave it a congratulatory embrace. This battle had been incredibly challenging, highlighting his current team's main weakness: limited type coverage and move diversity.
Ryan decided he needed to focus on expanding his Pokémon's movesets and possibly catching team members with different typing to handle various situations more effectively.
At that moment, a golden badge floated through the air toward Ryan using psychic power. Sabrina stepped down from her platform and spoke in her own calm voice, "You have won. Here is the Marsh Badge, and I will honor our agreement."
She walked over to Lillie, gently placed her finger on the girl's forehead, and closed her eyes in concentration. After a moment of psychic energy swirling around Lillie's head, Sabrina nodded and walked back into the depths of the gym without another word.
Ryan stared in amazement. That was it? The seal was broken just like that?
Lillie blinked several times, then her eyes widened as suppressed memories began flooding back. "I... I remember now. Nebby... and mother..." Tears began forming in her eyes, but for the first time in years, she wasn't afraid when Charizard approached to check on her.
To be continued...
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