"Red, you said we were going to take down the Team Rocket boss guy, right?" Joy asked curiously behind me, causing me to simply nod.
"Yup, if we take down the head of the operation, then all the grunts will just be headless chickens," I confirmed, as that was the strategy I had come up with.
I knew from the games that Giovanni was, more likely than not, holed up inside the Silph Co. building right now. We had walked past the large building a few times during the past trio of days, and judging by the constant presence of grunts outside the front door, I was willing to bet that the boss was still inside it. Taking on each of the 30-40 Team Rocket grunts throughout the city would've been a hassle, and would take multiple days - so, even if I would get a ton of cash from defeating all the grunts, I was valuing my time over the money. I wanted to challenge Sabrina as soon as possible, and then continue my path forward to becoming the Champion.
For that reason, my rather simple plan was to just barge into Silph Co. - defeating any grunts that tried to stop me until I got to Giovanni, and then defeating him. Then, while all of his pokemon had fainted, I could tell Officer Jenny, and she would have no trouble arresting him. With him out of the picture, Sabrina would have no reason not to accept gym challengers, and I would be able to finally get the gym badge from this city.
"Then… why are we here?" Joy asked blandly, gesturing forward at the large building in front of us, which had a bit of an ominous aura to it, "Sabrina's not accepting challengers, right? So… why are we even here?"
'Here' was in front of the Saffron City gym - which was a pretty large building, though it looked rather… disappointing? Normal? Not outlandish? Compared to the Pewter City gym, which looked like a bunch of rocks shoved together into the shape of a building, and the Cerulean City gym, which was a giant building with numerous pools and enough space to hold entire crowds and shows, this gym was much smaller. It was just a building - full stop. Not even a rather tall building, as it looked to be only one floor tall, with a door in the front and a logo on the top. But what set it apart was the feeling in the air - a feeling that was hard to describe, as it wasn't something physical.
I felt like I was back in the Cerulean City cave again, surrounded by darkness as the blood thirsty Golbat's waited to take a bite of me. There was an eerie feeling in the air, and I felt almost like I was being watched, even as I was standing out on an open street in the middle of the day. Even the bright sun overhead couldn't help me shake the feeling.
"To extort Sabrina," I replied to Joy bluntly, causing her to blink rapidly.
"E-Extort her?" Misty questioned, looking over at me with wide eyes, "What do you mean extort her?!"
"I feel like 'extorting' someone is pretty clean-cut," I shot back at her question lazily, "You seem like a pretty good person, so you might not have done it before, but it's pretty easy. I don't have a dictionary on me right now, but it's pretty much when you make someone agree to something-"
"I-I know what extorting means!" Misty huffed, glaring at me because of my response, "I meant, why are you going to do that to Sabrina?! You can't just do something like that to a gym leader! You'll get in a ton of trouble, Red!"
"I'll be fine. We're not going to be breaking any laws," I shook my head lightly, but, to be fair, I didn't know the laws in this world, so we definitely could be breaking a few, "We'll be peacefully extorting her, and not for money or anything. Just a gym battle."
"A gym battle?" Jessie asked this time, looking at me curiously, "But, she won't take any until Team Rocket is gone, so… shouldn't we worry about that first?"
"If I didn't think ahead, then I would be," I shook my head again, "We're about to be doing Sabrina's job for her, because she and the law enforcement here are too incompetent to, so we should get some compensation in return, right? I'll make her agree to give me a gym battle immediately after we're done as a reward for getting rid of Team Rocket."
I liked to think that I was a nice guy, but I wasn't such a nice guy that I would get rid of Team Rocket for the city without getting anything in return. I'd already experienced the dreaded 'waiting list' at the Pewter City gym, and I had no intention of experiencing it again. If I did nothing now, then I'd have to wait both for Team Rocket to be kicked out of Saffron City, as well as for what I assumed would be a massive waiting list, to finally challenge Sabrina.
This way, I was killing two birds with one stone - guilt-tripping Sabrina into agreeing to let me challenge her immediately after Team Rocket was kicked out, and then removing Team Rocket so she would accept challengers. In one fell swoop, I would remove both of the obstacles between me and the Marsh Badge.
Honestly, I was also hoping that Sabrina would give me a bit of a challenge in trying to manipulate her as well. As far as trainers go, her reputation was definitely far different from either Misty or Brock's, as while both of those gym leaders were pretty normal people overall, Sabrina was a bit more intimidating - and by a bit more, I mean a lot more.
Her whole gimmick was being mysterious and creepy, as she had 'psychic powers' similar to a psychic-type pokemon. In the games, all of her dialogue lines were creepy sayings, usually talking about 'the future,' and she was much more serious than the goofy Brock and the somewhat airheaded Misty. Even in the anime, her character had been pretty intense, as she had a whole 'creepy doll' that she spoke through as she trapped the trainers she defeated in a dollhouse.
Sufficient to say, I was eager to meet the woman. I was expecting that Giovanni would give me a pretty good challenge today, but if I could meet another intelligent person today? A trainer who wasn't a complete moron? That would be nice. Not to mention, her team was completely comprised of psychic-type pokemon - the most overpowered pokemon there were in this region, and the reason that I picked up Ho-Oh Weedle, the Abra, for my team. If Sabrina couldn't offer me a genuine challenge, then I wasn't sure if there was anyone in Kanto who could.
"Well… that's fair, I guess," Misty muttered behind me as I reached forward, pulling open the door to the gym.
I stepped inside, and once again, I was a bit surprised by how normal it was. The walls all around us were wooden, and there was a light built into the ceiling, which shone down on us as we entered. I still felt an ominous feeling in the air, but it didn't match the rather lavish interior, as there was a nice carpet under our feet, a plush waiting chair to the side, and finally, a long desk in front of us with a piece of paper on it.
Honestly, as the waiting list just sat there in the open, being just a singular piece of paper, I had to both admire and doubt the honor system that the gym seemed to be going by. With Team Rocket in the city, I felt like there was a pretty high chance that someone could just walk in and rip up the paper. Then, how would they know the order of the challengers?
…
That was an idea for another time, as I promptly walked around the desk and grabbed the handle of a door a few feet behind it.
"W-Wait, Red, you can't just barge into places!" Joy called as she followed me, watching as I just opened up the door, and stepped into the long hallway behind it.
"Why not? Seems to be working pretty well for Team Rocket," I chuckled, and Joy paused, not sure how to respond, as I wasn't wrong, "I'm not going to wait at the front desk for her to show up. Who knows how long that would take?"
This wasn't like with Brock in the Pewter City gym, where he came to the desk because there was already a gym battle scheduled for that time. In a normal gym, I would bet that there would be multiple gym challenges a day, and I could just wait at the desk for the leader to show up. But, here? Where Sabrina wasn't taking challengers?
I didn't even know if she was in the gym, much less if she'd randomly come to the front desk. Instead, we would have to do a bit of breaking and entering to find the woman. And, some breaking and entering is exactly what we did.
As we continued forward, walking down a long hallway, the ominous feeling I had became stronger. The normal, plush carpet under our feet slowly gave way to a dark black color - which was kind of impressive, as whoever designed this gym managed to find both a carpet this long, and one that was half-white and half-black. The lights overhead started to flicker, the hallway got narrower, and the color of the walls around us started to slowly become darker as well.
"I… I have a bad feeling about this," Joy muttered behind me, taking a step forward as she reached out and grabbed my hand.
"It's just a hallway," I told her dryly, causing the woman to blush lightly as I continued forward. My words were proven correct, as even with the creepy atmosphere, the hallways were indeed just hallways.
I confidently strode through hallway after hallway, leading the three women, until, finally, after aimlessly walking for nearly ten minutes and checking every door I found, I ended up in front of a small door. Which, judging by the 'Sabrina's Office' sign above the door, was probably-
"Sabrina's office," I hummed, casually reaching forward to grab the doorknob, "Why does she even have an office?"
"What? You think we just sit around all day waiting for challengers?" Misty piped up behind me, having experience as a gym leader herself, "This is a job! We have employees - um, well, I used to have employees, anyway… I had to lay them off when I kept losing…"
I paused, just giving her a dry look over my shoulder, and she quickly recovered.
"W-What I was saying was, it's just like a normal job! Most gyms have employees, or at least 'students,' who test trainers and see if they're worthy of facing the leader! So, you have to have an office in case those employees want to speak with you!" She finished confidently, causing me to blink at her words, "If we didn't have a vetting process, then any kid with a Caterpie could waste our time with a battle!"
I hadn't met any of those 'employees' in either the Pewter City gym or the Cerulean City gym, but I guess that made sense. In the games, there had been trainers leading up to a gym leader inside of the gym, but I hadn't experienced that here. For Misty, it seemed that was because she was, frankly, broke, as a result of having such few and weak pokemon. For Brock, I assumed it had something to do with the… unique, circumstance in which I challenged him. Though Timmy really did only have a Caterpie, didn't he? Was Brock giving him a free pass, or had the kid really taken down a gym trainer with that thing? Maybe Caterpies were better than I thought?
"Fair enough," I just said with a shrug, reaching forward as I pushed open the door in front of me, and it swung open as it wasn't locked. I stepped forward, immediately spotting a woman inside, and the exact person who I wanted to see.
Sabrina looked about how I expected she would, as she had long, very dark hair, which flowed down past her waist. She had a thin face, which was pretty as it was framed by her hair, and was wearing a tight red-black outfit. Like, unexpectedly tight - really tight. Her red top clung to her close, outlining the entirety of her large, hanging breasts as I figured I'd even be able to see her nipples if she wasn't wearing a bra. The outfit was similarly tight around her waist, as there was a corset-like black portion of fabric, before it gave way to a similarly tight, squeezing lower-half red portion - which outlined the woman's thick thighs as she sat casually in a chair. She was sitting in a normal-looking chair, which was to the side of a small desk, as she was relaxed and staring at a phone in her hand.
"What's up with the clothes here?" I just muttered at the sight, glancing at her overly tight clothes, and then back to Misty's outfit, which was a similar level of tight, even as it was much more revealing. Granted, it was only these two who wore such provocative clothing, as Joy had a pretty covering outfit, even if her personality would make you think otherwise, and Jessie's Team Rocket outfit - which she apparently had stocked up a bunch of, considering she had enough pairs to wear it daily - still covered her body, even if it was pretty tight.
"Hmm?" The woman hummed as she glanced up while we stepped into her office, her eyes scrolling over each of us, before she dismissively looked back at her phone, "I foresaw you would come here, but… no challengers."
"Eh?" I stared at her blankly as she dismissed us barging into her office so casually, and did so with an ominous statement. Was it common for trainers to find her directly instead of waiting at the front?
"No challengers." Sabrina just repeated at the sound I made, not even glancing up from her phone, "Your future… it is certain. I have seen it."
Okay, another very ominous statement. Glad to see that Sabrina's just as I expected her to be, even if it was, admittedly, creeping me out a bit right now.
"My future?" I muttered, raising an eyebrow at her, "What about it?"
Sabrina's eyes slowly rose again, her gaze locking with mine as she slowly spoke, "You are after my badge… but now is not the time for you to have it…
Wait, could she really see the future? I know that her whole gimmick is having psychic powers, but right now, she was spot on! I did want her badge, but I wouldn't have it right now, because I had to take down Team Rocket first!
"Sabrina's known for her psychic powers, Red!" Misty said in a whisper-shout behind me, giving me some more information, even if it wasn't very helpful to me, "I don't think it'll be as easy as you think to talk with her! She can see the future, and I heard she can even read minds…"
Of course, I already knew that Sabrina had psychic powers, because that was her whole thing. She was a psychic, with a team of psychic pokemon, and her whole gym was psychic-themed - though, as I had just walked through it, besides the ominous vibe in the air and the dark lighting, it wasn't really that psychic-themed. In the games, she also spoke pretty ominously about 'seeing the future' and 'foreseeing' things, but seeing as how Team Rocket had been able to take over Saffron City easily, right now, I had been a bit doubtful of just how skillful she was. But after hearing her future-related statement to me, I was starting to become a believer.
"Whatever, my future doesn't matter, because I'm not here to challenge you to a gym battle," I clarified quickly, pushing aside any doubts, "Not yet, at least."
"Then, what do you want?" Sabrina said bluntly, looking at me with a still dismissive gaze. I was starting to think she might not be as easy to reason with as I originally thought, as right now, I felt like she considered me more of a nuisance than a person, "I had a vision of your arrival… if you do not leave now… then you will be in great danger…"
I blinked, surprised at her words, "What? Great danger?"
If she really could see the future, then I should be more than a bit concerned about that. So far, the only danger I had faced was boredom during trainer battles, and then having my blood sucked by hungry Golbats. What 'great danger' could possibly be looming in the future?
"Yes… you must leave now, or you will be in great danger…" Sabrina confirmed, her eyes boring into mine as her face was deathly serious.
"I'll be in danger if I… don't leave the gym?" I looked at her confusedly. How the hell was me being here putting me in danger? It was just a gym!
"Yes… grave danger," Sabrina just nodded again, and then her eyes started to glow faintly as her gaze became more intense, "You must leave now… if you do not leave immediately… then I will make you!"
Woah, talk about intimidating, huh? But, instead of turning around and heeding her advice, my lips just twitched up into a grin. This was exactly what I had been looking for.
"Then, make me," I goaded her, reaching down and resting my hand on a pokeball in my pocket. All this time, I had been itching for a good battle, and it would seem I finally found one. Not only that, but with how threatening her tone was, it seemed that this wouldn't be some light-hearted battle either! This would be a battle that I could really give my all-
"H-Huh? What?" I blinked as Sabrina's intense and dark expression abruptly brightened, and the woman blinked rapidly at me, "W-What did you say?"
"...Make me," I just said again, becoming confused as she stared at me awkwardly, "You said that if I didn't leave, you would make me, right?"
"A-Ah, yeah… I did say that…" Sabrina's face abruptly steeled again, her eyes glowing lightly with a pink aura, "If you won't leave, then I will make you! A-And, you won't like that!"
I looked at her blandly as her expression broke at the end again, and she stuttered lightly. What the hell was going on here?
"You… you're just bluffing, aren't you?" I deadpanned at her, and she stiffened, glancing away as she wouldn't meet my gaze, "What the hell?"
"N-No! I-If you don't l-leave immediately, t-then I'll… I'll definitely make you leave!" She huffed out, glancing around slightly nervously, "W-What do you even w-want anyway?"
I stared at her blankly for a moment, wondering how the intimidating, mysterious, and creepy woman in front of me had somehow turned into a nervous, stuttering mess in under a minute. Then, I just sighed.
"I want you to do something!" I finally snapped, causing the woman to jump slightly from my words, "If you're not going to stand on business, then stop with these stupid-ass ominous sayings! The whole city is overrun, and you're sitting on your ass in here?!"
I had actually expected to find out that the Saffron City gym was empty, as if Sabrina was so worried about the Team Rocket invasion of the city, then she would definitely be somewhere working to stop it, right? She shouldn't be just sitting in her office, on her phone, doing nothing! The whole reason she stopped doing challenges was to handle Team Rocket, but right now, she was doing a lot of nothing! And, considering how long they had been running amok in Saffron City, she had definitely been doing a lot of nothing for weeks!
"A-Ah…" Sabrina's eyes went wide for a second, but she quickly schooled her face, her expression becoming blank again, "...I foresaw this future, and I can foresee the solution. Team Rocket's arrival was destiny, and I am the one who can see-"
"Right, I get that your whole thing is having psychic powers, but can we stop with all the riddles?" I interrupted her again, looking dryly at the gym leader, "If you can really see the future, then why didn't you do something to stop Team Rocket from taking over? I don't think you really can, so just drop the fake-futuresight charade, and let's get to business, alright?"
Judging by how quickly Sabrina crumbled under the slightest bit of pressure, I was starting to get some 'street side psychic' vibes from her. As in, instead of owning a gym and seeing the future, she was more fit to be sitting on the side of a busy road and offering tarot card readings for twenty pokebucks.
"R-Red!" Misty huffed behind me, staring at me with wide eyes at my statement, "Y-You can't just be so rude to a gym leader! Sabrina's psychic prowess is known all throughout Kanto! You can't just barge into her office and tell her that she's faking it!"
"But she is," I responded dryly, shaking my head lightly, "Seriously, this is the most basic scam there is! Every 'psychic' does this! She's talking in riddles to confuse you, and then she's being super vague! Like, 'I foresaw your arrival?' No shit, we're right here! We already arrived! Then, 'you're after my badge?' What else would a trainer be here for?! Fuck, I actually believed her at first because I'm a dumbass!"
I was almost the idiot who fell for it! Obviously, I couldn't 'have her badge now' - not because she saw the future and knew I was going to take out Team Rocket first, but because she wasn't taking challengers right now! No one could challenge her! If I had really just left the gym when she mentioned the 'great danger' I'd be in, then I would've been a sucker!
"W-Well… actually… you're not wrong," Joy blinked, speaking up as she glanced at Sabrina, "If you can see the future, why didn't you stop Team Rocket from showing up? You're the gym leader, so you could've done something, right?"
"A-Ah…" Sabrina's face blushed lightly, her eyes darting around the room for a second, before she schooled her expression again, "The future… and the past… they are all… times… I foresee them all…"
"Real helpful," I deadpanned at her words, "That didn't answer the question at all. You're totally a fraud, aren't you? You can't see the future at all."
"O-Of course I can!" Sabrina's blank expression broke again, the woman glaring at me, though I could see a bit of panic in her eyes, "I'm a psychic! L-Look!"
She lashed out with her arm, her open palm pointing directly at the desk next to her. Her arm glowed with a bright pink aura, and then, slowly, a pen on the desk rose upward. It rose into the air shakily, wobbling as it ascended a couple of feet, and then stabilized.
"See?" Sabrina's panicked expression stiffened again, her face going blank, "I am a psychic… I foresaw your question, and I had a solution-"
"Lifting a pen two feet into the air isn't the same thing as seeing the future," I deadpanned at her, causing her blank expression to break again as the pen fell down onto the table and then rolled onto the floor, "You're totally a fraud."
"I-I am not!"
"Oh yeah? Then what am I thinking about right now?" I smirked, and her face flushed.
"Y-You… you are… thinking about… battling me for… a badge?" Sarbina finished, sounding uncertain even as she said it, "I-I foresaw that y-you would c-come here, and a-attempt to take my b-badge-"
"Don't just say that again! Are these buzzwords how you trick people?" I asked her dryly, and her face flushed an even deeper red color, "The only people who come here are trainers looking to get the gym badge, so you tell them that you can 'see the future' because you know they're coming for the badge? And they believe it, because they're all idiots!"
It was the perfect scam! All the trainers in this world are idiots, so she could easily use the 'vague truth' strategy! It was like a psychic telling you that you had recently experienced 'misfortune.' In reality, they had no idea about your life in the slightest, but if you were going to see a psychic in the first place, more likely than not, there was a reason for it - a reason that usually related to something bad happening recently. Beyond that, you could tie that 'misfortune' into any little thing that had happened recently - dropped your plate of pancakes? That's misfortune. Spilled your coffee? Stubbed your toe? Got rear-ended in traffic? Any one of those things could be tied to the 'misfortune' prediction that the psychic gave you, because they weren't really psychic!
Whenever Sabrina told them that they were here to get her badge, those less-than-intelligent trainers would probably be in awe - wow! How did she know I was here to challenge her for the gym badge?! Maybe because that's what a trainer would go to a gym for, idiots!
I jutted my finger at her as I finished, and Sabrina stared back at me for a moment, her face red as she was caught in her lies. Finally, she crumbled under the pressure.
"F-Fine, I can't see the future, alright?! So what if the extent of my powers is lifting things off the ground?!" She hissed, glaring at me as the composed expression that was usually on her face was nowhere to be seen, "Why do you care?! Who even are you?!
"I'm Red," I countered, not backing down as I opened my mouth, then paused, and immediately backed down, "Honestly, I… don't actually really care. I was just pissed that you're sitting here, doing nothing, when you could apparently see the future and could've stopped this whole problem before it began! Why do you even need to act like you can see the future anyway?!"
Honestly, Sabrina being a blatant fraud of a psychic had nothing to do with me, or really with the task at hand in the slightest. I was just annoyed that she wasn't getting rid of Team Rocket, and when I came to ask her about it, she just kept talking in riddles! Beyond that, I wanted a good fight, but now, I definitely didn't think she would be able to give me on!
"W-Well, being able to see the future draws a lot of attention to the gym…" Sabrina glanced away, not meeting my eyes as her face flushed, "T-There's too many psychics around these days! Just being able to bend spoons doesn't cut it anymore!"
Well, I guess I couldn't fault her there. Being able to use psychic powers was definitely something that would draw a lot of attention, but considering the games were littered with psychic-using trainers - to the point that there was literally a trainer class labeled 'Psychic' - that likely meant that Sabrina was far from the only psychic in Kanto, or even Saffron City. Her gym would get a lot more challengers, and thus more money when she defeated them, if she had something special about her, so it seemed that her whole 'mysterious' and 'ominous future-sight user' persona was… fake. And, judging by her flushed face and wide eyes, it seemed that it was very fake.
"Whatever," I just sighed, waving my hand at her, "Fake psychic powers aside, why haven't you taken out Team Rocket yet? Are they really too much for you to handle?"
Considering gym leaders had multiple teams, and could switch between them depending on what level of experience their challenger had, I assumed that she should be able to handle most of the Team Rocket grunts. Even if she wasn't really a super-skilled battler as I had assumed, if she had even a decent level of skill, she should've been able to clear out most of the criminal organization. Her strongest team, reserved only for challengers with powerful pokemon and seven badges, should've had some pokemon around level 45 at least. Combine that with the fact that all her pokemon were psychic-type, which was the most overpowered type in this region by far? With that much firepower, it would've been genuinely impressive if she managed to lose against anyone in Team Rocket except for Giovanni.
Essentially, right now, with Sabrina on the case, Team Rocket should've been gone. All the guards, the police officers, and Sabrina's overpowered-ass team should've handled them in less than a day!
"W-Well, about that…" Sabrina trailed off, glancing away as she blushed again and wouldn't meet my eyes, "I-I tried at first, but… I can't! They have a Gengar!"
I blinked at her words, "A Gengar?"
"Yeah! They showed up here first, before they made their base in Silph Co.," Sabrina explained, her face becoming more serious, "And they showed up with a Gengar! I can't do anything against that!"
"...One Gengar? Not a team full of ghost-type pokemon, but just one Gengar?" I pressed, looking at her dryly, and then my shoulders slumped as she nodded rapidly.
Well, it would seem that my hopes of Sabrina living up to her mysterious reputation were wrong in every possible way. Not only was she not really a 'mysterious psychic' who could see the future, but she also folded the second a bad type matchup appeared! Granted, at least she knew that Gengar was a bad matchup for her team, so that was something at least, right?
"That pokemon is way too strong! I haven't struggled against even Gyarados' or Arcanine's, but that Gengar wiped out my whole team! And with just one move!" Sabrina continued, ranting slightly as she slumped forward, "I didn't even know a pokemon like that existed! W-Wait, is that… is that what people mean when they say 'legendary?' That was a legendary pokemon?!"
Never mind, she wasn't just an idiot, but a complete idiot.
"No, no, it's not," I deadpanned at her, "It's just a ghost-type pokemon. A pretty strong one, too, so it seems they planned ahead a bit…"
Honestly, I was pretty impressed - not by Sabrina, but by Team Rocket. If they had the foresight to come to Sabrina's gym and intimidate her with a Gengar, then there was someone amongst them who was pretty competent. Granted, having the very basic understanding of 'ghost-type good against psychic-type' didn't mean they were a super genius or anything, but at the very least, someone inside of Team Rocket, likely Giovanni, knew the very basics of pokemon battles. Which, in this world full of stupid trainers, would make him a super genius compared to anyone except myself.
"A ghost-type? What does that mean?" I blinked, slowly looking over at Sabrina, who was looking at me curiously, "Aren't ghosts, like, floating white guys?"
"Ghost-type, as in… the pokemon's type? You've never heard of a ghost-type?" I said dryly to her, and Sabrina just looked even more confused.
"Type? Like, what you do on the phone when you're texting? What does that have to do with a ghost?"
I stared blankly at Sabrina. Sabrina stared back confusedly. I continued to stare at her blankly. She continued to stare back confusedly. My blank stare became more intense, boring into her eyes, until finally she glanced away and folded.
"W-Why are you looking at me like that?!"
"You're a gym leader, but you don't even know what types are?!" I snapped, looking at her with a stare so dry that it put a desert to shame, "How the hell did you become a gym leader to begin with?!"
I could understand that most trainers, and even gym leaders like Brock and Misty, didn't have a good knowledge of type match-ups, but not even knowing what a type was? I felt pretty stupid for thinking that Sabrina would be a rare, intelligent, competent trainer right now.
"Um… I was the only person with psychic powers in Kanto when I was a kid, so… the mayor of Saffron City just made me the gym leader to bring more tourists to the city," Sabrina shrugged unhelpfully, and my bland look didn't drop, "He even gave me the pokemon!"
The mayor just saw a child who could bend spoons with her mind, and decided that she should be the gym leader here? And then, apparently, used his resources as the mayor to gather a bunch of overpowered pokemon for her? Hearing that, combined with the whole 'defeat criminals in a pokemon battle to arrest them' rule, was making me start to doubt the infrastructure of this world even more.
"Did you know about this?" I asked, glancing back at Joy, "That she was… like this?"
"W-What's that supposed to mean?!" Sabrina huffed, but Joy just shook her head.
"Nope. I'd always heard she was really mysterious and serious," Joy confirmed, "And that she was one of the hardest gym leaders to beat! I thought she was a really good battler!"
"I-I am a good battler! Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Sabrina huffed again, and I looked at her dryly, "I almost never lose gym battles! I'm one of the best gym leaders in this region!"
"Have you ever told any of your pokemon to use Calm Mind?"
"Clam what? Like the fish?"
"That's what I thought," I sighed, shaking my head lightly, "How did no one ever notice this? Just by talking to you for a minute, they should realize that you're a complete fraud!"
"I-I am not a fraud! B-But, ah… I don't talk with people much…" Sabrina said a bit sheepishly, "For some reason, people seem to be creeped out by me…"
"Yeah… I wonder why…" I trailed off, looking at her dryly, as she was the same woman who greeted all the trainers with varying levels of ominous messages.
Overall, I was disappointed, but honestly not surprised, by Sabrina. It was my fault for thinking she was really a good battler, when in reality, she was wholly incompetent and just carried by her psychic-type pokemon, who were overpowered in this region. She also wasn't some 'mysterious' or 'serious' intelligent trainer, because she just spoke in riddles in an attempt not to be exposed as a fraud - which in turn led to her having no friends, because she spoke so creepily, so no one ever noticed she was a fraud!
"Whatever," I sighed again, pushing away my annoyance at how heavily my expectations of Sabrina had been shattered. I wouldn't get the challenge I was looking for, but right now, I could use this to my advantage.
"Fraud or not, you're going to come with me to take out Team Rocket," I told her bluntly, causing Sabrina to look at me with wide eyes.
"N-No way! They have that super-powerful legendary pokemon!" She shook her head quickly, a bit of fear in her eyes as she remembered the beating her team took from Gengar.
"I'll handle the 'super powerful' pokemon, which still isn't a legendary pokemon," I told her dryly, "You'll be helping take out the rest of the grunts. Then, after Team Rocket is gone, you'll let me skip the wait list and challenge the gym right away, alright?"
"Huh? I can't do that!" Sabrina shot back, her face becoming set in stone, "The integrity of the waiting list is what keeps corruption from forming! If you could skip past the other trainers waiting, those with money and people in power would be able to-"
"If you don't let me skip the list, I'll tell everyone about how you can't really see the future."
"O-Of course, one exception wouldn't hurt anyone!" Sabrina quickly agreed shakily, and I just gave the woman one last dry look. It seemed her morals didn't extend very far.
My visit to the Saffron City gym definitely hadn't gone how I imagined it would, but in the end, it worked out fine. I'd get my gym battle with Sabrina, and be able to continue my journey to becoming the Champion. All that was standing in my way right now, was Team Rocket.
"Then, if we're all on the same page," I grinned, reaching down as I grabbed one of my pokeballs.
"Let's go kick some ass."
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"Y-You mean in a pokemon battle, right? It's illegal to assault someone physically! If that's what you're planning to do, then I won't go, even if you tell everyone about how-"
"Just follow me, damn it!"
As per usual in this world, nothing could be easy, even as everything was… easy?
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be posted in around 2 weeks!
However, this story is updated twice as often on Patreon.com/Koyon ! Up to chapter 20 is already posted there! (Chapters ahead for this story are only available to the top 2 tiers)