Morning in Saffron City was wrapped in a faint layer of mist. In the private room at the Pokémon Center, warm yellow light filled the small space with gentle comfort.
Ren sat at the low table, carefully spooning prepared Pokéblock mixture into the molds. The sweet fragrance of Mago Berries blended slowly into the air with the faint scent of nightshade powder favored by Ghost-type Pokémon. Shuppet, sprawled over the edge of the table, had long since lost all patience. Its round eyes were fixed on the molds without blinking, its soft little body rubbing insistently against Ren's arm, full of expectation.
"Don't rush. They still need two more minutes to set." Ren smiled and lightly tapped its round head with a bent finger. "Do you remember everything we went over yesterday about Gym Leader Sabrina?"
Shuppet immediately straightened up and nodded hard, letting out a soft little cry.
Of course it remembered.
Ren had spent the entire afternoon going through Kanto Gym records with it, carefully breaking down the key logic of the battle ahead. Sabrina, the Gym Leader of Saffron Gym, was acknowledged as one of the strongest Psychic-type Trainers in all of Kanto. She herself possessed powerful psychic abilities, and her Pokémon excelled at battlefield control, mental interference, and locking opponents down with telekinetic force, seizing complete command of the pace of battle.
"We don't need to tank Psychic-type moves head-on, and we don't need to panic." Ren removed the set Pokéblocks from the molds and placed them neatly on a clean plate to cool. Then he gently tapped Shuppet's forehead. "No matter how fast her telekinetic lock is, it can't be faster than our understanding of each other. You just fight freely. I'll always be in sync with you."
At once, Shuppet threw itself into his palm, rubbing its soft cheek against his fingers. Its eyes shone as though filled with stars.
It could clearly feel Ren's heart.
From the timid little Pokémon trembling in a tree hollow when he first found it, it had followed him through four Gym battles already. Ren's intentions had long since been carved into every strand of its Ghost-type energy. No extra commands, no repeated reminders were needed. One look from Ren was enough for it to know where to move and what move to use.
Lowering its head, it picked up one of the cooled Pokéblocks—but instead of eating it, it tilted its head up and offered it to Ren, making a soft, spoiled little sound.
Ren laughed and took a small bite of the sweet fruit mixture, then stroked its soft head. "Alright. The rest are all yours. Once you finish, we'll head to the Gym and claim our fifth Badge."
Shuppet immediately swayed happily, then began nibbling on the Pokéblock in tiny bites, its eyes curving into little crescents.
It ate with unusual seriousness, rubbing against Ren's palm after every bite, as if it wanted to blend not just the sweetness, but also the security Ren gave it, into its own Ghost-type energy.
Later, tucked quietly in Ren's arms, it clutched at his collar with tiny claws. When they passed a mirror in the Pokémon Center lobby, it even lifted its little chest proudly toward its reflection, looking utterly serious and battle-ready. The sight made Ren laugh under his breath.
As the commercial heart of Kanto, Saffron City's streets were packed with traffic and people. But the district where Saffron Gym stood was strangely quiet.
The outer walls of the Gym were plain and severe, without unnecessary decoration. Even from the entrance, a faint psychic ripple could already be felt in the air.
When Ren pushed open the doors, he found none of the lively challenger atmosphere seen in other Gyms. There was only an empty standard battlefield, and at the far end of it, seated on a raised platform, a single figure.
Sabrina.
She wore a simple white training outfit, her long hair hanging loose. Her expression was cool and distant, and powerful psychic pressure surrounded her so heavily that even the air around her seemed slightly distorted. Her gaze fell upon Ren and the Shuppet in his arms. Without any needless small talk, she spoke in a calm, emotionless tone.
"Challenger. The rules are a one-on-one single battle. Each side may use one Pokémon. The battle ends when one side's Pokémon loses the ability to fight. Do you understand?"
"I do." Ren nodded, walked to the Trainer's position, and gently set Shuppet down on the field.
The moment it landed, all of Shuppet's usual softness vanished. Its red eyes became serious, its tiny body straight as a rod, its gaze fixed firmly on the opposite side. It never once turned back, yet it could clearly feel Ren's presence behind it. That sense of safety, rooted in their very first meeting, left it without even the slightest trace of panic.
"Then the battle begins." Sabrina raised a hand and tossed out a Poké Ball. "Go, Kadabra."
A flash of white light—
Kadabra appeared on the field, silver spoon in hand.
Its eyes were sharp, and the Psychic-type energy around it was so dense it almost seemed solid. The moment it appeared, it swept its gaze over Shuppet with Confusion-like pressure, releasing an overwhelming psychic presence.
Ren's tone remained steady, without the slightest tension. He simply spoke:
"Shuppet. Dive into the shadows."
The moment the command fell, Shuppet's body dissolved into a cloud of dark mist and silently merged into the shadows of the battlefield, vanishing without a trace.
This was the core tactic they had planned in advance.
Against a Psychic-type's powerful telekinetic locking ability, the best response was to break its targeting rhythm from the very beginning.
"Kadabra, Telekinesis. Full-field scan." Sabrina's command came just as swiftly.
Kadabra gave the spoon in its hand a faint flick. Instantly, invisible psychic force spread outward, covering the entire battlefield. Every inch of shadow was carefully swept over by psychic energy.
But the moment that force brushed against a dark corner of the field, the aura within that shadow suddenly disappeared.
Shuppet had already moved, using a blind spot in the field's lighting to relocate without a sound.
The first exchange—
Sabrina's lock missed entirely.
"Strike." Ren's second command came immediately, and he didn't even specify a direction.
Yet Shuppet understood his intent perfectly.
At the precise instant that Kadabra's psychic scan left a tiny gap, it burst out from the shadow behind Kadabra. Its claw, glowing dark violet, slashed through the air and struck Kadabra squarely in the back.
Ghost-type attacks were devastating against Psychic-types.
Kadabra staggered forward from the blow, and the psychic energy around it flickered out of rhythm for a moment.
"Excellent coordination," Sabrina said, still in that flat, distant tone, though there was now a trace of acknowledgment in it. "Kadabra, Psybeam. Sweep the entire field."
Kadabra steadied itself at once, and the spoon in its hand flared with bright blue light. Multiple intersecting beams of Psybeam shot out, sweeping across every shadow on the battlefield and giving Shuppet no room to hide.
Where the beams struck, even the ground showed signs of being scorched by psychic force.
Forced out of the shadows, Shuppet revealed itself—
and the instant it did, Sabrina followed up.
"Psyshock. Lock onto it."
Invisible psychic energy condensed into a sharp mental projectile and shot directly at Shuppet. This move attacked the mind directly. Even a Ghost-type couldn't simply avoid it by diving back into the shadows.
At the edge of the field, Ren showed no panic at all. He didn't even call out a defensive move. He only raised one hand slightly.
One second before Psyshock would have hit, Shuppet spun in place. A veil of black mist burst around it.
Double Team.
Several identical copies scattered at once.
Psyshock struck only one clone, which dissolved into drifting black mist.
The real Shuppet had already used the distraction to circle around to the side.
"Will-O-Wisp." Ren's timing was perfect.
Pale blue ghostly flames floated lightly toward Kadabra.
Kadabra tried to use psychic force to deflect them—but it hadn't anticipated the trajectory at all. The instant Shuppet released the flames, it subtly guided them with its own Ghost-type energy, slipping them neatly through the psychic barrier.
They landed directly on Kadabra.
Burn.
Kadabra's Special Attack was immediately weakened by the flames, and the psychic energy around it noticeably slowed.
All of this had already been built into Ren and Shuppet's battle plan. They had studied Kadabra thoroughly. Its strength lay in its devastating Special Attack and precise telekinetic locking. As long as its rhythm was disrupted and its main damage output weakened, the flow of battle would shift completely into their hands.
"Kadabra, Light Screen. Then Disable."
At last, Sabrina changed tactics.
A pale blue Light Screen sprang up before Kadabra, blocking potential follow-up attacks. At the same time, invisible psychic energy spread toward Shuppet, trying to lock down its move usage.
But Shuppet was faster than the psychic force.
Ren didn't even need to speak.
The instant the Light Screen formed, Shuppet had already slipped back into the shadows, and Disable struck nothing but empty space.
From the sidelines, Ren could feel it clearly—Shuppet's presence was perfectly synchronized with his own heartbeat.
He didn't need to speak for it to know what he wanted.
And every movement it made, he could predict before it happened.
The bond they had been building since that first meeting in Viridian Forest had become the most precise tactical coordination imaginable.
"Shadow Ball. Upper-left, three o'clock angle," Ren said softly.
In an instant, Shuppet shot out of the shadows above and to the side of the battlefield. Using cover all along, it had already moved into Kadabra's blind spot. A Shadow Ball condensed to its absolute limit and fired straight at Kadabra's exposed flank, where Light Screen offered no protection.
"Kadabra, use Psychic to block it!" Sabrina ordered immediately.
Kadabra whipped around. Both the spoon and its eyes burst with bright blue force. Dense psychic energy formed a heavy barrier that barely stopped the Shadow Ball.
The collision of ghostly and psychic power sent a gust of force tearing across the field.
And using that very shockwave, Shuppet slipped right back into the shadows, denying Kadabra even a moment to counterattack.
After several rounds, Kadabra's stamina had been steadily worn down by the burn and the constant need to respond, while Shuppet had taken almost no real damage at all. By relying on precise prediction and fluid movement, it had kept control of the pace from start to finish.
At last, something changed in Sabrina's cool eyes.
She looked at Ren, who had remained calm the entire time, then at Shuppet, whose presence—even hidden in shadow—was entirely synchronized with Ren's. For the first time, she decided to use her true strength.
"Kadabra. Full-power Psychic. Suppress the entire field."
This time, both spoons in Kadabra's hands flared with blinding blue light.
A surge of psychic power far beyond anything before erupted instantly, spreading over the entire battlefield like an invisible net. The shadows on the ground were forcibly flattened beneath the weight of that psychic force, and even the air turned thick and heavy.
Shuppet's body was ripped forcibly from the shadows.
Its movements slowed under the crushing pressure.
This—
was the power of Kanto's strongest Psychic-type Gym Leader.
No matter how perfect the plan, there was no fully avoiding this level of overwhelming, full-field suppression.
At the edge of the battlefield, Ren sent only the faintest stream of Viridian Power toward Shuppet.
He didn't try to break Kadabra's Psychic outright.
He only soothed Shuppet's emotions, and poured his feelings into it completely.
Don't be afraid. I'm with you.
At the very instant the psychic pressure was about to tighten—
Shuppet's red eyes flared with brilliant light.
It didn't try to resist the crushing force head-on. Instead, it drew its body inward along the direction of the pressure. Its Ghost-type energy compressed to the very limit—
and using the binding force of the Psychic itself, it transformed that restraint into explosive acceleration.
Its body became a streak of black lightning.
At the exact moment everyone thought it would be pinned in place, it shot through a gap in the psychic pressure and charged straight toward Kadabra.
This hadn't been a tactic they planned in advance.
This was a decision made in the same heartbeat—
because Trainer and Pokémon understood each other completely.
"Now—Shadow Ball." Ren's command came in perfect sync with Shuppet's movement.
The Shadow Ball it released contained every bit of Ghost-type energy it could gather, carrying with it all their shared trust and determination.
It struck Kadabra dead on.
Kadabra was still maintaining Psychic and had no time to draw back its defense. The super-effective blow landed cleanly, and with the burn already wearing it down, the spoons in its hands clattered to the floor.
Its body swayed—
then it collapsed, fully unable to battle.
"Kadabra is unable to battle. Challenger Ren wins," the referee announced immediately.
The psychic pressure blanketing the field vanished at once, and the air became easy to breathe again.
Shuppet dropped its battle stance and turned at once, flying straight toward Ren and diving into the arms he had already opened for it.
"You did incredibly well, Shuppet." Ren smiled as he caught it, warm Viridian Power flowing from his fingertips to restore the stamina it had just spent. Pride overflowed in his voice. "Every single step was perfect."
Shuppet rubbed against his cheek happily, making soft little sounds. All the fierce sharpness from the battle disappeared, and it became once again the clingy little Pokémon that loved praise, burying its face in the hollow of his neck and soaking in the words meant only for it.
Sabrina recalled Kadabra and descended from the raised platform, a gleaming golden Badge in her hand.
Her gaze remained cool, but now held a trace of recognition.
"You and your Pokémon have remarkable coordination. This Marsh Badge is yours."
"Thank you, Gym Leader Sabrina." Ren accepted the Badge, his fingers brushing its polished surface.
His fifth Badge in Kanto.
Shuppet peeked out from his arms and gave a polite greeting, only to immediately curl back in and rub itself proudly against Ren's hand, as though showing off the Badge it had won.
[System Mission Complete]
[Mission Name: The Psychic Trial of Saffron Gym]
[Rewards have been delivered to system storage. Please check them.]
The system's voice sounded in Ren's mind. He acknowledged it inwardly, then turned and left Saffron Gym with Shuppet in his arms.
Back in their private room at the Pokémon Center, the first thing Ren did was take out the small box from his bag.
Inside it lay the Banette Mega Stone that had been with them ever since the day of their first encounter in Viridian Forest.
The moment he opened the box, the Keystone against his chest suddenly gave off a clear warmth.
And the Mega Stone inside the box—
began to glow with a faint dark violet light.
Its aura resonated with Shuppet's energy and with the Keystone more strongly than ever before.
Shuppet floated over and lightly touched the Mega Stone with one tiny claw, its eyes full of curiosity.
It could clearly feel the power inside it—
a power of the same origin as its own.
"See?" Ren smiled and pulled Shuppet into his arms. His fingers touched the Mega Stone, then gently brushed Shuppet's body. "Every time we fight side by side, our bond deepens. We'll keep moving forward. And when we gather all eight Badges, our bond will answer us."
Shuppet nodded hard and rested its little head in his palm, making a soft sound of agreement.
It didn't care how strong the stone's power might be.
All it cared about was being able to stay with Ren, protect him, travel with him through place after place.
That alone was enough.
Outside the window, the morning mist had completely dispersed. Sunlight poured through the glass and fell gently over Trainer and Pokémon alike.
Ren lowered his gaze to Shuppet in his arms, which had already begun thinking about what berries it wanted to eat at the next stop, and his eyes filled with warmth.
Their journey through Kanto was still continuing.
And their bond, with every step they took side by side, would only deepen—
and grow warmer still.