Join my p@treon for more chapters
[email protected]/Tempest_29
Sabrina looked at Eddie with a sneer on her face. Her words sounded ambiguous, but they carried a cold edge that cut through the air.
However, she was still thinking about their first encounter when Eddie had pretended to be a fool and escaped right under her nose. If she didn't have such a deep impression of that incident, or if she hadn't felt such intense rage when she was fooled, she wouldn't be speaking this way now.
Women can be so vengeful, Eddie thought to himself, but he had already thrown out two Poké Balls from his hands.
Greninja and Gengar appeared in front of Eddie and immediately fixed their wary gazes on Alakazam, ready for battle.
"So this is Greninja. It's actually gotten a bit stronger since the last time we met. And this Gengar—although it has Peak-level strength, it's obviously just reached that tier recently, hasn't it?" Sabrina observed with sharp eyes.
"Morning Sun, after we parted at the Pokémon Tower, you started training a Ghost-type Pokémon. Is it specifically to deal with me?"
Sabrina looked at the Gengar standing before Eddie, her eyes suddenly becoming razor-sharp, and her expression seemed to grow even colder than before.
Greninja was a Pokémon she had seen before, but this Gengar was the first time she was encountering it.
If Eddie had possessed this Gengar during their last meeting, he would definitely have released it to interfere with Agatha's Gastly's control over people.
Even if it wasn't strong enough at that time, as a member of the Gengar evolutionary line, Gengar would have had ways to interfere with or even break Gastly's psychic hold over humans.
Eddie wouldn't be unaware of this capability, and the fact that he hadn't released Gengar back then meant he didn't have this Pokémon at that time.
So Sabrina instantly deduced that this Gengar had been trained by Eddie after their encounter, and the purpose of training it was naturally to deal with specific enemies that Ghost-type Pokémon were effective against.
For example, Ghost-type Elite Four member Agatha, and Sabrina herself—the Psychic-type specialist.
Sabrina couldn't help but feel a surge of anger rising within her.
This was a very unusual reaction for her, because her emotions had always remained cold and controlled, and almost nothing could break through her icy emotional barriers.
Sabrina had encountered many unpleasant experiences since childhood because her Psychic powers were too strong and couldn't be properly controlled.
She was often looked at with strange, fearful eyes by others, and even subjected to cruel words and harsh treatment.
Fortunately, her parents never gave up on her and trained her wholeheartedly, supporting her through those difficult years.
After she grew up, she finally gained the ability to control her Psychic powers properly, so she became a Trainer. She used her Psychic abilities to coordinate with Psychic-type Pokémon, growing stronger along the way until she became the Gym Leader of Saffron City.
Although no one dared to treat her maliciously anymore—instead, a large group of people praised her beauty, admired her strength, and respected her position as a Gym Leader—unfortunately, Sabrina had become withdrawn and taciturn because of the various traumatic experiences from her childhood. She lived each day aimlessly, like a beautiful but emotionless doll.
Until she met Giovanni, the Team Rocket boss who was undeniably evil but possessed great personal charisma and could see through people's hearts with disturbing clarity.
Giovanni was a villain, and his actions couldn't be whitewashed or justified, but no one could deny that he was a powerful Trainer and a leader with tremendous personal magnetism.
Giovanni had given Sabrina a choice and a purpose, and then she joined Team Rocket. Although her emotions remained cold, at least she now had a goal to move toward, even if that purpose had been given to her by someone else.
Then, just a few days ago, she met Eddie.
Sabrina couldn't help but think back to her previous experiences with him. She remembered Eddie pretending to be silly to deceive her, and she remembered his infuriating look of satisfaction when he showed off in front of her with his Dragonite.
She also remembered the scene where they fought side by side and successfully repelled Agatha together.
Of course, there was also the scene where Koga was betrayed by Eddie. Although Koga had been in pain, she had actually been trying to hold back her laughter. After all, Koga had looked absolutely ridiculous in that moment.
Because of Eddie, her emotions had become active again for the first time in years.
When they first met, she had been left speechless by his "foolish" act, then she felt helpless because she couldn't teach Eddie a lesson due to his powerful Kangaskhan. Then she felt genuine happiness fighting side by side and defeating their enemy together. She felt anger after realizing the truth and being deceived, and of course she couldn't help but find amusement when Koga was stabbed in the back.
And now, Eddie stood before her with a Gengar that was specifically trained to counter her abilities.
Sabrina felt an inexplicable rage building within her.
"Hey, hey, Miss Sabrina, you're getting angry for no good reason. Do you really want to fight with me here of all places?"
Sabrina herself didn't seem to notice her emotional state, but Eddie could see it clearly.
At this moment, her Psychic powers had already begun to move unconsciously, and a lavender psychic aura appeared around her body, as if she was ready to engage in battle at any moment.
But if Sabrina fought with Eddie here in Rainbow City, then as long as Eddie could hold out until Erika arrived, the Gym Leader would definitely use all her strength to help capture Sabrina directly.
Eddie was curious to see how Team Rocket's plans would proceed if they were missing one of their key Executive members.
That's why Eddie kindly reminded Sabrina that she needed to choose a better location before starting any conflict.
It was framed as a reminder, but it was actually a clear warning.
He was essentially saying: we can talk peacefully, but if you dare to make the first move, don't blame me for ensuring you never leave this place.
Sabrina was fundamentally a rational person, and she calmed down instantly after hearing Eddie's warning.
Although she didn't know what gave Eddie the confidence to say such a thing, she knew that Eddie had powerful backing. She was deeply impressed by his Kangaskhan from their last encounter. Who knew what other Pokémon Eddie had with him now? Maybe he was only releasing these peak-level Pokémon to confuse and misdirect her?
Of course, although Sabrina wouldn't start a war with Eddie at this time and place, she couldn't appear weak on the surface, so she maintained her intimidating presence.
"Hmph! You're obviously prepared to deal with me specifically with that Gengar, but you're still pretending to be innocent here?"
"Heh! Typical man!"
Sabrina stopped channeling her Psychic powers at this point and looked at Eddie with a disdainful, contemptuous expression, speaking in a tone dripping with scorn.
However, although Sabrina thought she was insulting Eddie or putting him in his place, her expression and tone at this moment created quite a different effect.
Anyway, Eddie silently gave Sabrina a mental thumbs up. He felt that her expression and tone perfectly embodied the temperament of a cold and beautiful queen, and he found it quite appealing.
"How could that be? This Gengar isn't here specifically to deal with you," Eddie said with obvious insincerity. "It's because I used to be afraid of Ghost-types, and I was worried about encountering situations like the one with you and Agatha, Miss Sabrina. I didn't want any unnecessary misunderstandings to arise from my fears."
"So I simply trained a Gengar to help me overcome my fear of Ghost-types. You see, I'm not afraid of ghosts anymore! Gengar, isn't that right?"
After saying this, Eddie put his arm around Gengar with a playful expression to demonstrate that he was no longer afraid of Ghost-type Pokémon.
Of course, everyone present could clearly see Gengar rolling its eyes in exasperation at Eddie's obvious lie.