A few days later, Saffron City.
The massive Silph Co. headquarters was located at the center of the city. As the central business hub of the Kanto Region, and boasting the region's largest infrastructure, Saffron City was always bustling with activity.
At this moment, inside a department store next to Silph Co. headquarters, Terrance was arguing with a young saleswoman.
"Sir, this item really has already been reserved by someone else…" The young saleswoman explained helplessly, but Terrance was not willing to let go of such a good opportunity.
After parting ways with Master Lorelei, Terrance quickly returned from Seafoam Islands to Fuchsia City to prepare for the upcoming Grand Festival in Saffron City, and only then did he come to Saffron City.
Upon arriving in Saffron City, aside from settling temporary accommodations, Terrance also needed to restock his supplies. He was already running low when he left Cinnabar Island, and since Saffron City's commercial scene offered more options, he hadn't hurried to buy things back on Cinnabar Island and left it until now.
Originally, Terrance had only planned to buy some Pokémon food ingredients, but unexpectedly discovered more than a dozen Float Stones at this department store.
Sixteen of them… wow. If he could get them, they should be more than enough for the Pupitar stage. No, even after evolution, there shouldn't be a problem.
But the issue was, these Float Stones seemed to have been reserved by someone, which left Terrance confused. He was already surprised to find so many Float Stones in Saffron City, but to discover someone needed this many at once was even more unexpected.
Still, since they hadn't been picked up yet, that meant there was still room to compete. Terrance had rarely come across such a large batch of Float Stones and naturally didn't want to give up easily.
Although this approach was a little unethical, as long as he could satisfy the original buyer, it should be fine. Just as Terrance was thinking about how to negotiate with the original buyer, the saleswoman's eyes lit up because a voice reached her ears.
"I'm here to pick up the Float Stones."
The buyer had arrived. The saleswoman, who had been explaining things to Terrance for ages, was overjoyed: "She's here. How about you two discuss it directly?"
Quickly passing the problem along, the saleswoman breathed a sigh of relief. When Terrance heard her words, he turned to look at the person who had come to collect the Float Stones.
But with just one glance, his pupils contracted and he instinctively took half a step back.
Staring intently at the girl before him… Terrance suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Judging by her age, she couldn't be more than ten? Maybe not even ten yet.
What startled Terrance most was that he couldn't sense any human presence from the girl at all. And when he used his meditation method to channel his psychic power into his eyes, all he saw was a mass of inky black mist.
But before Terrance could get a better look, his eyes suddenly stung, forcing him to close them. At the same time, he tried to release Kirlia, but all of his Poké Balls seemed to be locked by some mysterious force. He couldn't send out Kirlia or the others at all, and even the Telepathy granted by his Fairy Mark couldn't connect them.
"Don't move…" the girl's clear voice rang out. Terrance immediately nodded, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his cheek. He already had a good idea who she was.
I don't want the Float Stones anymore, okay?
"I'm here to pick up the Float Stones." The girl slowly walked forward and handed over a membership card. At this, the saleswoman glanced at Terrance in confusion. Seeing that Terrance showed no reaction at all, she was bewildered: Weren't you quite eager just now? Why aren't you doing anything now?
But the saleswoman didn't want to complicate things further; after all, this girl had reserved the company goods online and even paid a deposit. Now, after swiping her card to complete the purchase, the Float Stones were rightfully hers. A smooth transaction was best for everyone.
"There are sixteen Float Stones in total. They're pretty heavy. Little sister, can you carry them?" After packing up the Float Stones, the saleswoman asked kindly.
"Mm." The little girl, her face hidden beneath a wide-brimmed white hat, replied softly, then took the box with the Float Stones… To the saleswoman's surprise, the box that she herself struggled to lift seemed effortless for the petite girl.
What's going on…
"Thank you for shopping with us!" Still puzzled, the saleswoman called out as she saw the girl turn to leave. Out of curiosity, she watched the little girl until she disappeared from view… Only then did she suddenly remember Terrance and look around, but Terrance was nowhere to be seen.
As for where Terrance was; of course, he was following the little girl.
Right now, Terrance was awkwardly trailing after her. "Miss Sabrina, I didn't expect you to be out like this, it gave me a scare. Oh, and it's been a while since we last met."
"I remember you. You're the one I threw out of the Gym." The little girl in the white hat and dress didn't turn around, but Terrance still heard her words through Telepathy.
"You've learned psychic powers too?" Then, she once again opened her mouth and asked.
"I've only learned a little," Terrance replied, embarrassed. He couldn't even use telekinesis. Could he really call that psychic power?
"No wonder you're so weak."
"Uh…"
Hearing Sabrina's evaluation, Terrance tried to comfort himself. Well, she really was one of the world's top psychic users; if she said he was weak, he couldn't argue. He really was weak.
Terrance remembered that by this point in time, Sabrina should have already returned to normal, which was why he dared to approach her.
Otherwise, if this were the old Sabrina, Terrance really wouldn't have dared get close. Even Elite Four-level Psychic-type Pokémon couldn't use psychic powers as terrifyingly as Sabrina. In the past, if she didn't like someone, she'd just turn them into a doll. Indigo League had received numerous complaints, but no one wanted to intervene. She was just too difficult to handle.
"Do you want these too?" At this moment, the puppet Sabrina had formed with her own psychic powers stopped in its tracks, turned around, and held out the box of Float Stones.
"I did think about buying them, but since you've already purchased them, Miss Sabrina, it doesn't really matter to me. They're not absolutely necessary," Terrance replied.
"Hmm… but why do I feel like you're a little reluctant?" Sabrina hesitated, sensing something was off.
"Speaking of which, how's that Kirlia of yours?"
"Oh, it…" Terrance was about to explain, but when Sabrina changed the subject, he grinned. The way Ralts had developed….Sabrina would never have expected it! That little Ralts had become such a reliable partner.
If Terrance had let Sabrina raise Ralts back then, things would be very different now.
"It's doing great, it's found its own path," Terrance said with a smile, genuinely happy for Gallade.
Hearing his answer, Sabrina smiled as well and said, "Come with me. I'll take you to Saffron Gym as my guest."
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