At this moment, footsteps sounded, and a middle-aged man wearing a baseball cap, a full beard, and casual clothes walked over.
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Hello," Xia You said kindly, "I'm here to challenge the Gym Leader Sabrina. Is she here?"
The man nodded, his gaze falling on Kirlia.
"You also like Psychic-type Pokémon, don't you? But you yourself don't seem to have the potential to unleash Psychic powers."
"Huh?" Xia You said, puzzled. "I don't need to perform magic tricks, so what would I do with Psychic powers?"
"What!? Magic tricks!?"
The man felt a breath catch in his chest. After a few coughs, he turned and walked deeper into the Gym.
"Follow me. But don't say I didn't warn you—people without Psychic powers cannot unleash the full strength of Psychic-type Pokémon!"
Cannot unleash their full strength?
Xia You stroked Kirlia's head and didn't refute him on the spot.
He just wanted to say that if a Trainer doesn't have Psychic powers, they can't connect with their Pokémon telepathically.
For other Trainers and their Psychic-type Pokémon, this would indeed affect the Pokémon's strength—but for Xia You and Kirlia, it wasn't a problem at all.
Walking through a long corridor, Xia You arrived at the battle arena.
With marble tiles on the floor, two rows of stone pillars reaching the ceiling, and torches lit around the arena, it looked less like a Gym and more like a temple.
On the other side of the arena, a beautiful woman with long, straight black hair, a tall figure, fair skin, a tight red leather dress, and long black stockings was sitting calmly on a chair, watching him.
This was Sabrina, the Gym Leader of Saffron Gym.
"Sabrina, someone else wants to challenge you," the middle-aged man said, then walked to the center of the arena to act as the referee.
Sabrina's body slowly floated up, gradually drifting to the Trainer's command area.
Just being able to do this with her own Psychic power truly made Xia You both envious and amazed.
"I have foreseen your arrival," Sabrina's voice was calm and cold, without much emotional fluctuation. "And on you—besides Psychic power—there is also a hateful aura of mischief."
As expected of a woman with powerful Psychic abilities—she could even see Gastly hidden in his shadow.
Regarding her story, Xia You remembered it clearly even now, due to how deeply it had impressed him.
When Sabrina was young, she had already awakened her innate and powerful Psychic abilities. Unfortunately, due to her excessive obsession with practicing Psychic powers, she gradually closed herself off—neither making friends nor maintaining her own home.
She even used her Psychic powers to drive out her father, who tried to stop her, and turned her mother into a doll.
From that moment on, Sabrina split into two personalities.
One was the powerful, cold Sabrina, second to none.
The other was the mischievous Sabrina, who longed for friends and hid deep loneliness in her heart.
However, Xia You had arrived at a very opportune time.
A few days ago, Ash had successfully helped Sabrina return to normal with a Haunter he brought from the Pokémon Tower.
Although she still appeared cold and emotionless now, she no longer shut herself away. She reconciled with her family and even occasionally smiled.
Thinking of this, Xia You quickly glanced at the middle-aged man.
He must be Sabrina's father, right?
"Excuse me…" Xia You collected his thoughts and asked, "What are the battle rules?"
Sabrina replied, "It's a one-on-one battle. As long as you defeat my Pokémon, you will have successfully challenged me."
With that, Sabrina slowly took out a Poké Ball.
A flash of red light erupted, and a golden, fox-like Pokémon with whiskers appeared in the arena.
It was Kadabra, the same one that accompanied Sabrina in the anime.
Pokédex:
"Beep. Kadabra, the Confusion Pokémon. Psychic type. The evolved form of Abra. Strange phenomena such as clocks turning backward occur around Kadabra. It emits special alpha waves that cause pain to enemies who approach it. It has extremely high demands of its Trainer—those without strong mental power will not be acknowledged. Additionally, without a spoon, it can only use half of its usual Psychic power."
Xia You put away the Pokédex and extended his hand forward.
Kirlia slowly stepped onto the battle arena.
"Aren't you sending out your Ghost-type Pokémon?" Sabrina asked.
Xia You shook his head and didn't explain further.
Gastly's strength was simply too overwhelming, and it also had a type advantage. Using it would neither train his Pokémon nor give his opponent a fair chance.
At that moment, a Haunter floated out from the side.
It circled around Sabrina once, then suddenly noticed the Gastly hiding in Xia You's shadow and hurried over.
Seeing this, Xia You's Gastly floated out as well.
The two Pokémon hovered together, pulling faces at one another and laughing playfully.
Haunter truly was the evolved form of Gastly—to be so close upon first meeting, it seemed this lineage really loved mischief.
But…
This must be the Haunter Ash brought from the Pokémon Tower, right?
So it never returned there and instead stayed with Sabrina.
Seeing that both sides were ready—and that Sabrina had no intention of attacking first—Xia You shouted:
"Kirlia, use Confusion!"
Kirlia raised its hands, and Confusion activated instantly.
An invisible force surged toward Kadabra.
Sabrina didn't speak.
Kadabra lifted the arm holding its spoon and released Confusion as well.
The two Psychic attacks collided midair, erupting in a burst of brilliant light.
However, as both sides continued to pour in power, Kirlia's expression gradually tightened.
Although both had evolved once, Kirlia's Psychic power was still suppressed by Kadabra.
In the end, Kadabra's Confusion broke through and struck Kirlia, forcing it to stagger back several steps.
Fortunately, since both were Psychic-type Pokémon, the damage wasn't severe.
"Kirlia, use Magical Leaf!"
Green light gathered in Kirlia's hands.
In the next instant, countless Magical Leaves shot toward Kadabra at high speed.
Sabrina's expression didn't change.
At the critical moment, Kadabra vanished.
Teleport.
The attack missed entirely.
To issue commands without speaking.
To communicate telepathically with her Pokémon.
This—
was Sabrina's true power.