Chapter 35:Mind against Mind
Three years ago, Saffron city was associated with a different name, a different gym, and a different gym leader. For decades, the Fighting-type gym, first created by gym-leader Marcus around a hundred years ago, tested the mettle of conference aspirants who were on their way to challenge the Indigo League Conference. Back in those days, the Saffron city gym stood at number 2, second only to the infamous Cinnabar gym under the mysterious and elusive Fire-master Blaine—in terms of difficulty level for an average aspirant. There was a reason after all, why most people tended to avoid the Saffron gym—choosing to try their luck with the alternative options instead.
Then, roughly sixteen years ago, Alfred Marvil, a renowned psychic and a resident of Saffron city, had a daughter—Sabrina, a young girl who from her infantile period, demonstrated a high proclivity towards psychic abilities. Over time, her skills encompassed apportation, claircognizance, telepathy, telekinesis, psychometry and levitation. When she turned nine, Sabrina demonstrated abilities enough to equal a newly-evolved Kadabra, and had begun to demonstrate affinities towards the powers that the Abra-line was famous for. At the age of twelve, she was already classified as one of, if not the most powerful human psychic in the world.
That was when things became much more interesting.
Sometime before her thirteenth birthday, Sabrina registered herself as an aspirant for the Ever-Grande Conference of Hoenn, creating another world-record by acquiring the necessary eight badges within a time frame of exactly twenty-one days—just in time to submit her name for the conference held that very year. She then went on to defeat each and every single opponent in the conference, using the same six psychic pokémon under her command—and eventually became the Ever-Grande League winner.
Then, she returned back to Kanto, and using her status as an Elite trainer, challenged the Kanto Elite Four- a family that back then, comprised of the Ice-Master Lorelei, the Ghost-Master Agatha, the Fighting-Master Bruno, and the Fire-Master Blaine. In a series of quick and decisive battles, Sabrina defeated Blaine, Lorelei, and Bruno, exactly in that order, before meeting her match in Agatha, to which she succumbed and for the first time in her life, tasted defeat.
That was how Sabrina ended up winning the position of the Second Elite Four, causing Blaine—the then fourth Elite Four to lose his position as Bruno and Lorelei were demoted down from their second and third positions to third and fourth respectively.
A month later, Sabrina Marvil walked up to the infamous Fighting-type gym, then run by gym leader Anthony—a descendent of Marcus, challenging him to a battle with the future of the gym at stake. Should Anthony be able to defeat her, she would give up her own position as Elite Four. Conversely, should she win, then Anthony would have to shut down his gym for good.
Three minutes.
Three minutes was all that took to completely humiliate the Fighting-type gym leader, as Sabrina walked out, with the position of the new Saffron city gym leader—another notch on her belt. The once powerful fighting-type gym, was now reduced to a mere dojo, as Sabrina Marvil settled herself as the new psychic-type gym leader of Saffron city.
Present Day.
Ash Ketchum strolled into the spacious Saffron city gym, an edifice that incorporated a breeding ground for psychic abilities for those with the genetic talent, a standard gym battle-arena for accepting challenge-requests from conference aspirants, and an equally large and spacious office for matters pertaining to the Elite-Four level. The entire complex was built in a pyramidal fashion, with the apex morphed into a cross, with almost the entirety of the Elite Four business conducted in the upper floors. The building had three entrances, each limited to the nature of business. The league aspirants entered from the Door 2, while Door 1 was utilized by the psychic trainees tutored by Sabrina herself.
Knowing the high level of traffic the Saffron gym dealt with on regular basis, what with Sabrina's position both as instructor and Elite Four, it was somewhat… difficult for an aspirant to get his challenge request accepted on the same day, especially if said aspirant wished to battle Sabrina herself, and not one of her many apprentices she had kept for such occasions. Thus it was no surprise when Ash had found his name registered for battle after two days—or so the receptionist informed him, owing to Sabrina's busy schedule.
Not that Ash had truly minded the delay. In fact, it had come in as a welcome gift for the teen, who had quickly taken the time to finish his purchases, along with some three more TMs from the Saffron city Pokemart-two of which were fighting-type, while the last was more of a sneak tactic. Despite the supernatural healing induced by Suicune (if he were to believe Aoi), he had no reason to avoid getting himself and his team get properly checked up at the Pokémon center—a precautionary measure if nothing else. And now, after two days of loitering around in the city, including the early hours of training he had spent with his team, Ash was now ready to challenge Sabrina for the Marsh badge.
He found himself standing in front of a large steel wall, which cracked from the midrib, allowing him to view the vast expanse that lay beyond. With silent steps, he walked in, only to find himself facing the expansive steel-layered contraption that was the Saffron gym. In many ways, the battle arena reminded him of the Vermillion gym, though on closer look, more differences began to pop up in Ash's mind.
For one, he found himself headed towards what seemed to be a podium for the challenger to stand, while an identical podium stood several yards away, with an entire oval arena built in between. Taking two steps forward, he stood on the challenger's podium, staring at the empty gym leader's podium. Not for the first time, his fingers caressed over the six pokeballs lining his poke belt—the team he had prepared for this upcoming battle for the Marsh Badge. Apparently, a challenger wasn't allowed to have more than six pokémon on his poke belt, during an official gym battle or league conference. Professor Oak had told him that there were all sorts of nuances and archetypal reasons behind that, reasons Ash had no business poking his nose in.
"I am here to challenge the Saffron city gym." Ash intoned loudly.
A ripple in the air in front of him was the only thing that answered his declaration of intent, as Sabrina, the Elite Four and Psychic master, the Saffron city gym leader appeared out of thin air in front of him. Her golden hair divided into two twin-tails on either side, along with her youthful appearance only brought out every bit of the fifteen-year-old as she was. Two large bangles on her wrists, each of them shining bright silver, as her crystal azure eyes stared at Ash.
"Ash Ketchum," Sabrina tilted her head, her voice curious. "I had anticipated your arrival, though I must admit, I am unsure if it is a good or bad idea."
Ash narrowed his eyes. Exactly what was this… girl, trying to say to him? He could admit—hearing about someone of his age as an Elite Four, and actually meeting her face to face, were too different things. Besides, the tales he had heard about the mysterious Sabrina had left her presence shrouded in mystery, at least to his imagination. Seeing her face-to-face, seemed… somewhat bland.
However, that was for later, and Sabrina was speaking.
"Good decisions come from experience, and experience from bad decisions. Your decision to challenge the Saffron gym—which is it?"
Ash blinked. "Guess we will find out."
Sabrina smiled. A serene thing, really. "We will do a four on four battle. Substitutions are allowed, and as is your right as an Intermediate-level trainer, you will face appropriate pokémon. The match ends when either of us have lost all four pokémon."
For some reason, Ash didn't think that the words bade anything good for him.
"Four on four…" He muttered, mentally figuring out which pokémon to use. "I accept."
The Saffron gym leader smiled. "I shall choose first." She raised her left hand in the air, palm opened skyward, as a pokeball materialized in her hand. A sight touch of her fingers on the surface, and the ball shivered open, liberating the pokémon within.
The creature that floated on the ground resembled the sun, with a central dirty-orange body with two squinted eyes with crimson pupils, and rocky fragments protruding out of the surface like a corona. Even from the distance, it is pretty sure that the thing was part-rock at the very least. For the nth time, Ash cursed his inability to use Dexter in such situations.
"That is Solrock. A part-rock, part-psychic type." Sabrina offered, as if reading his curiosity from his mind. Knowing her, she probably did that.
"Uh… thanks." Ash felt slightly flustered, before quickly deciding how to address the matter at hand. His choice made, he plucked out a pokeball and raised it up. "Crawdaunt, you are up."
The deep red crustacean appeared between himself and the floating psychic-type. Clicking his pincers, Crawdaunt stared up at his opponent, aiming to intimidate the other, smaller battler he was about to face. Finding no response (save the muffled buzzing that the rock-type was apparently producing), he raised his pincers high up in the air.
"A water and dark type." Sabrina muttered, her tone monotonous. "You may have the first move."
"I will." Ash asserted. "Use water pulse on Solrock."
The crustacean lifted one of his pincers and belched out a water pulse, headed straight at Solrock. The entire thing barely took more than a single second, a testament to his personal training, considering that it took him several seconds to perform the same when Ash had caught him in Vermillion.
It was in vain. One moment, the water pulse was headed straight at Solrock. The other—Solrock was behind Crawdaunt, who stood midway between the water pulse attack and the levitating psychic. It was almost like-
"Counter that water pulse." Ash yelled from his vantage point.
Without further delay, Crawdaunt lifted his other pincer to send a second pulse, the latter slamming into the former in an explosion, wetting the entire arena.
"What—what just happened?" Ash couldn't help himself. Solrock using agility to get behind Crawdaunt was understandable, but shifting Crawdaunt between itself and the water pulse?
"That was not agility." He muttered. "Crawdaunt is a dark type. A foreign psychic move would not work on him so quickly."
"Of course it won't." Sabrina drawled, the serene smile returning to her youthful disposition.
Very well, if long-ranged attacks won't do, then I'll have to get close. He decided. "Use aqua jet."
The rogue pokémon enveloped himself with water, before shooting up towards Solrock, who seemed completely unfazed by it all. The full force of Aqua jet came soaring towards Solrock, a single hit being more than enough to deliver a near-fatal blow to the pokémon.
Sabrina smiled.
In less than a single second, Solrock began to spin, as great streams of fire erupted all over its self, emanating blinding light, one that sent Crawdaunt cringing, closing his eyes to protect itself from the bright flares.
And that was all it took.
Crawdaunt opened his eyes, and founds himself aiming for the floor instead, with Solrock, once again, behind him, belching out a powerful fire-spin right onto him. Before the trainer or his pokémon could comprehend what had happened, Crawdaunt was enveloped in a funnel of flames, before nose-diving into the floor with a large explosion.
Solrock stopped spinning, staring down at its opponent, with its squinted eyes and seemingly-bored expression.
"Crawdaunt," Ash yelled out in worry. "Are you all right, buddy?"
The rogue pokémon lifted his pincers up in the air, the dents and bruises on his exoskeleton visibly distinct, before grunting out defiantly. The stupid know-it-all might have been speedy, but that didn't mean that he would be defeated so easily.
Ash chuckled. "That wasn't a slight on you, my friend. I was just being worried."
Crawdaunt grunted again. His trainer was a worry-wart.
"However," said trainer wasn't done speaking. "I think your abilities would be better served elsewhere. I need you to return." Saying so, his trainer lifted up his pokeball, pressing the red button.
Crawdaunt sighed. Well, at the very least, he would get another chance to battle today. He gave a withering glare at the floating psychic-type once again, before the red light dematerialised him, returning him to his pokeball. Crawdaunt's image on the digital screen levitating on the top went a dull grey, indicating that he was simply returned and not completely unable to continue battling further.
"Guess this is what I get for underestimating the competition." Ash muttered. The Saffron gym was one of the toughest gyms out there, even for someone going by the normal route instead of elevating his trainer status via… unconventional means. The last three gym battles had given Ash the benefit of the handicap—and it was a horrible decision for a trainer to try the Saffron gym for his or her fourth badge in the first place.
So yes, he was screwed. And rightly so. But then… When had something like that ever stopped him?
And Ash Ketchum chose his next pokémon. "I chose you, Magnus!"
The black dragon stood on his hind limbs, his maw lifted up into the air, as he snorted out a thin bluish flame as a declaration of his own power. Of course, Magnus hardly needed to do so, considering his unusual physiological features. Even as a second-stage pokémon, he stood head and shoulders taller than most average Charizards out there. Apparently, whatever must have kept his growth hindered had been… removed, allowing Magnus to quickly reach a more than respective height, enough to send most opponents cowering with relative ease.
"An unusual pokémon." Sabrina commented from her podium. "I am yet to decide if not seeing the future of this battle was a good decision or a bad one."
"Do you often see the future of your battles?" Ash prodded out of curiosity. Being able to see the future was a supreme advantage. That was for sure. If Sabrina did so, it certainly explained why it was so bloody difficult to win past her.
"More often than I would like," the Saffron gym leader answered with relative nonchalance. "You should quell your disgust, Ash Ketchum. I only see the ultimate outcome of my future battles, if only to see if the trainer is worth my time or not."
"I… see." He didn't.
"Interestingly enough, I did not look into the future for this battle. For someone with so less experience, you have certainly moved up in our world, Ash Ketchum, enough for the League to start noticing you, and the... team you have been known to cultivate."
Almost instantly, Cynthia's words replayed into his mind. He had at least one pseudo-legendary on his team. He had the attention of the legendary deities of their world. People found him interesting.
Interesting people stuck on people's minds.
"I'm flattered." Ash answered. "I will try not to disappoint you."
Sabrina just smiled back at him in return. "Let us return to the battle."
In answer to her statement, Solrock emanated an ethereal glow, as the gym leader subtly nodded her head. Instantaneously, the squinted eyes began to glow ominously, as a bluish aura surrounded Magnus from head-to-toe, trying to bind him- a psychic attack in progress.
"Dragon breath." Ash muttered, knowing very well that the black dragon would be able to hear his commands, thanks to his fine auditory abilities. The black dragon opened his maw, and threw off a continuous jet of superheated breath towards his opponent, who instantly shifted to its left, keeping the psychic-lock perfectly under control.
"You cannot break a sepulchre-lock through such crude measures, Ash Ketchum." Sabrina replied helpfully.
Ash scowled. He was here for a gym battle, not be instructed on the art of battling.
Magnus felt his limbs leave the ground, as he was shot upwards into the air almost until he had reached the very apex of the battle arena, before the effect of gravity on him seemed to quadruple in an instant, pummelling him towards the ground, his velocity accelerating greatly with every passing second. At the same time, the floor seemed to tear itself apart as large boulders separated out from the floor, creating a tomb of sorts for the black creature that shot down towards the ground with alarming speed.
However, his trainer had something completely different in mind.
"Magnus, use focus punch on the ground."
With startling efficiency, the black dragon slammed his right hook straight into the hole Solrock had dug for it. The energy of the attack, fuelled by the sheer momentum of Magnus's descent, radiated outwards, blasting broken bits of rock, concrete and dust all over the stadium.
Sabrina's eyes seemed to widen slightly, giving the impression that she had been only, mildly impressed.
"Use agility, and go for the kill."
Ignoring the momentary tinge of pain that had shot through his muscles, the black dragon vanished in a blur, using the momentary sandstorm to keep himself undetected, as he shot towards the floating psychic, tearing into it with his claws, each of which were dripping with dark energies. With a thud, Solrock fell down to the floor, its squinted eyes slightly blurred before it began to slowly levitate itself back, maimed but obviously not incapacitated enough.
"Use focus punch, again!"
With a very narrow miss, Solrock missed the incoming attack, obviously a little disoriented from before. Like most psychics, it found its niche in long-ranged combat, and not in such close quarters. However, Magnus was far from done, as he swept his powerful tail, lashing straight into the psychic pokémon, thrashing it into the floor.
"That will be enough." Sabrina replied, her calm disposition unperturbed. Without a word, she returned the psychic-type back into its pokeball, which teleported away from her palm, as another one appeared in its place. The ball opened up on its own, releasing her next pokémon.
"Jeeengx!" the illusive ice/psychic-type pokémon drawled out.
"A Jynx?" Ash asked, surprised. Jynx were rather rare, what with their natural habitats being limited to only the coldest of locations. In Kanto, the only possible location where a Jynx, or its baby-form could possibly be found would probably be the Icefall Cave in the Sevii islands. He had played with the idea of visiting the Sevii islands during the Ice-time, but that was neither here nor there. Usually, trainers visited the Sevii, and its neighbour Seafoam Islands by taking a ferry from Fuchsia or Cinnabar, though Celadon apparently had a domestic airport for those that had the means to afford it.
"You may have the first move." Sabrina offered.
Ash scowled. Solrock had been an uncanny and rather troublesome opponent. While he had no doubt that Magnus was powerful in his own way, Sabrina's decisions regarding their battle had seemed more… forced. Of course, he was not going to complain over it, but considering how the Sun pokémon had been playing with Crawdaunt, something seemed… edgy around here.
He never noticed the slight twist in Sabrina's lips at that very instant.
"Magnus," Ash concentrated, "use Rush and go ahead."
Just like he had done prior to this, Magnus's claws began to drip with dark energies, his own version of the night slash he had learned from Absol, using his agility to maximum benefit. What he did not expect was for Jynx to let out a shriek and inundate the entire arena in a thick blizzard in less than a second, stopping his attack midway, as the severe snowstorm pushed him towards the defensive.
Tcch! Ash cursed. As a dragon-type, Magnus was weak against ice-type attacks like blizzard. Unlike the sandstorm earlier that had allowed him a situational advantage, the snowstorm was doing the exact reverse. What was more, the snow was decreasing his body temperature to ridiculous levels, having an adverse effect on the dragon type.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Even amidst the roaring snowstorm, Ash could hear the loud sounds of boulders falling onto the ground, though it was nigh impossible for him to judge the location from his vantage point.
"Magnus? Are you okay? Get back." He shouted.
Unfortunately for the dragon, the roaring snowstorm was too much of an interference for him to comprehend his trainer's commands. The fact that he had four large boulders sandwiching him on all four sides didn't help either. So, he went for what he could do.
With a powerful push using his now slightly injured forelimbs, he pushed the boulders away and slammed his fist into the ground once again, the energies created a miniature earthquake, traversing through the ground. It wasn't enough for Magnus to win, but it was enough to destabilize Jynx for a single moment.
Sabrina's eyes lit up, as the ice-type levitated itself up using sheer psychic intent.
The snowstorm returned with a vengeance.
You cannot attack me if you are trapped, and are continuously losing power. Show me what you are capable of, Ash Ketchum.
For every second Magnus stayed inside that formidable blizzard, he was losing power. That much was clear. The snow piling everywhere on the arena would no doubt be a great hindrance to Magnus's agility, and it would only increase with every passing second. He would either need to return Magnus or do something instantly.
Stalling wastes my resources, not hers. Ash noticed curiously, silently marvelling at the sheer ease with which the Jynx was maintaining the powerful blizzard for what… one minute now? He wasn't the expert but from his own experience, it was ridiculously difficult to maintain that attack for more than twenty seconds, and even that pushed the normal stats by a significant amount. Most trained pokémon could barely manage to sustain it for fifteen seconds before collapsing. There was a reason after all, why Blizzard was one of the top-level moves in the Ice category after all, both in difficulty and sheer efficiency.
And the blatant application of such a ruthless move was occurring right before him.
He closed his eyes. He was at a type disadvantage. His pokémon was trapped inside a powerful trap that was draining its power exponentially. Logic said that he should simply substitute his pokémon with another and continue the battle. But Magnus hadn't given up, and he wouldn't either. It was just like Crawdaunt against Solrock. He had given up then, wouldn't it be prudent to just give up now?
As if in answer to his prayers, the blizzard seemed to slow down, intermittently revealing the effect it had wrought on the arena. The entire floor was frozen with thick lumps of ice all over the place, and a shuddering, shivering dragon in the middle of it. Then, as if to taunt him, the blizzard gained force, revealing it as a mere psychological trick played upon the hapless trainer, showing him the pitiable condition of his pokémon.
"Magnus," Ash had his pokeball raised, all doubts vanished. "Return."
The red light shot out of the pokeball, only to be intercepted by a chunk of ice, as the black draconian creature slammed his tail onto the now frozen floor, revealing his intentions very clearly. He was not going to leave this battle, and certainly not this way. He would go till the very end and defeat the damned ice-type.
"Magnus!" Ash breathed, the sheer determination of his team member infusing him with a certain spiritual strength. He took a moment to appreciate the sheer strength of spirit his friend wielded. "Very well, we will end this. Use Outrage!"
Not unlike a volcano about to belch out the hellfire underneath it, Magnus's entire body shuddered, as his inner-flame expanded outward, drenching him from within, and his body emanating a yellowish glow, visible despite the powerful snowstorm. His eyes bulged out, a dangerous crimson aura flooding his senses.
Outrage was active, and the vengeful dragon was only too happy to use it.
"Draco Meteor." Ash commanded.
It was only too easy. One of the effects of Outrage was a rapid and significant increase of his offensive capacities, sacrificing his mental faculties at the altar of pure, unadulterated strength. And Magnus roared, throwing out an orange blob upwards into the air, which exploded out with a bright explosion.
The Draco meteor fell.
Sabrina's lips twisted for a moment before returning back to her impassive expression.
The Jynx in question, instantly stopped the ongoing blizzard, redirecting its powers to create a dome of pure psychic energy to protect itself from the incoming attack. The first meteor came rushing in, striking at the psychic defense with all the subtlety of a sledge-hammer. The psychic dome shook with the tremors, but held.
The second meteor hit.
A thin line of fracture traversed its way from the origin point of contact, tearing its way through the powerful defense, only to acquire a more three-dimensional shape, as the third meteor slammed into the dome, making the fracture spread out radially, much like a spider spreading its web out.
The fourth meteor hit.
And the defense came shattering down, like some great glass window, hit by an overwhelming force. Yet, amidst it all, Jynx stood in its position, tired and spent, an obvious situation considering what it had just been through—but otherwise, very much active and able to continue the battle.
"A grand spectacle." Sabrina observed, her voice filled with all the awe of a dead man, "but be advised that the challenge in front of you is a psychic, not a rampaging Rock-type."
As if to prove her point, every single thing on the floor—dust particles, stray fragments, boulders, or even residual draconic energy globules—all of that rose up in the air, levitating around fifteen feet above the ground, as if standing in ovation for some cosmic deity who would grace them with its mighty presence. Even from his vantage point, Ash could feel Magnus on his last legs—his determination being the only thing keeping him falling down.
"I know," Ash answered, feeling unnaturally tired than he should have been. Had it been Metagross fighting, the psychic link between the two of them would have siphoned some of the pain and tiredness to him, and that was expected. After all, a psychic link was a door, and they opened both ways.
And that, Ash decided, will be my ticket of winning this gym badge.
"I know I am battling a psychic." He repeated. "After all, there is no reason why I should have otherwise done… this."
The moment the final word left his mouth, something happened. The reason for that wasn't clear, but Sabrina's body jerked, as she took a step back, as a tremor radiated through the airspace all around them.
The largest boulder, perfectly levitated in the air until now, shook, before it slowly bounced a little, as if facing atmospheric resistance, before slowly falling down to the ground. Following its movement, several other fragments, and soon the entire amount of debris began falling down to the ground, inundating the entire arena with a miniature dust storm.
When the dust had settled, Ash could see Magnus down on the ground, trapped between two large rock fragments, bruised and battered, and completely incapacitated. Jynx though, stood in its position, almost immaculate except for the dust that had gathered on its fur, without a single scratch.
Well—without a single scratch, save a single thin, jagged mass of concentrated dark energy, that had impaled in its lower abdomen—the energies of the Void doing things to it no human had any business trying to comprehend. And judging from the way Sabrina—the Elite Four Sabrina- was outright glaring at him, it seemed his hypothesis had been right after all.
Psychic links were akin to doors, and doors open on both sides.
"That," Sabrina muttered, as her expressions settled back to perfect composure, "was rather… unsporting, Ash Ketchum. I hope you do know that?"
Ash could barely suppress the grin trying to tear through his face. The odds of the insane plan backfiring on him were atrociously high, and it had all been bet on a single hypothesis. If psychic links worked on both sides, then surely a tremendous pressure on Jynx would get siphoned to Sabrina herself, after all, her own psychic links to her pokémon should be nothing short of superlative. That meant that she would be more… affected with the mental exhaustion, to ignore the possibility of a sneak attack.
That had exactly been the case.
"Tell me Ash Ketchum, how could you be so reckless, to bet on the fact that the Draco Meteor, as powerful as that is,
"It is not every day that a trainer uses a Draco Meteor as a distraction, Ash Ketchum. More so, when one's pokémon is on the brink of losing the tournament. You are more unpredictable than I had anticipated. Forgive me, I shall take you seriously from now on."
Ash barely managed to keep his jaw from falling to the floor. "You mean you weren't taking me seriously all this while?"
Sabrina allowed herself a chuckle. "It is the duty of a teacher to figure out the worth in her students, isn't that correct? And now that I realize you are worth my time… let's dance."
And just like that, Ash felt his slightly raised spirits fall for a new low.
"My third pokémon," Sabrina proclaimed loudly, "should be enough to end today's challenge. Go, Gallade."
The battler that materialized in front of Ash was the male variant of Kirlia's evolution, Ash realized. Of course, male Kirlia were very uncommon, and even so, it took to having a Dawn Stone—one of the rarest of all evolutionary stones, to evolve a male Kirlia into a Gallade. Even so, it took a special Kirlia to have enough power and potential to evolve into a Gallade, with most of them evolving into their natural evolution as Gardevoir instead. The reason for it has never really been clear why, since apart from the obvious fighting-type attribute, evolution to Gallade has never really demonstrated to have a prominent effect on the Kirlia-line.
"A Gallade, huh?" Ash muttered. "I have heard that they are rather rare. My mother has a Kirlia, but she's not going to evolve into one."
Sabrina's lips twisted in slight amusement at his random comment, but she did not forge a reply back.
"All right," Ash chose his next pokémon, his hidden ace for the fight. Most traditional trainers would have considered the idea of having a hidden ace till the very end as a good strategy, since it allowed for throwing the opponent off-guard when they were least-expecting it.
Most traditional trainers were, in his opinion, idiots. There was no point in keeping an ace hidden till the end, especially when the chance of losing before said end was high. What good was a powerful battler, if he could not use it in the first place? It was almost like being back to Sulphur Island all over again.
His fingers closed upon the pokeball clutched in his palm, as he threw it into the arena. "I choose you, Sylvi."
With a wave of pure otherworldly energy radiating outward, Sylvi made her appearance, the blackness that she wore as a skin shining brightly as her crimson eyes stared at the psychic master, glowing malevolently.
"A Gengar," Sabrina muttered with distaste, as if Sylvi's very presence seemed to make her feel distinctly uncomfortable. "First dark types, then dragons with dark-type move sets, and now this… You seem to have rather odd tastes, Ash Ketchum."
Ash did the only thing that he could at that moment. He shrugged.
And Sabrina-or should one say, Gallade attacked.
It was over in an instant. One moment, Gallade was in its place. The next—it was right in front of Gengar, its fists glowing with raw electricity, which it punched into Sylvi's body, the mere momentum of the attack pushing the Gengar by several feet, much to her aggravation.
"Teleport plus thunder punch, huh?" Ash mused. "Use shadow ball."
Sylvi grinned, as a sphere of concentrated chaotic energy appeared at her fingertips, before she projected it towards Gallade who parried the attack with a single psycho cut. At the same time, Gallade began to glow, before something radiant shot out of his person, exploding outward, as a bright mist appeared all over the arena.
Misty Terrain huh? What are the chances? Ash mused. It seemed he would have to use the big guns right off the bat. "Very well. Disperse, and converge."
Gengar let out a grin, before slowly disintegrating into a purple mist, which condensed back into a sphere, pulsing with chaotic energies.
Sabrina raised an eyebrow.
"Shadow spike." Ash commanded.
The sphere exploded outward, shooting several dozens of what appeared to be spikes of chaotic energy towards Gallade, who kept shifting all over the place, using his agility in one instant, teleporting the next. The spikes too, didn't just stay in one place, and kept on shooting at Gallade wherever they sensed their appearance.
And then Gallade appeared in the centre of the arena, his arms extended outward.
"Converge."
Following the master's orders, all of the spikes shot towards Gallade in the center, only to be repelled back by the immensely powerful Protect that sprung forth between them and their victim.
"Fuse, and use poison jab."
A majority of the spikes slammed into each other, forming a makeshift spear, which glowed an ominous purple, increasing the potency of the poison within them, before shooting towards Gallade who instantly dropped the barrier, before teleporting away.
"Ominous wind." Ash commanded, not wanting to allow any chance of attack, "Don't let it escape."
In answer, the ghostly spear began to pulse, concentrating its power as Ominous wind activated, increasing Gengar's potency by several degrees, though the spear began leaking out thin strips of ghostly energies into the air, said strips instantly diffusing into the arena, generating a dull, purple mist that was slowly beginning to take over the entire battlefield.
Apparently Gengar's control over Miasma was not as good as Ash had estimated it to be.
Even Gallade was beginning to notice that fact.
You can run but you can't hide. Ash promised inwardly.
Sabrina Marvil looked like someone had slapped her, right in the face. Of course, the boy—Ash Ketchum, though someone of her own age, had been… interesting, but not that interesting. Of course, she understood the significance of attaining the interest of pseudo-legendaries and legendaries alike, but unlike Agatha—Sabrina thought with a scowl—she had better things to do than to place her faith on something as woolly as that. Most people would say that with the amount of psychic potential Sabrina wielded, she would be the Altar of clairvoyance, believing the existence of grand-prophecies and totems and omens and all of that stuff.
Most people, Sabrina thought, were absolute idiots.
Yes, she had immense psychic potential, but like pokémon, her own potential had their own affinities and limitations. Sabrina had always been somewhat of a manipulator of force, as far as psychic energy was considered, rather than exploring its more… esoteric abilities. Of course, that was not to say that she hadn't cultivated that side of her powers, but they were simply tools at best. That was why she preferred having Alakazam and Bronzong around, and not flocks of Xatu.
Of course, being able to simply see through the sequence and formation of events, and use her mental faculties to calculate permutations and combinations, and select the most… probable path that events were likely shape into… could also be termed as Clairvoyance, by laymen. However, that hardly meant that she could see through the lines of Time and Fate and locate confluences in quantum time locks of the Multiverse. Why Lance couldn't see things her way, was beyond her.
Ah Ketchum though, was proving himself to be one tough customer today. The first battle had gone precisely how she had wanted it to be, with Solrock's abilities sending Ketchum's pokémon off-guard right off the bat. The black dragon had potential, but if not for Ketchum's skill at deception, it would have been a hopelessly easy win. However, seeing his Gengar—Sabrina could not care to bring herself utter that thing's name- it became absolutely confirmed that there was Agatha's deliberations at play here. There was no way she would fail to recognize that hated technique of hers being used, though how on Earth had Ketchum managed such a level of control over the technique so quickly was anybody's guess.
"Using my rival's technique to battle against me. I cannot say if you are too confident or too foolish, Ash Ketchum." She proclaimed.
Ash did his best to maintain a composed demeanour. It would not do to give in to her taunts at this point in the battle. Using Miasma was after all, a sure shot way of making Sabrina angry. If he were not careful, things could go very bad from now on.
As if to drive the point home even further, Gallade stopped teleporting, standing in patient wait as the spear of Chaos came hurdling towards itself. Almost instantaneously, Ash felt the temperature all around the arena suddenly spike. It took a moment for the implications to sink in, as he stared at Gallade with unfettered fear.
OH NO!
The trap was visible in less than a second. Harsh sunlight inundated the arena, as Gallade's arms began to glow, with bright orange flames appearing on them- a powerful fire-based attack heading straight towards the incoming trajectory that was Gengar.
Sabrina smiled.
The emerging fireball, propelled by pure psychic force shot towards the approaching spear, colliding with it face-first, with fire spreading through the very essence of Gengar's core, burning her up as the spear exploded violently outward, with the force of a small bomb. In a normal situation, it would mean Gengar getting excessively injured and possibly being rendered incapacitated, with Gallade becoming the winner by default.
There was only one, tiny little bit of complication, something that neither Ash, nor Sabrina had seen coming.
Ash hadn't been wrong. While Sylvi had mastered the basic concepts of the Art of Miasma with considerable proficiency, she was nowhere ready to apply alteration into it mid-construction, which explained the leakage of chaotic energies into the environment all around them. Chaotic energies which were, like the spear itself, extremely vulnerable to flames- chaotic energies that were, as of that very moment, converging toward Gallade, since it was the spear's primary target.
And that made all the difference.
The entire arena exploded, charring Gallade along with it. Especially with the Sunny Day active, fire-type moves, and thus, these explosions were much more powerful than they had any right to be, and the entire mass of matter and gas exploded with a violent discharge of heat, charring the only pokémon that had been caught amidst it.
Silence reigned in the arena for the next ten seconds, as the smoking heap that was Gallade fell down on his knees, however, still very much awake and in the fight. However, Ash only had eyes for the still floating husk of chaotic matter—the burnt and charred remains of Sylvi's Miasma, and he knew it in his heart that it would be hours, if not days before Sylvi gained her corporeal form back again.
All of his training for this battle, all his plans for Gengar, all his…
And yet… to fail all the same.
"I…" Ash felt his throat constrict. "I refuse to lose. Not after everything I have been through." He raised his pokeball, and returned Gengar, before shoving his next pokeball into the arena. "I will prevail. Go, Crawdaunt."
Gallade, charred and smoking, somehow managed to get up from his position, forming an attack stance, as he warily glanced at the crustacean, who had appeared in front of him.
"End him. Use aqua jet."
Gallade quickly raised a barrier in time, as Crawdaunt, enveloped inside a considerable quantity of water, shot at his person. He was in no position to keep teleporting, especially with his wounds, and hence, this was going to be a match of plain brute force.
The barrier glowed, before changing form from Protect to Reflect, the change instantaneous, as the Aqua jet slammed against it with tremendous force. The barrier shattered, but the Reflect action sent Crawdaunt tumbling back, using his momentum onto him, and pushing him off into the air.
"Twin pulse." Ash commanded.
Even in air, Crawdaunt opened his pincers, shooting two perfectly created Dark Pulses down to the now defenceless Gallade, hitting him straight in the face.
"Guillotine." Ash went for the kill.
And Gallade shot out a lethal thunderbolt, pushing out all of his energy into the single strike.
Crawdaunt's pincers bit into Gallade's neck, drawing blood, as pure, unadulterated electricity surged through the part water-type, and by extension, into Gallade himself. The next moment, it was all over.
"Both Gallade and Crawdaunt are unable to battle." The referee proclaimed. "Challenger, choose your next pokémon."
Sabrina was not amused.
Ash stood at his podium, observing the Psychic Master in front of him. Her first choice had been Solrock, a psychic and fire type. The next had been Jynx, a psychic and ice type. Complete reverses of each other, while keeping the psychic element in common. The third had similarly, been Gallade, a psychic and fighting type. He could almost guess what kind of pokémon her fourth and final one was going to be.
"Interesting. To have gotten Gallade down by a mismanaged move of all things." Despite the expression on her face, it was clear that Sabrina was far from amused. "I can see why the League is… interested in you, Ash Ketchum. My last pokémon it is, then." A pokeball appeared in her palm, before her fingers clenched around it, clicking the release button.
"Zong!"
The pokémon in front of him looked like a giant steel bell, with eyes at the apex, with two identical projections on either side forming a rudimentary version of limbs, though Ash felt skeptical if those… limbs were functional or merely vestigial.
"This is Bronzong." Sabrina clarified for him. "A part steel, part psychic. He is going to be my fourth and final battler for this match."
Ah. Steel this time. How amazingly poetic to have a high defensive type just right after an offensive one. Ash marvelled internally at Sabrina's choice of battlers from the very first.
All right. What do I do? He pondered. He had come in prepared for a six on six, which had shortened to a four on four, allowing him three options that he was allowed to choose from. Of course, he would have wanted Gengar to be the one battling this one, but unfortunately, she was indisposed at the moment. Another part of him wanted to bring out Metagross, if only to see just how much his psychic/steel type fared against Sabrina's. Of course, there was another part of him, the wildly overemotional part that wanted him to include Salamence, and prove it to his starter that he had not ignored him. However, this was a gym battle, and that too against someone like Sabrina. Every single of his actions counted.
That left only one option.
Ash grinned. This… this he could work with.
"Fine then." He lifted his fourth and final pokeball, and was about to throw it out into the arena when Sabrina lifted her left arm, and instantly, Ash felt a temporary petrification get hold of him, enough to stop him in his actions and yet feel distinctly uncomfortable. For all he knew, it was almost like something had just gripped his body and let him free when he had ceased moving.
Before he could voice his confusion, the large steel doors behind him slid open, as three individuals-with two of them being females and the third a young male, all wearing police robes, walked into the chamber. The single male and his compatriot stood at the entrance, while the other female walked ahead, past Ash, past the arena, walking on psychically-created road Sabrina had temporarily constructed by her own power, as the officer walked up to her.
"Report."
The woman took out what Ash understood to be some kind of screen-based device, not unlike his own Xtransceiver, only much larger in size. The screen lit up, and from her expressions, Ash could figure out that it was anything but good news. The officer spoke a little more to the gym leader, before Sabrina lifted her palm again, signalling the woman to leave them. Finally, she turned to Ash.
"It seems we will have to discontinue our battle, Ash Ketchum. I have some urgent business to take care of first."
Suppressing his instinctive need to exclaim his surprise at such an uncommon request, Ash reminded himself of who it was he was talking to at the moment. "Is… Is something wrong?"
"You…" Sabrina paused momentarily, before continuing, "could say that. As of now, Saffron city is at war with Team Rocket."
"What?" Ash exclaimed. "Team Rocket?" He paused, embarrassed at his outburst. "I mean… can I do anything to help?"
Repressing her initial instinct to deny his offer on the face, Sabrina considered it. She would have instantly denied his offer, quoting his lack of experience as a trainer, with only six months or so under his belt. Then she remembered his position as an Intermediate-level trainer, and his actions at the St. Anne. After a few seconds of thought, she conceded. "One of the members of the ongoing terrorist attack have been identified. I believe you might recognize him, from the events at St. Anne."
"St. Anne?" Ash's mind instantly raced ahead, remembering the cruel and malevolent Team Rocket Admin Steven had been battling, before remembering the Admin he had faced back at Mirage Archipelago. A wave of anger shot through him, as strong emotions of rage flooded his mind.
"The Team Rocket member we managed to identify was one of the participants in the St. Anne Challenge, and apparently, one of the winners as well. His name is Harrison. Harrison Miller from Little Root Town, Hoenn."