The taste of defeat is undoubtedly quite unpleasant, and it's precisely because of this unpleasant feeling that it triggered the deep-seated emotions in Sabrina's patience, causing a hint of unwillingness to appear on her usually icy face.
This was a phenomenon that had never occurred before.
The man in overalls looked at the expression on Sabrina's face, and his inner shock was beyond words. This was the first time since Sabrina's superpower had matured that she showed such an expression.
"I... am unwilling!" Sabrina said with a slight tremor in her voice.
"Since I was born, my superpower has been constantly growing on its own. Everyone, both peers and adults, who saw me said I was a genius among superpower users, but slowly, my superpower advanced far beyond their expectations, and in the end, they all began to distance themselves from me, including my parents."
Man in overalls: ...
"Initially, I felt a bit hurt inside, but slowly, as my superpower grew, those feelings of hurt disappeared. I began to use my superpower to battle alongside my Pokemon against those powerful Trainers, but none of them could withstand even one of my attacks. In the end... I drove my father away, took over this Gym, and spread the fame of the Saffron Gym."
"I yearn to fight with more powerful people. Only by continuously defeating strong people can I prove my existence, but perhaps... I just want to see if there are any others like me in the world."
As Sabrina spoke, she looked at Ash whose expression was complex.
She indeed found it—someone like her, or perhaps an even more powerful anomaly than she was.
The power of that barrier that enveloped the entire field was such that, even if she used all her superpower, she couldn't possibly breach it.
This young guy is not just an anomaly; he is probably a freak among anomalies.
Yet, even such an anomaly still has companions by his side, and they are unafraid of him. Why... why did her parents become distant from her?
"Parents love their children. Their distance from you—could it be that you're overthinking it? Perhaps the initial display of your power scared them, and they just need time to recover. But maybe your overly aggressive way of dealing with it made the situation worse."
Ash spoke bluntly, not noticing the frantic shaking of the man in overalls in the distance.
He hardly ever saw even a hint of recovery in Sabrina. If she got stimulated again and reverted to her original state, he would probably go crazy!
But Ash simply didn't see the man's gestures, it was like flirting with a blind person.
Sabrina did not respond to these words. Her face remained expressionless, but how her heart was stirred was not for outsiders to know.
Ash didn't know how to convince Sabrina to become a normal person. Regardless of whether the situation worsened or improved, he had done his best.
But he believes one thing, and that is...
"Pokemon battles, they're fun, right?"
Sabrina: ?
"Using every method, tactic, and strategy to defeat an opponent, once victorious, the sense of achievement is absolutely top-notch."
"I've won many times before, but I never felt that."
Ash: ...
Girl, don't kill the conversation!
"Well... well, maybe it's because you haven't met an evenly matched opponent yet. If you defeat your opponent too easily, it's indeed boring. But if it's a back-and-forth battle, you should be able to feel the excitement of a Pokemon battle! Just like when you battled me today, didn't you feel that blood-pumping excitement?"
Ash animatedly gestured, seemingly trying hard to convey his feelings to Sabrina.
Sabrina tilted her head, showing a hint of confusion on her cold yet beautiful face, but her lips couldn't help but curve slightly.
The feelings Ash described, she didn't quite understand, but watching Ash gesturing all over the place, trying hard to make her understand those feelings, she couldn't help but smile. At the same time, it seemed that the iceberg in her heart was quietly melting.
He was the first person, after seeing her superpower and knowing she could turn people into dolls and battle against them, who could still stand in front of her and talk, being patient with her.
This was something even her parents hadn't done.
The man in overalls, upon seeing a faint smile on Sabrina's lips, experienced a tremor in his pupils, and his mouth hung agape in disbelief, with an expression of extreme incredulity.
Sabrina... actually smiled? Was amused by this young guy?
So unsealing the iceberg in Sabrina's heart is something so simple?
No... it wasn't simple; it was because it was this young guy who did it, so it appeared simple.
Sabrina's superpower includes the power to sense people's hearts. Even if someone shows no fear on the surface, the fear and distance within can still be sensed by Sabrina.
That's why she considered both him and her mother to be among those who distanced themselves from her.
Because, deep down, they feared the rapid growth of Sabrina's superpower. They didn't want their child to become the world's strongest superpower user, they just wanted to see her grow up happily, to marry and have children, that's all.
However, Sabrina's superpower grew far beyond their imagination, even having considerable impacts on her personality, which is why they subconsciously felt fear.