"Sabrina's Kadabra actually lost a contest of psychic power!"
The young psychic stared wide-eyed, his face filled with disbelief.
The Saffron Gym was sacred ground to countless psychics seeking to hone their abilities.
And to many of them, Sabrina was a god.
Plenty of regions had Psychic-type members of the Elite Four, while Sabrina was only a Gym Leader. Yet when it came to wielding psychic power, no one could claim with confidence that they would defeat her.
This Kadabra was one of Sabrina's newer Pokémon, raised specifically for Gym battles. It might not have been especially strong yet and occasionally lost to challengers, but it had never known defeat in a pure contest of psychic power, not even back when it was an Abra.
Until now.
Sabrina's gaze remained cold from across the battlefield.
Kadabra's loss in a straightforward clash of psychic power had surprised her. On the other hand, she had finally realized why Slowpoke's power felt so familiar.
"Lorelei!"
Sabrina's eyes narrowed.
Lorelei was one of Kanto's Elite Four. Although she specialized in Ice types, three of the six core members of her team were also Psychic types.
That naturally made her an expert in understanding and developing Psychic-type abilities.
"Psychic power alone won't be enough to take a Badge from me."
Sabrina glanced at Caster and commanded coldly, "Kadabra, Thunder Wave!"
"Kadabra~"
After a brief respite, Kadabra raised its spoon as arcs of electricity began dancing across it.
"As expected of a Kadabra trained by Sabrina. It even knows an Electric-type move in addition to its psychic abilities."
The young psychic marveled at the sight, already imagining Slowpoke paralyzed and helpless.
Zap!
A golden wave of electricity shot across the battlefield at incredible speed. Its target, however, was not Slowpoke, but Kadabra.
"You're not the only one who knows Thunder Wave. And when it comes to proficiency, my Slowpoke might even have you beat."
Caster smiled from his command box and watched Slowpoke perform.
Back at the Water Labyrinth in the Sevii Islands, Caster had caught huge numbers of Remoraid and obtained plenty of TMs of various types from them.
As a result, Slowpoke's Thunder Wave had been raised straight to the Proficient level.
Sabrina's Kadabra might possess formidable psychic power, but its moves of other types were nothing special. Against Caster's enhanced Slowpoke, it had been doomed from the start.
"Kadabra~"
Kadabra groaned as electricity coursed across its body, leaving it paralyzed.
But before Caster could celebrate, arcs of electricity appeared across Slowpoke as well, making its body go rigid.
"Does this Kadabra have Synchronize? What a troublesome Ability!"
Slowpoke grimaced in pain and communicated with Caster through their telepathic link.
Synchronize had the unique power to inflict the user's status condition upon its opponent. In theory, it completely shut down an opponent's status moves.
Caster quickly noticed something was wrong.
"No! That isn't Synchronize. It's Psycho Shift!"
His sharp eyes had caught the arcs of electricity disappearing from Kadabra's body.
Psycho Shift was a Psychic-type move that used psychic power to transfer the user's status condition to its opponent.
It was even more troublesome than Synchronize.
"Hmph."
A faint smile appeared on Sabrina's face.
Slowpoke's Thunder Wave had taken her by surprise, but fortunately, her strategy had still worked.
Kadabra might have lost their contest of psychic power, but the gap between the two Pokémon was minuscule. A little strengthening would allow Kadabra to overwhelm Slowpoke with ease.
And now that Slowpoke was paralyzed, she had the perfect opportunity to set up.
"Kadabra, Calm Mind!"
At Sabrina's command, Kadabra raised its spoon once more, and a strange light shone in its eyes.
Calm Mind was a Psychic-type move that focused the user's thoughts to raise its Special Attack and Special Defense.
Under Calm Mind's effects, Kadabra's psychic power swelled like a surging tide, growing stronger by the second.
"Slooow~"
But then a strange light appeared in Slowpoke's eyes as well.
Its psychic power also began to swell, remaining just a little stronger than Kadabra's.
"It managed to use Calm Mind while paralyzed? How fortunate."
Sabrina's gaze swept across Caster before settling on Slowpoke.
When a Pokémon was paralyzed, electricity ran rampant through its body. This not only reduced its speed, but also made it more difficult to execute moves.
Slowpoke's success in using a strengthening move under those conditions had to involve some measure of luck.
"Wait!"
Sabrina's eyes widened in shock.
The electricity coursing across Slowpoke's body had vanished. It was no longer paralyzed.
"It raises Special Attack and Special Defense while curing paralysis? What kind of move is that?"
For the first time, utter astonishment broke through Sabrina's impassive expression.
Even she had never heard of such a move.
As a psychic, however, Sabrina was certain that the move Slowpoke had just used was Psychic type. No application of psychic power on this battlefield could escape her notice.
"Could this be a new move developed by Lorelei?"
The possibility occurred to her at once.
The boy before her might be impressive, but Sabrina did not believe he could have developed an unprecedented move, much less one with such powerful effects.
At that moment, she lost all interest in the battle. She only wanted to finish it quickly so she could examine Slowpoke in detail.
But before she could conduct her research, she needed to give the other side a memorable demonstration of her power.
"Kadabra, let's finish this!"
Sabrina's voice rang out, leaving no room for doubt.
Her words did not sit well with Caster. He spread his hands in confusion and said, "Huh? Your Kadabra powered itself up, but so did my Slowpoke, and Slowpoke cured its paralysis at the same time. Its psychic power was already stronger than Kadabra's to begin with. And now you're saying you're going to knock it out in one move?"
Caster could practically feel question marks popping up all around his head.
Then a strange light shone in Sabrina's eyes. A terrifying wave of psychic power swept forth and poured into Kadabra's body, like a legendary master bestowing a lifetime of power upon a disciple.
"Kadabra~"
Kadabra let out a strange cry. Its power underwent a complete transformation, instantly multiplying several times over.
Slowpoke's eyes went wide as it stared blankly at the sight.
"What the fck?!"
I'm supposed to be the Pokémon here?
What kind of Pokémon does that make me?
You're the Pokémon wearing human skin!