Finally, as the last rays of sunlight faded from the windows, the doors to the arena slid open. Sabrina stood there, her silhouette framed by the dim light of the hallway. The spell was broken. The forced calm receded, and Eliana felt a rush of returning sensation, a wave of pent-up energy and frustration.
Alakazam bowed to his trainer, then turned to Eliana and her Pokémon giving them all a nod. Sabrina thanked him, turning towards the younger group, "You have done sufficient enough. You are free for the night."
Eliana stretched, her limbs stiff and sore from sitting still for so long. Raichu yawned, a big, jaw-cracking yawn that ended in a tiny squeak. Kirlia helped her to her feet, his touch a welcome comfort. Staryu's gem glowed brighter, a sign of its returning energy.
They followed Sabrina out of the arena and down a long, winding hallway. The walls were bare and white, the floors were polished to a mirror shine. The silence was broken only by the soft echo of their footsteps. Eliana's own stomach grumbled, breaking the silence. Sabrina gave her an unamused glance, but the only thing she said was, "Food will be delivered to your room, you are still not allowed to leave without permission."
Teaching the door to Eliana's room, the small group walked in. Sabrina turned and walked away, her back straight and her movements fluid and precise. Eliana watched her go, the door slamming closed behind her, a flicker of something unreadable in her eyes. Then she turned to her Pokémon, a bright, mischievous smile spreading across her face.
Raichu retorted, that it was boring and awful, her tail lashing with renewed energy. She grumbled that she was hungry and her head hurt from Alakazam's interference.
Kirlia answered, his mental voice calm but firm, that they were all hungry. And Raichu must be paitent because Sabrina was terrifying to be around. Raichu gave an annoyed pout in response wanting the food to hurry up and get here.
She walked over to the window and looked out at the weeping willow in the courtyard.
She turned back to her Pokémon, her eyes gleaming with a dangerous light.
Raichu's cheeks sparked with excitement. Kirlia sighed, a soft, resigned sound. Staryu just floated there, its gem pulsing with a steady, indifferent light.
…
The next few weeks followed the same grueling pattern. They were woken up at four in the morning, well before the sun rose. Mornings were for meditation, long, silent hours in the vast, empty arena. Alakazam always keeping watch over them.
Eliana had gotten to the point where she no longer needed his assistance to meditate. On the other hand Raichu, still had an abundance of energy in the morning and needed Alakazam's influence to focus. It was slowly getting better, Alakazam only had to calm her for around an hour before Raichu could meditate on her own. At least it had been shorted from the all day meditation of day one. Eliana didn't think she could survive months of nothing but sitting still and thinking. After meditation finally came breakfast, which the young group were sent back to their room for. Sabrina didn't want them interacting with the others yet, she said she didn't trust them to not slaughter her living students. Which Eliana thought was rude but fair, she hasn't killed a fellow psychic yet and was interested in trying.
Afternoons were for lectures, long, dry monologues about the nature of psychic power, the history of Saffron City, and the importance of control. Eliana found these lessons to be worse than meditation, at least then she could explore her mind. If Eliana started dozing off during these lectures Sabrina would give her a sharp correction, one that usually left her with a massive migraine.
Evenings were for battles against Sabrina's team. Eliana knew that they were holding back against them but the experience was valuable. All of her Pokémon were much stronger than before, specifically their psychic abilities but that didn't mean their other skills suffered. Her team had matured their current moves, such as Staryu's Water pulse becoming Hydro Pump. Or had learned completely new moves entirely, such as Sabrina's Espeon teaching Raichu Signal Beam. Eliana was very close to using the Water Stone to evolve Staryu, all she needed was for Icy Wind to mature into Ice Beam. Kirlia still had a ways to go before she would let him evolve into Gallade and Alolan Raichu was already full evolved. Dinner was allowed after training, the group was once again put into their room to eat.
Nights were reserved for Eliana's personal ability training with Sabrina. Apparently Sabrina had never taken such interest in a student before and therefore didn't exactly have time in her schedule for it. Eliana truly didn't understand why, in her time staying at Saffron City's gym, Sabrina rarely took on challengers. And only a small percentage of those who did make it to her actually left with a badge. Eliana couldn't believe the league didn't care about that, maybe her theory about them being corrupt had some merit to it. Sabrina was rarely at the gym, so what exactly was she doing, Eliana had no clue. And the young girl wasn't currently interested in finding out because she was dealing with her own personal hell, psychic training.
Eliana training her own power was a different beast entirely. It was intimate, invasive, and utterly terrifying. Sabrina would delve into her mind, forcing her to confront her deepest fears, her darkest desires, her most traumatic memories. She would tear down her mental defenses, exposing her raw, vulnerable psyche, and then rebuild it, stronger and more resilient than before. The only safe space was the fact that Mew killed and revived her, Eliana suspected that the Pokémon itself had hidden that bit about her past.
Eliana found a strange kind of satisfaction in this nightly ritual. It was painful and it was certainly humiliating, but it was also exhilarating. She was learning more about herself, about her power, than she ever thought possible. And she was learning more about Sabrina, too. She saw the cracks in the woman's armor, the flickers of loneliness and despair that she kept so carefully hidden. She saw the ghost of the girl she used to be, a girl who was scared of her own power, a girl who lost control and hurt the people she loved. A girl who turned to absolute control over herself and those around her.
Eliana knew she was being shaped, molded into a weapon in Sabrina's image. But she also knew that Sabrina was being changed by her, too. The older woman was becoming more curious, more open, more willing to take risks. It was a dangerous, delicate balance, a high-stakes game of psychological chess.
During this personal training Eliana's Pokémon were stuck with Sabrina's team. After learning Signal Beam from it, Raichu had taken to sticking with Espeon. The Eevee Evolution becoming something like a mentor to the electric type. Staryu had found its place with Sabrina's Slowking, most likely out of water type solidarity. Kirlia strangely enough spent the most time with Alakazam. Being with the older Pokémon had mellowed out her little prince quite the bit, he was no longer the spoiled monster she had started with. Though this didn't seem to quell his bloodlust, only resulting in him hiding it. Eliana had found out that Alakazam could be quite the cruel Pokémon.
Personal training with Sabrina was Eliana's favorite part of the day, despite the lingering pain from it. And they were finally allowed to head to bed when the clock struck exactly eleven at night. Sabrina had said a strict bed schedule would help to cultivate discipline, an area she said Eliana was severely lacking in. Eliana thought that was stupid since her team wasn't getting much rest because Sabrina was waking them up at the crack of dawn anyways.
…
Elaina's Current Team:
Pokémon: Kirlia
Gender: Male
Ability: Trace
Moves: Disarming Voice, Teleport, Draining Kiss, Psychic, Psyshock, Magical Leaf, Charge Beam, Hyper Voice, Protect, Life Dew, Ice Punch
Pokémon: Staryu
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Natural Cure
Moves: Hydro Pump, Psychic, Swift, Recover, Confuse Ray, Harden, Power Gem, Icy Wind
Pokémon: Alolan Raichu
Gender: Female
Ability: Surge Surfer
Moves: Psychic, Thunderbolt, Electric Terrain, Electro Web, Iron Tail, Light Screen, Reflect, Focus Blast, Grass Knot, Signal Beam, Double Team