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"So many things have happened!" Sabrina exclaimed after listening to Ash's complete explanation.
After hearing Ash's story, Sabrina finally understood why Ash had appeared in this facility. She never would have expected that they would meet again under such circumstances.
"How did you manage to get up here?" Ash asked, still harboring some doubts in his mind.
Throughout his journey up the lower two floors, nothing had seemed out of place. The Team Rocket members had all been acting normally, and they clearly had no idea that Sabrina had infiltrated the building.
"Have you forgotten? I know Teleport!" Sabrina responded with a playful wink and an amused smile after hearing his question.
Ash felt slightly stunned by her response. That's right—he had almost forgotten about her incredible abilities after dealing with throwing all those Team Rocket members around himself.
Having Psychic powers was certainly convenient. With Teleport, she could enter quietly without needing any assistance from her Pokémon.
"And what about you?" Sabrina asked curiously.
"Well... my approach was a bit more simple and direct!" Ash replied with a small, sheepish gesture after hearing her question.
Sabrina paused for a moment, then subconsciously extended her Psychic abilities to sense the surrounding area. Although her psychic reach didn't completely cover the entire floor, she was able to get a clear picture of the immediate vicinity.
It was indeed quite simple and direct. Throughout the surrounding corridors, Team Rocket members were either unconscious or lying motionless on the ground, clearly having been defeated in straightforward battles.
"So you're planning to go to the top floor? I can help you with that!" Sabrina offered enthusiastically.
Sabrina felt completely at ease now, because she realized that Ash had fought his way up through the building and must have encountered numerous Team Rocket members along the way. It was perfectly natural for him to be cautious after seeing her in this location, and she had been worried that she might have done something wrong to make Ash suspicious of her.
Now that she understood it wasn't the case, she felt greatly relieved. She walked closer to Ash's side and resumed their usual comfortable way of interacting, asking if she could assist him.
"Huh? Thank you for the offer! But no, aren't you looking for your Lapras? There are still many Pokémon trapped here on this floor!" Ash responded with a genuine smile.
To be honest, he really enjoyed this feeling of camaraderie with Sabrina. Moreover, there were still many people and Pokémon on this level who hadn't been freed yet. He was determined to rescue them all before moving on.
Sabrina had actually used Teleport to reach the top floor initially, so when she offered to help him get there, she had come down to this floor because she knew Lapras was being held somewhere on this level.
"Then I'll come with you!" Sabrina declared after hearing Ash's words, understanding that Ash wanted to liberate all the other captured Pokémon as well.
She decided to accompany Ash on his rescue mission, and Ash didn't refuse her offer. He nodded in agreement, and the two of them began moving through the facility together.
With Sabrina joining him, clearing through the facility became significantly easier than working alone. There was almost no need for Ash to take direct action himself. Sabrina's Psychic abilities allowed her to easily sense approaching enemies before they could even get close.
Those Team Rocket members were dealt with effortlessly. Sabrina didn't even need to release her Pokémon before the threats were completely neutralized.
"It should be here!" Sabrina announced confidently.
After liberating several more research rooms filled with captured Pokémon and imprisoned people, the two companions approached a corner that led to a heavily fortified gate. Looking ahead, Ash could see that the entrance was guarded by several Team Rocket members standing at attention.
Seeing so many guards protecting this particular area, Ash could reasonably guess that this was likely the main research laboratory where they were conducting experiments on the Master Ball technology.
"Let's go!" Ash said decisively, not wanting to waste any more time. He spoke directly to Sabrina and stepped forward into the open, with Sabrina following closely behind him.
"Stop right there!!" the guarding Team Rocket members shouted when they spotted the two intruders approaching.
But as soon as the words left their mouths, they found themselves unable to move their bodies. Sabrina walked alongside Ash, her eyes flashing with a brilliant blue light, and these guards' bodies were immediately controlled and immobilized by her Confusion attack.
"That's so convenient!" Ash couldn't help but feel envious when he witnessed this display of power.
This approach was much faster and more efficient than his own battle methods. After hearing Ash's comment, Sabrina smiled warmly at the compliment.
"If you want, you could try practicing psychic abilities, and I could teach you the basics!" she offered generously.
"I'll pass! My energy is already stretched pretty thin, and I still prefer the more direct approach!" Ash waved his hands dismissively after hearing her suggestion.
While he was certainly envious of her abilities, if he possessed such overwhelming psychic power, it seemed like there would be little point in having Pokémon partners at all. Although Sabrina was also a skilled Trainer, and combining her natural Psychic abilities with her Pokémon made her incredibly formidable, Ash preferred to rely on the bonds he shared with his Pokémon team.
Sabrina smiled understandingly without pressing the issue further. Ash immediately began searching the immobilized Team Rocket members and found their security key cards.
After seeing Ash obtain the necessary key card, Sabrina casually waved her hand, and the several Team Rocket guards were effortlessly thrown away from the entrance.
Ash approached the reinforced door and swiped the stolen key card. The door opened with a mechanical hiss, and when they walked inside, numerous Team Rocket researchers immediately spun around to face them.
"Who are you?!" one of the researchers demanded frantically.
"Let's go!!" Ash called out without bothering to respond to their question. Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and Scyther all rushed forward simultaneously to engage the enemy.
Several Team Rocket members were knocked unconscious within the blink of an eye. At the same time, several other figures on the opposite side of the laboratory were suddenly enveloped in blue psychic energy, floating helplessly into the air before being thrown backward to crash against the walls.
Ash turned around, expecting to see Sabrina using her powers directly, but was surprised to discover it wasn't Sabrina herself performing the attack. There was a tall figure standing in front of her—a Pokémon holding a pair of spoons, with its arms extended and emanating powerful psychic energy.
"Alakazam?" Ash said with genuine surprise. Alakazam was the fully evolved form of Abra, a top-tier Psychic-type Pokémon with incredibly powerful psychic abilities.
It was also said that this Pokémon possessed super intelligence that surpassed most humans. The last time they had met, Sabrina's Abra had just recently evolved into Kadabra, but now it had apparently evolved again into its final form, Alakazam.
"Hehe! Let me handle this the proper Trainer way!" Sabrina looked at Ash, turned around, and smiled mischievously.
It seemed that she had become aware of Ash's subtle psychological preferences from their interaction outside, so Sabrina had stopped using her own psychic powers directly and was now battling with her Pokémon the traditional way—even though using Alakazam was still completely overwhelming for their opponents.
Ash found her consideration rather amusing but didn't comment on it. At that moment, the researchers present stared at both Ash and Sabrina with shocked expressions, clearly at a loss for how to respond to this sudden invasion.
"Lapras!!" Sabrina suddenly called out and immediately walked toward a specific area of the research laboratory.
Ash followed her gaze and spotted a blue figure locked inside a massive reinforced cage. The Pokémon had a blue body, a raised shell-like carapace on its back, a long graceful neck, and distinctive spiral-shaped appendages on its head that resembled a prehistoric plesiosaur. It was unmistakably Lapras.
"Are you okay?" Sabrina approached the cage and asked with deep concern in her voice, clearly worried about her beloved Pokémon's condition after its ordeal.