"Chaah~!"
A fierce roar erupted from Samurott, its aura surging outward with unrestrained force.
In this moment, it stood as the ultimate master of blades.
"Return."
The faint blue glow in Sabrina's eyes faded as she calmly withdrew her Espeon into its Poké Ball, transferring it into her psychic space. She turned to Paul and said:
"That's enough, there's no need to continue."
"Yeah, right." Paul replied without hesitation.
After battling both Alakazam and Espeon, Samurott had reached a peak razor-sharp and honed like a perfected blade.
But even the sharpest blade can snap if pushed too far.
Continuing the match would serve no purpose. Even if Sabrina refrained from enhancing her remaining Pokémon, Samurott would be unable to defeat them all.
And if victory is impossible, why battle at all?
At least now, in its optimal condition, Samurott could internalize the gains from battle and fully consolidate its power. Rather than be worn down in a futile struggle, it was better to stay radiant and refine its strength.
"Well done. You really surprised me today."
Paul, who rarely smiled, allowed a small smirk to touch his lips as he looked at his cold and composed Samurott with rare approval.
"Chaah~"
Receiving such praise from Paul for the first time, even Samurott couldn't suppress the lift at the corners of its mouth. It silently straightened its posture with pride.
"Return to your ball and solidify your strength."
Paul recalled Samurott and turned back toward Sabrina, his tone now serious.
"Miss Sabrina," he asked, "what did you mean earlier when you said I was… special?"
Though he maintained an indifferent front, Paul couldn't deny the weight of her words.
For someone like him, someone who had transmigrated his identity as a "traveler between worlds" was not something he could afford to ignore. The memories in his mind, though only loosely aligned with this reality, still held meaning. And he certainly didn't want others delving into those thoughts.
"You really have no idea?"
Sabrina looked at Paul, her gaze was deep and mysterious.
"…"
Paul didn't respond. He simply stared back, unblinking, and expressionless.
Eventually, perhaps growing bored, Sabrina spoke:
"Your physiology is unique. You could almost be described as a psychic insulator."
"Psychic energy has difficulty breaching your mind and brain. It also struggles to affect your body directly. You have strong latent psychic talent, yes—but even the abilities you project have minimal influence on the outside world."
"To put it simply, only about 10% of psychic powers used on you can actually affect you."
"And only about 10% of the psychic abilities you use can influence your surroundings."
"A psychic insulator?"
This was the first time Paul had heard of such a constitution. At first glance, it actually didn't sound too bad.
"So if I were to learn psychic powers now, would there be any point?"
Paul asked with a furrowed brow.
For a Trainer, the most important thing isn't their own battle strength, it's their training ability and their Pokémon. But if you could gain some combat capabilities or special abilities… honestly, no Trainer would turn that down.
Just look at Sabrina, a natural-born Psychic—she can enhance her Psychic-type Pokémon with her own powers. In the anime, Ash's Aura even let him synchronize with certain Pokémon to bring out even greater strength.
Basically, having a special ability is like getting a cheat code.
"Telepathy, spiritual linking, and enhancing your Yoga Power."
Sabrina paused to consider, then spoke calmly.
Given Paul's unique trait, trying to learn Telekinesis, Spatial Distortion, or Teleportation, or even offensive psychic moves might be inefficient and not worth the effort.
Instead, focusing on telepathy and spiritual linking to allow seamless communication with his Pokémon even during battles or daily life would yield much more practical results. And crucially, it would be easier to master.
"That actually sounds quite promising. Would you be willing to teach me?"
Paul looked up after a moment of thought, eyes shining with determination as he locked eyes with Sabrina.
Yoga Power refers to channeling spiritual energy through yogic methods to strengthen the body. Whether it ends up more offense or defense-oriented isn't the main concern.
If he could truly master telepathy and spiritual linking, he'd be able to issue battle commands with pinpoint precision, even in chaotic situations where his Pokémon might not hear his voice.
Even if it only enabled one-way communication from Trainer to Pokémon, that alone would be invaluable.
In Paul's memory, there was even that vague recollection from Generations, a nameless protagonist riding Rayquaza into space to battle and capture Deoxys.
He could easily imagine how, in that kind of scenario, psychic communication would be an absolutely terrifying asset.
"Of course."
Sabrina nodded nonchalantly.
"This is a Psychic-type Gym, but it's also a school for psychics. You can enroll and pay for the classes at any time."
"Could I request private instruction from you directly? Like a crash course?"
He wasn't about to settle for learning from just any ordinary student when there was a Psychic Master standing right in front of him.
"If you're willing to completely lower your mental defenses and open your mind to me, I can pass on all the psychic abilities I know."
Sabrina's gaze locked with Paul's, her expression strangely unreadable.
With an ordinary person, she could usually peer straight into their mind, even hypnotize them, without them realizing a thing.
But Paul… she couldn't do that to him. At most, she could occasionally catch brief glimpses of his future.
"No thanks. I'd rather go through standard instruction."
Letting someone see through your entire being just for some minor gains, most people wouldn't agree to that. Paul certainly wouldn't.
"My time isn't something I just waste on uninteresting things."
Staring deeply at Paul, Sabrina suddenly shifted the tone of her voice.
"You'll have to pay extra."
"…?"
"…Fine."
Paul responded after a brief two-second silence, clearly unamused.
"Hehe~ But you're interesting to me. Worth studying."
Suddenly, Sabrina's frosty expression melted away, replaced with an eerily sweet smile that sent a chill down the spine.
"…I hope that's all it is." Paul replied coolly.
When dealing with someone of Sabrina's character, a being on a different level entirely running wouldn't help if she did want something from him. And if she didn't, there was no point in fleeing. The best course of action was to remain calm and go with the flow.
To act paranoid, anxious, or fearful for no reason would only pique the curiosity of a psychic being like her. That would be inviting trouble.
After a brief discussion about their upcoming lessons, Paul released his Pokémon for healing and paid a rather hefty tuition fee.
He also contacted Reggie to swap out some of his Pokémon, gathering all those with potential for psychic development including Metagross and Froslass to participate in the session.
Due to limitations in Paul's time, stamina, and other factors, Sabrina didn't overload him with content. Her instruction mainly focused on three areas:
Methods for developing and enhancing psychic abilities
Meditation techniques
Telepathy and mental synchronization
The last two were straightforward. The first involved a comprehensive breakdown of psychic powers and potential development paths, enabling Paul to conduct his own research and innovate once he mastered the basics.
Psychic abilities are called "psychic" not merely because of telekinesis or mental strength, but due to their broad and exceptional potential.
In theory, if someone has enough talent, strength, and creativity, psychic power can become nearly powerful—far more than the stereotypical mind-reading or levitating gimmicks people imagine.
For example, most psychic-types would already be considered strong if they mastered just one of hypnosis, telekinesis, or precognition. Those who could use teleportation were one in a million.
But to Sabrina, such skills were mere parlor tricks—easily demonstrated, almost trivial.
Paul had no ambitions of reaching such extremes. All he hoped for was to eventually master long-distance telepathic communication.
The training continued. Paul's own progress aside, his Pokémon showed obvious, measurable improvements.
Under the lesson of the world's strongest psychic Sabrina, their mastery of psychic moves and meditative control evolved rapidly, boosting their abilities in nearly every aspect.
Several days had passed...
"Thank you for your guidance. I'll be leaving now." Paul said.
"Suit yoursel." Came Sabrina's indifferent reply from the throne where she lounged, gently stroking her Espeon like a cat.
Then, as though recalling something, she lifted her gaze and turned toward Froslass, who stood beside Paul holding a Rotom Phone.
"Your Froslass and Rotom Phone are quite… unusual. If you're willing, leave them with me for a while. I'd like to study and teach them myself. I suspect the results could be… rewarding."
As the most powerful psychic in the world, Sabrina had encountered many remarkable phenomena while mentoring Paul and his Pokémon over the past few days, Pokémon like Electivire who had devoured the Plates, and even a Shiny Metagross.
But the most extraordinary being she discovered wasn't either of them.
It was the unassuming Rotom Phone, a device that quietly meditated and roamed the mental plane, constantly scanning the world for intel on Paul's behalf. Or more precisely, it was the Arceus Phone itself, fused with a uniquely compatible Rotom.
The Arceus Phone was unlike anything she'd ever encountered. No matter how deeply she probed with her psychic powers, she couldn't unravel its mysteries. That only piqued Sabrina's curiosity further. If she could understand its true nature… perhaps her own psychic abilities would undergo a fundamental transformation.
As for Froslass, she was merely a bonus.
Talented, sure—naturally gifted in psychic potential. But her progress was slow, uncertain. Sabrina happened to possess a rare ability: she could stimulate and accelerate the development of another being's mental energy and latent talents. Froslass would make the perfect test subject.
"Eeno~"
Hearing her name, Froslass blinked in surprise and turned to Paul. Her large, glittering eyes shimmered with affection. She clearly had no desire to remain behind on her own.
Paul gave no immediate response.
He simply placed a hand gently atop her head. Froslass looked up at him, anticipating rejection and hoping he'd take her with him on his journey. But instead, Paul spoke plainly:
"Froslass can stay. Rotom can't."
"Eeno?"
Froslass widened her eyes in confusion.
"You'll improve faster if you stay here."
From Paul's perspective, Froslass wasn't progressing fast enough under his direct training. Her development would accelerate much more under Sabrina's teaching.
In fact, any of his Pokémon with psychic potential could benefit from staying here for a while. Paul didn't mind leaving them.
But Rotom was a different matter.
It might not seem important, it wasn't a fighter after all—but Rotom was vital to him. It served as his map, his research assistant, his teleportation anchor… its role was irreplaceable.
What mattered even more was that the Rotom-Arceus Phone had finally gathered enough energy. Once Paul was fully prepared, it could traverse across parallel worlds at any time.
And Rotom wasn't meant to be experimented on. Its combat ability didn't matter. He wouldn't leave it here for someone else to dissect. If "someone" up there took notice of the altered divine-tech phone gifted to Paul and then realized he had handed it over for study, it could become a problem.
"…Alright then. Let her stay. She can play with my Pokémon." Sabrina said, her eyes flashing blue for a moment. Froslass vanished from Paul's side and reappeared beside her.
"Since Froslass is staying, let's leave this one too so they can support each other."
Paul took out a Poké Ball and released his Metagross.
Among his entire team, Metagross had the most untapped potential. Letting it stay with Sabrina for a while would only bring benefits.
More importantly, Metagross was exceptionally intelligent, a fast learner with a sharp memory. If it picked up advanced knowledge here, it could pass it along to the rest of the team later.
Why didn't Paul leave his other psychically-inclined Pokémon too?
Well, just because this Sabrina wasn't as temperamental as her anime counterpart… didn't mean he trusted her that much.
"Grrooo…"
Metagross descended from its Poké Ball and looked around with confusion, then turned its gaze to Paul.
Battle? A fight? Against who?
It can't beat any of them anyway...
Much as it hate to admit it, Metagross was fully aware of its low rank within the team's hierarchy.
"Stay here and train with Froslass."
Paul patted Metagross' steel body, then placed both its and Froslass' Poké Balls on the ground.
After offering Sabrina a slight bow, he turned and walked away, leaving behind a reluctant Froslass and a visibly horrified Metagross.
With a flick of her hand, the two Poké Balls floated into Sabrina's grasp. She glanced at them briefly before tossing them into her personal storage space.
"Since you're staying, you may as well have some fun and learn from my Pokémon."
A sweet smile spread across Sabrina's face. With a wave of her hand, a psychic projection materialized in the air before them, revealing several Pokémon within.
"Eeno?"
"Grroo~"
Although they'd been studying at the Saffron Gym for a few days now, neither of them really knew much about Sabrina's Pokémon other than her Espeon and Alakazam.
Now, both Pokémon leaned in curiously toward the vision.
Inside the projection were various Psychic-type Pokémon—Slowking, Jynx, Mr. Mime, and others. One Metagross in particular seemed to sense something; its head suddenly snapped around, locking eyes with the real-world Metagross outside the projection.
"Grr~…"
In an instant, Metagross felt a powerful force seize and immobilize it. A heartbeat later, it was yanked into the projection as if sucked into another dimension.
"Eeno...?"
Froslass barely had time to react before her body was pulled in as well.
"You too." said Sabrina coolly.
"Essp~."
With a soft howl, her Espeon leapt gracefully into the projection.
"Can't see anything from this side. How fascinating…"
In the blink of an eye, the spacious and dimly lit room was empty again—except for Sabrina herself, seated on a throne. Her beautiful eyes shimmered with a chilling blue light that sent shivers down the spine.
...
Saffron City was vast and bustling, but there was nothing left there that interested Paul.
He left the gym without a backward glance and departed the city.
Located near Seafoam Island in the Kanto region, Metallica Island is home to one of the Battle Palaces—a facility from the Battle Frontier system.
Seafoam itself is a coastal tourist destination not far from Pallet Town, known for its scenic sea views and vibrant resort culture. Interestingly, the surfing Pikachu featured in the anime riding the waves of the "Big Tuesday" swell with its Trainer, conquered the ocean right here.
Paul chose to challenge the Battle Palace for a very specific reason: Fula City lies just beyond it. This is the setting of the movie Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us, and it's where the Mythical Pokémon Zeraora made its appearance.
Of course, Ash had already visited the city once—the events of the movie have canonically taken place. Nowadays, Zeraora has been "adopted" by the official League as a protected Pokémon mascot, forbidden from being caught or harmed.
So what did Paul want?
He was hoping to let Electivire have a quick spar or at least a brief exchange with Zeraora, just to study its signature move: Plasma Fists. The goal was for Electivire to refine and perfect its custom version of the move, based on the original.
(End of Chapter)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to access the advance 80 chapters, please visit: patreon.com / PMadz_23