In the evening, Sabrina appeared again.
She had changed into a black, one-piece leather outfit, which looked sharp and heroic, but also highlighted the fact that she was young yet wealthy enough to rival a nation.
Aomori's eyes were fixed ahead, his gaze unflinching, a faint purple glow shimmering within. A cushion slowly floated behind her.
"You can use telekinesis already?" Sabrina glanced at Aomori, ignoring the cushion he offered. She reached out, grasping a chair from the empty space, and sat down gracefully, crossing her legs.
"Mhm." Aomori stood up and stretched, his eyes wandering as he said, "I'm not very skilled yet. For now, I can only move lighter objects."
"Your mental power is sufficient. Practice more, and you'll quickly master some common techniques."
"Like X-ray vision, hypnosis, paralysis, and teleportation?"
Sabrina narrowed her eyes and shot Aomori a casual glance before answering very seriously, "X-ray vision is simple. Hypnosis and paralysis require a certain understanding of the human psyche, and Teleportation is an advanced skill involving space. Do not attempt it recklessly."
"Understood."
"Let's go eat first." Without waiting for Aomori to react, Sabrina teleported him to the same restaurant from the morning.
Dinner was even more lavish, with various dishes like steak, shrimp and salmon, mashed cheesy potatoes, and tofu seafood soup laid out on the table for them to enjoy.
Aomori hadn't eaten lunch, having spent the entire day practicing his psychic powers, so he was quite hungry now. He smiled and said, "Then I won't be polite."
Absol, Pidgeot, and Darkrai rejoined the feast.
After they had finished several courses, Sabrina put down her spoon and wiped her lips with a napkin. She then patiently waited for Aomori to eat his fill before getting straight to the point: "Aomori, if I'm not mistaken, you possess a method for rapidly entering a meditative state, is that right?"
"Rapid meditation?"
"I mean the method you used this morning to quickly calm yourself down."
"Are you referring to Meditation?" Aomori smiled. " Meditation is not just for quick calming; its main function is to boost mental power."
"Boost mental power?" Sabrina realized. "No wonder your mental power is extremely high, yet you hadn't mastered the use of psychic abilities."
Aomori was well aware of the value of Meditation and had planned to use it to secure resources. He hadn't expected Sabrina to bring it up first.
He clasped his hands together, resting his chin on them, and entered negotiation mode: "Let's make a deal. As long as the conditions you offer meet my expectations, I will give you the training method for Meditation."
"Tell me what you want," Sabrina said, looking as if she had endless money to spend.
"Hmm, then I won't hold back." Aomori cleared his throat, counting on his fingers: "First, I want a complete, legal ID."
"Can do." Sabrina took a sip of hot tea, not even lifting her eyelids as she agreed.
"Second, I want a Dratini, Bagon, or Gible."
The final evolutions of these three Pokémon are powerful existences known as pseudo-Legendaries. They all possess the Dragon type and have high growth potential, making them one of Aomori's targets for contracted partners.
These Pokémon are priceless and difficult to find, even with money. Sabrina frowned but said, "Can do."
"Third, I want the Technical Machine (TM) resources for Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Future Sight, Brave Bird, Hyper Beam, Teleport, Substitute, Blizzard, Hidden Power, and Giga Impact—ten moves in total—along with the necessary complementary resources."
These were moves Aomori had planned for his Absol and the others.
Upon hearing this request, Sabrina nearly lost control of her psychic power and was on the verge of sinking Aomori into the sea. Move TMs are typically guarded zealously by Trainers, and very few circulate on the market, let alone some of the moves Aomori had listed, which Sabrina hadn't even heard of.
"Impossible!" she refused decisively. "I can find you three at most. However, you can learn any move TMs that I currently have in my possession."
"Deal!" Aomori agreed instantly. He knew he was making an outrageous demand; his internal expectation was five. He hadn't expected Sabrina to be so generous as to allow him to study any of the Saffron Gym's existing inventory.
Sabrina seemed to feel she had been taken advantage of and shot him a fierce glare. However, the little girl doll lying on her knee cracked a smile: 'It's just as the future I saw predicted. The move TMs are just gathering dust in the warehouse anyway, so what's the harm in letting him look? Besides, does he really think he can just learn them with the TMs? He'll have to stay here and learn them slowly. Heh heh heh...'
A single thought flashed through both Aomori's and Sabrina's minds simultaneously: 'This wave was not a loss!'
"Mm, that's about all," Aomori said, knowing when to quit while he was ahead.
It was then that Sabrina added, "I want to add one condition. You need to serve as a Trainer Apprentice at the Saffron Gym and help me deal with Gym challenges occasionally."
Aomori was startled and asked, "Can a Trainer Apprentice handle Gym challenges?"
"If I say you can, you can!"
"But I won't be staying here for too long," Aomori said truthfully.
"That's fine. Just come here when you're free; your actions won't be restricted. If you agree, the Saffron Gym will provide free food and accommodation, plus a salary. If you refuse, you won't get dinner tomorrow!" Sabrina turned her head away, speaking as if to the air.
"Free food and accommodation, you say? Well, I have no choice then. I accept."
"And one more thing."
"One more?"
"Your Darkrai looks quite extraordinary. I want to know more about it, and it would be even better if I could study it." Sabrina had been coveting Darkrai for a long time. It was the first time she had encountered something that could nullify her psychic power.
"I can tell you its story, but research is out of the question."
"Fine."
Having reached an agreement, the two established a cooperative relationship and felt somewhat closer.
Thus, Aomori grandly waved his hand, deciding to immediately check out her inventory.
Sabrina flashed him into the Saffron Gym's vault, which contained dozens of rows of shelves, each holding a combination lockbox.
The move TMs were stored in the deepest layer of the vault. After opening multiple layers of sealed doors, Aomori finally saw the lockboxes holding the TMs.
When the lockboxes were opened, Aomori saw two or three dozen TM discs. A quick scan showed Psychic-type moves like Psybeam, Reflect, Zen Headbutt, and Ally Switch, as well as common moves like Iron Tail, Electroweb, and Bullet Seed.
"Some of the originals are paper TMs locked in a hidden compartment. These are all recorded videos of the entire move-learning process, which helps other Trainers get their Pokémon to learn the moves quickly," Sabrina explained.
Aomori nodded in understanding.
After looking through them for a while, he picked out Reflect, Steel Wing, and Hyper Beam, which seemed relatively easy to learn, for Absol and his other Pokémon to study.
With the move TMs and complementary resources secured, Aomori returned the favor by giving Sabrina the training method for Meditation and the information about Darkrai.
The two, having gained what they wanted, parted ways, both eager to return and begin their research.
————
You can read the ahead chapter on Patr-eon if you're interested: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]