Celadon Gym.
After tending to Pikachu and Gloom, Silas and Erika walked back to the main entrance of the gym, bantering and laughing as they went, until they reached the perfume shop area. The moment Silas stepped inside, his expression darkened.
Because the three girls were still shopping for perfumes—and at their feet lay a ridiculous pile of bags and boxes. Now he finally understood: Erika wasn't kidding when she said the profits from their shopping spree would cover her medical bills. Looking at that mountain, it was clear not only would it cover the costs, but there'd be more profit left over!
Of course… that wasn't even the most annoying part for Silas. He'd already spent a fortune on compensation yesterday, so what's a little more on perfume for the girls? The real headache was—since there were no other guys around, who do you think would have to carry all these bags?
Right as Silas was grumbling in his head, Giselle spotted him. She called him over in a rush: "Silas, come here!"
"What now?" Silas asked, dragging himself over.
"Help me." Giselle held up two perfume bottles, looking torn. "Which one should I get?"
"Neither."
"Why not?" Giselle stared in confusion. "Did you find a better scent?"
"Nope," Silas replied, glancing at Giselle's still-undeveloped body and bluntly adding, "You haven't even hit puberty. Any perfume's a waste."
"You—!"
Giselle lunged at him, ready to throttle him, but before she could do anything, Suzie caught her and beamed, "Ignore him. I'll help you choose. Once we're done picking, we'll have him carry everything for us, okay?"
"Sounds good," Giselle huffed, shooting Silas a murderous glare. "He better drop dead from exhaustion!"
"…." Silas said nothing, completely deadpan.
Right then, Gastly suddenly shot out from his Master Ball, opening with, "We need to go. She's here."
"Who?!" Silas hadn't caught on yet.
"Who?" Gastly rolled his eyes. "That crazy woman from Saffron City, who else!"
Shit!
Silas nearly had a heart attack. After all the chaos yesterday, Sabrina had totally slipped his mind. But Gastly's reminder knocked it right back. Silas frowned, "She got here this fast?!"
"Not really," Gastly answered calmly. "Saffron City isn't far. If she and a bunch of Psychic-types use Teleport, she can be here within minutes."
Minutes? That's superhero speed.
Silas rolled his eyes, grumbling, "How long till she arrives?"
"She's already here."
She's already—
Before Silas could react, he heard an icy voice from behind: "Found you… you shameless bastard."
That cold voice made Silas freeze on the spot.
He turned—and there was Sabrina, standing behind him.
Her face was as frosty as ever, her dark eyes radiating pure, heart-stopping murder.
"Na… Sabrina." Silas swallowed hard.
"Run," Sabrina said coldly, a cruel smirk on her lips. "Why aren't you running now, huh?"
Silas gave her an awkward smile, bracing himself. "Look, this is all just a misunderstanding! Why don't we just sit down and—"
"Alakazam!" Sabrina didn't wait for him to finish. She tossed a Poké Ball, called out before the Pokémon even materialized: "Use Psybeam!"
"Alakazam!"
Alakazam burst from its ball in a flash of light, snapping both Twisted Spoon together and firing a prismatic wave without hesitation!
Crazy woman!
Silas cursed under his breath and barked at Gastly, "Block it!"
"Piece of cake." Gastly glided in front of Silas, not even bothering to use a move—he just tanked the Psybeam with his body, unfazed. While tanking, he chuckled lazily at Sabrina, "Keeheeheehee~ Little girl, your Alakazam is way too weak. Why don't you help it out?"
Gastly's laidback showmanship only pissed Sabrina off more, both her and Alakazam's eyes flashing blue with psychic energy. She growled, "Shadow Ball!"
Instantly—
Whooshing noises cut through the air—Alakazam, supercharged by Sabrina, rapid-fired Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball. If it were any ordinary Pokémon, they'd have been overwhelmed!
"Keeheeheehee~" Gastly wasn't even bothering to dodge—he took the Shadow Balls head-on, his raucous laughter echoing through the gym: "Not bad, ripping off my move! You just don't have enough firepower!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Gastly's taunts drew everyone's attention. As heads turned his way, the barrages of Shadow Ball exploded over Gastly, filling the room with black smoke and totally masking Sabrina and Silas.
When the smoke cleared, both sides became visible again. Gastly floated unharmed in front of Silas.
But Alakazam—and Sabrina—weren't looking so hot. Shadow Ball didn't drain much stamina normally, but quantity counts, and firing off all those attacks back-to-back left them both visibly spent.
"Sabrina?!" Giselle gasped.
"No way…" Suzie was stunned at just how fast Sabrina had gotten to Celadon.
"We might be in trouble…" Lorelei gave a helpless laugh.
The three girls all gave Silas and Sabrina the same wry, exasperated smile.
After clearing out the staff, Erika hurried over, asking the girls, "Do you know her?"
"We do." Lorelei nodded, still looking helpless. "She's a gym leader like you—Saffron City's, actually."
"The Queen of Psychic Types!"
Erika's eyes nearly popped. Though she'd never met Sabrina in person, every gym leader for miles around knew of the Queen of Psychic Types. Erika couldn't help wondering what kind of disaster Silas must have caused to get someone so feared to chase him down in person!
"Sorry…" Erika was still reeling when Lorelei interrupted with a bitter smile, "Whatever damage this battle causes, we'll cover it."
"Alright." Erika nodded, resigned.
While the girls were worried, Silas's headache only grew worse.
If it weren't for that little incident with Sabrina that night, maybe he could have handled her. A gym leader chasing him halfway across the region was extreme, sure, but as long as he didn't cross the line, even her powerful clan wouldn't make things worse. But the awkward part was—he'd unintentionally crossed ALL the lines. So as long as Sabrina didn't push him beyond his bottom line, she could do pretty much whatever she wanted and nobody would blame her. Now the real question was: What the hell could he do?
Fight her?
That's suicide.
Don't fight?
Then she'll chase him forever.
Silas was sure—if he tried to drive Sabrina off, he'd spend the rest of his journey on the run. That was not acceptable.
Just as Silas pondered, Sabrina renewed her attack, her icy voice cutting through the tension: "Psycho Cut!"
"Alakazam!"
Alakazam replied, transforming its twisted spoons into blades and carving a glowing X through the air!
The rainbow-hued blades shot toward Gastly with uncanny speed.
"Keeheeheehee~" Gastly grinned wickedly. "Nice tricks, but they won't work!"
As the blades slammed into Gastly, they… simply stopped. Gastly's eyes flashed violet, smothering the Psyblades with an aura of ghostly light, eating away at the Psycho Cut energy like acid.
"What the—?!" Sabrina was floored.
She already knew Gastly was crazy strong, but not THIS strong—shrugging off Psycho Cut and a Shadow Ball barrage, now outright nullifying her signature strike? The thing was a nightmare.
While Sabrina reeled in disbelief, Gastly floated over and whispered, "Trainer, any plans to resolve this? I can keep flexing all day, but it's getting old. Hurry up and pick something."
"…."
Flexing, really?
Silas could only give a bitter smile. Honestly, he wasn't surprised—Gastly was the slyest Pokémon on his whole team, and the Sabrina mess was mostly his fault, but… what was the use in blaming him now? Sighing, Silas muttered, "Got any better ideas?"
"Sleep her," Gastly shot back with zero hesitation.
"Screw off!" Silas barked. Not that kind of 'sleep'! He wasn't about to cross that final line. He'd gotten in enough trouble with this woman already—another incident and she'd probably kill him for real!
"How about knocking her out again?" Gastly suggested. "I'll go easier this time—drag it out for a few days so she can't find us. No way she's spending her whole life chasing you."
That… actually didn't sound bad.
Even if it was a little unfair to Sabrina, running away was better than getting stuck in a stalemate.
"Do it," Silas finally said, jaw set. "Just put her and Alakazam to sleep—nothing extra, and keep your mouth shut."
"Got it!"
Their exchange was quick—even before Sabrina snapped out of her shock, Gastly was in action!
He flashed in front of Alakazam, eyes glowing purple. Alakazam went down like a rock. It was only then Sabrina regained her senses, glaring into Gastly's face. "What are you planning?"
"Keeheeheehee~" Gastly leered. "My trainer thinks you need a nap!"
A nap?! Sabrina instantly flashed back to that humiliating night. Her eyes blazed with rage, but before she could even speak, Gastly's eyes flashed violet—and Sabrina collapsed, feeling sluggish and helpless, struggling just to glare at Silas. Gritting her teeth, she snapped, "Y-you'd better watch your back…"
...
"Pikachu, you're way too slow! Pick up the pace!"
"Charizard, is a little gravity field all it takes to keep you grounded? Show everyone what you're made of!"
"Gastly, it's been a solid week—you still haven't figured out how to evolve into Gengar? Or are you planning to stay a Gastly forever?!"
Two weeks later.
Fuchsia Forest.
Silas's voice echoed through the woods as training kicked into high gear. Ever since they'd left Celadon City a week ago, Silas's crew hadn't stepped foot in another city, instead trekking through forest after forest, traveling and training their Pokémon as they went.
This time, Silas wasn't just whipping Pikachu into shape; Charizard and Gastly were being put through the wringer, too—working on flying and evolution, respectively!
Gastly had kept his form for over a thousand years. Whether it was talent, skill, or sheer level, he'd shattered the requirements for evolution ages ago. So as far as Silas was concerned, the only real reason Gastly hadn't evolved was because… well, Gastly just didn't want to. Now, Silas was determined to push him until he wanted it for himself.
As for Charizard, the training was all about unlocking that second element. Sure, Silas "could" have just forced a new element with rare crystals—but one, he didn't have enough to blow through, and two, ever since Charizard hit the Legendary Pokémon tier, his energy control had never really been up to scratch. Even if Silas handed him the flying element on a platter, would he actually be able to master it?
All of this left Charizard and Gastly sighing and sulking daily.
Neither of them had been put through the grinder in ages, and suddenly Silas was running them ragged—how could they possibly take it?
It wasn't only Charizard and Gastly who were struggling. Even Giselle was reaching her breaking point. She was a pampered little princess—she'd never gone two whole weeks roughing it in the woods. If Lorelei and Suzie weren't around to keep her sane, Giselle probably would've lost it ages ago.
Glancing over at Silas barking orders in the distance, Giselle couldn't help but complain to Lorelei, "Big Sis Lorelei, when are we finally getting back to city? I'm dying for a hot bath and a real bed."
"Today," Lorelei answered, startling Giselle.
"Today?!" Giselle's eyes went wide.
"Mm-hmm." Lorelei nodded and waved her map. "As long as we can find the Fuchsia Gym hidden somewhere in this forest. If we manage that and finish the gym battle, we can make it back to Fuchsia City tonight. If not, well, we keep roughing it for another night."
"Let me see!" Giselle said, suddenly fired up, reaching for the map. "Big Sis Lorelei, show me!"
"Here." Lorelei handed the map to Giselle.
Giselle seized it, but after one glance, her face fell. She blinked at Lorelei. "This is a map?"
Lorelei just grinned, taking the map back. "You thought a wilderness map would be as easy as a city map? If it was, I wouldn't have said anything about maybe finding the place. Take your time."
"Fine…" Giselle's mood deflated again.
"Alright, alright," Suzie said, coming over with her usual bright smile. "Lunch is ready. You two go ahead and eat, I'll go let Silas know."
"Thanks." Lorelei smiled back.
...
Training grounds.
Since Tyranitar needed to use Gravity Field, Silas had set up camp far from the girls so he wouldn't disturb them. It took Suzie a good five minutes to reach him. When she arrived, she saw Silas sitting with his eyes closed, enjoying the forest breeze beside Dragonite, with Charizard and Gastly on his left and Pikachu on his right. Clearly, Charizard and Gastly were under a different gravity level than Pikachu.
One thing was the same for all three Pokémon: they were drenched in sweat and looking totally miserable.
"How's it going?" Suzie sat down beside Silas and Dragonite, smiling brightly. "Any progress?"
Silas shook his head. "Pikachu's making good strides—he'll probably break into Elite Four tier before Indigo League. Charizard should improve, too. But Gastly's just hopeless. I've been pushing him for a week and he has zero desire to evolve. What about you guys—find Fuchsia Gym yet?"
"Looks like we did." Suzie nodded cheerfully. "We're already near the gym. With a little luck, you'll be able to challenge it this afternoon. If not, we'll have to wait till tomorrow."
This afternoon, huh…
Silas considered for a moment, then said, "Tyranitar, turn off the gravity field!"
"Tyranitar…"
Tyranitar opened his eyes. Instantly, Charizard, Gastly, and Pikachu all slumped in relief, the crushing weight gone. Training was over, and they flopped to the ground, staring at Silas with pitiful, abused eyes—like a bunch of bullied puppies.
"Food time." Silas completely ignored their looks as he announced, "You get the afternoon off. Pikachu, rest up—you might be fighting in the gym battle."
"Pikachu..."
The faint glimmer of hope in Pikachu's eyes died at those words, and he answered in an utterly spiritless voice, looking like he'd already given up on life.
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