Saffron City was the largest and busiest city in the entire Kanto region, and it was famous even beyond Kanto's borders.
It was home not only to Kanto's central business district, but also to the region's most extensive infrastructure. The towering headquarters of Silph Co. stood proudly in the very heart of the city.
"It really does live up to its reputation as an international metropolis!"
Even though Caster had visited Saffron City once before, its immense scale and grandeur still amazed him.
"The first time I came to Saffron City, my viewers mocked me for taking the bus and getting stuck in traffic. But now..."
Caster slowly descended from the sky on Dragonair's back, causing quite a stir below.
"Wow, it's a Dragonair! That guy must be an amazing Trainer."
"Cool dragon, even cooler rider!"
"Huh? Isn't that the fishing influencer?"
Dragonair was an exceptionally rare and striking Pokémon, with immense popularity throughout the Pokémon world.
Riding a Charizard or Pidgeot might also look impressive, but neither could quite compare with Dragonair. They simply weren't in the same league when it came to rarity.
***
"Come back, Dragonair!"
Under the envious gazes of the crowd, Caster recalled Dragonair. He then followed his Rotom Phone's directions and hurried toward the Saffron Gym.
Besides Sabrina's Psychic-type Gym, Saffron City also housed another battle facility: the Fighting Dojo, whose Trainers primarily used Fighting-type Pokémon.
The Fighting Dojo and the Psychic Gym had once battled for recognition as Saffron City's official Gym. The two sides remained evenly matched for years, with neither able to defeat the other.
That changed with the rise of the psychic prodigy Sabrina. The Fighting Dojo's master lost the deciding match, and the dojo gradually fell into decline.
As a result, most people now knew only of Sabrina's Psychic Gym and had forgotten all about the Fighting Dojo.
Sabrina had serious problems of her own, however. She became obsessed with her psychic powers and gradually turned cold and emotionless. She separated her childhood persona from herself and manifested it as a little doll, and had even transformed her own mother into a doll.
"Report! The Saffron Gym has the highest danger rating of any Gym in the Kanto region. Challengers who lose risk being transformed into dolls. However, big-data analysis indicates that Sabrina's public reputation has improved considerably in recent weeks. There have been no further incidents of her using psychic powers to turn people into dolls, so the overall risk is considered manageable, Rotom!"
As it navigated, the Rotom Phone gathered online information about the Saffron Gym and provided Caster with real-time analysis.
"However, the Saffron Gym remains exceptionally difficult to challenge. Fewer than ten percent of challengers successfully obtain a Badge. Most never even meet Gym Leader Sabrina before the apprentices in her psychic training program convince them to give up, Rotom!"
Caster had expected as much.
Sabrina might be a Gym Leader, but in terms of actual combat strength, her terrifying psychic powers enhanced her Pokémon enough to place her firmly at Elite Four level.
Even when she held back, very few Trainers could pass her test.
As for being turned into a doll, Caster knew Sabrina had returned to normal after Haunter's barrage of bombs. She was no longer as unhinged as before and didn't transform challengers into dolls at the slightest provocation.
Otherwise, Caster would never have risked coming here.
That was also why he hadn't even considered challenging the Saffron Gym when he last passed through the city.
A young man traveling alone had to protect himself!
He absolutely couldn't let some girl turn him into her plaything!
"We have arrived at the Saffron Gym, Rotom!"
Following Rotom's directions, Caster soon reached the Saffron Gym.
From the outside, the Gym looked perfectly ordinary, no different from a standard sports arena.
The moment Caster stepped inside, however, he sensed that something was wrong.
"This place is seriously creepy!"
"Pika-pi~"
Pikachu nodded from his shoulder. It drew in its neck and cautiously looked around.
They were in an international metropolis with no possible shortage of electricity, yet candles burned throughout the Saffron Gym to provide illumination.
As Caster looked around for a staff member, a long-haired young man dressed in white and wearing a face mask appeared in front of him.
"Hey! What are you doing here?"
"Hello. I'm a Trainer who has come to make an official Gym challenge and earn the Marsh Badge."
After explaining his purpose, Caster studied the young man and found him vaguely familiar.
He seemed to be the Trainer who had greeted Ash back then and demonstrated how to bend a spoon with psychic power in front of Ash and his friends.
"You want to challenge Sabrina? Do you have any Psychic-type or Ghost-type Pokémon?"
The young man folded his arms and gave Caster an arrogant warning.
"Our Psychic Gym is extremely difficult to challenge. We're not some third-rate outfit like the Fighting Dojo next door, understand?"
In the Pokémon world, Psychic was an exceptionally powerful upper-tier type. Pokémon of most conventional types had a difficult time fighting against it.
Ghost types were an exception. Their elusive abilities made them similarly formidable in this era, and they happened to have an advantage over Psychic types.
"I do!"
Caster answered honestly. "I have a Slowpoke!"
With that, he released Slowpoke.
"Huh? A Slowpoke?"
The young psychic burst out laughing.
He didn't say a word, but his unrestrained laughter said everything for him, and none of it was polite.
Slowpoke might be a Psychic-type Pokémon, but almost everyone knew that their dim-witted nature made them virtually useless in battle.
"What the hell? He's actually looking down on me!"
Slowpoke's voice echoed inside Caster's mind, its indignation impossible to hide.
"Hm? Where did you learn to swear?"
Caster froze, his attention shifting in an entirely different direction.
"You little rascal, did you sneak online with my phone again while I was asleep?"
"Yadon~"
Slowpoke drew in its neck and began playing dumb.
Caster sighed.
His Slowpoke was exceptionally gifted and highly intelligent, so it learned everything with astonishing speed.
That applied not only to Pokémon battles, but to every aspect of daily life.
In terms of age, the little rascal had only just turned one month old, yet it already knew how to browse the internet, type messages, and play games.
Worse still, it was hopelessly addicted. Every so often, it secretly stole Caster's phone to go online and play, and there was simply no stopping it.
"Kid, if you insist on challenging Sabrina, you'll have to get past me first!"
Seeing that Caster refused to reconsider, the young psychic pulled out a Poké Ball and threw it.
Red light flashed, revealing a Pokémon whose upper body was yellow and lower body was brown, with a wavy line separating the two colors. It had three fingers on each hand, two toes on each foot, and a slightly elongated, wrinkled snout.
It was the Psychic-type Pokémon Drowzee!
The young psychic looked from the Drowzee he had raised with such care to the Slowpoke playing dumb and shook his head.
Trying to challenge Sabrina with nothing but a Slowpoke? What a ridiculous fantasy.
What could a Slowpoke do?
Absolutely nothing!
With that thought, the young psychic gave a soft laugh.
"Don't say I bullied you. I'll let you make the first move!"
Caster and Slowpoke exchanged smiles.
"In that case, we won't hold back."
Caster swept out one hand and shouted, "Slowpoke, Psychic!"
"What? Psychic? You're bluffing!"
The young man froze. He instinctively refused to believe that a Slowpoke could master an advanced Psychic-type move like Psychic.
Even the Drowzee he had so carefully trained knew only the intermediate move Psybeam. It had yet to master Psychic.
Hum!
A strange light flickered in Slowpoke's eyes. Terrifying psychic power erupted from its body, gathering and compressing until it formed a concentrated blast of mental force that slammed into Drowzee.
Disbelief finally appeared on the young psychic's face.
"Ugh!"
Drowzee groaned as its legs gave way beneath it. The overwhelming psychic force crushed it to the ground.