—"Travelled all the way to Viridian Forest to challenge the Rainbow Hero. Sprigatito is terrifying; could not win even with full effort."
Gazing at her unconscious Abra, which had reverted to its base form, Sabrina was speechless.
Fine beads of sweat dotted her brow, and she realized her back was mostly soaked.
Is this the second Rainbow Hero in a thousand years? This strength is beyond any reasonable logic—
"Hakuya-bro!"
"Hakuya, are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"
Having escaped the encirclement of the Team Rocket trio, Ash and Misty came running over.
"You won! So cool! As expected of Hakuya-bro's Sprigatito!"
As a battle maniac and a total fanboy, Ash glanced at the fallen Abra and shouted with excitement.
Meanwhile, after confirming Hakuya didn't have a scratch on him, the anxious girl with the orange side-braid let out a sigh of relief.
She then turned her head and glared at Sabrina, who was still lost in her own thoughts.
"I recognize you. You're the Saffron City Gym Leader, Sabrina, aren't you?"
"As a Gym Leader appointed by the League, instead of fulfilling your duties at your Gym, you're out here helping these criminals? Associating with Team Rocket to steal Pokémon... you don't deserve to be a Gym Leader!"
The Kanto region had over fifty Gyms in total.
But only eight were considered "core" Gyms.
—Pewter, Cerulean, Vermilion, Celadon, Fuchsia, Saffron, Cinnabar, and Viridian.
As one of the Cerulean Gym Leaders, Misty had never met Sabrina, but she had heard the rumors.
Rumors of Sabrina turning losing challengers into dolls for three days and lining them up in front of her Gym.
In short, she was a terrifying woman whose name alone could stop a child from crying in Saffron City.
"..."
Her train of thought interrupted, Sabrina gave Misty a cool, dismissive glance and didn't bother replying.
She didn't feel like wasting logic on a girl younger and much flatter-chested than herself.
If you have time to lecture me, use it to improve your own strength so your three useless sisters can finally retire.
—Stop focusing so much on your 'Water Ballets' that the Cerulean Gym becomes a joke that hands out 400 badges a month. You're embarrassing the entire Kanto region.
Furthermore, Misty's claim about her "helping criminals" needed a slight correction.
It wasn't that she joined Team Rocket as Giovanni's subordinate; they were more like external colleagues.
Giovanni had simply come to her door, saying Team Rocket could help her master her psychic powers and would provide financial support to Saffron City.
She had accepted on a whim.
"Why?"
Sabrina looked up, her expression as flat as ever.
It was a question, but her tone remained a monotonous, icy level.
She had many questions.
—Why couldn't her psychic powers see Hakuya's future like everyone else's?
—Why did Sprigatito's strength become so suffocatingly high the moment she re-entered the field?
—Why...
Because there were too many "whys" stuck in her throat, she finally condensed them into one.
"Why is your Sprigatito so strong?"
"Because she and I have been tempered through countless, agonizingly difficult battles."
Hakuya rubbed Sprigatito's head and gave a faint smile.
In the Pokémon world, victory isn't determined solely by level.
A huge part of it comes down to combat intuition, the trainer's command ability, and that mysterious thing called a "bond."
Although their levels weren't high due to the constraints of the Randomized Emerald world, their combat experience had been honed to a razor's edge by fighting those "broken" monsters.
Combined with the fact that Sabrina relied heavily on her psychic powers rather than pure strategy, winning wasn't that hard to understand under limited battle rules.
"..."
Sabrina bit her lip, and for the first time, a look of genuine curiosity appeared on her face.
She tilted her head in thought, an action that made her look a little less like an untouchable ice queen and a little more... cute.
Based on her psychic perception, Hakuya wasn't lying.
"I see. So it's because my previous opponents were too weak..."
After a moment, Sabrina nodded slightly and prepared to use Teleport to leave.
She had come specifically to challenge the Rainbow Hero; now that the battle was over, her objective was met.
Besides, it was late, and that crushing defeat by Sprigatito had left her head feeling a bit heavy.
She needed to go home and digest Hakuya's words.
As for the Team Rocket trio that had tagged along, she didn't give them a second thought.
Those three, whom Giovanni seemingly held in high regard, had lost even faster than she had.
Under the combined force of Misty's Starmie using [Hydro Pump] and Ash's Pikachu using [Thunderbolt], the trio had long since turned into shooting stars, screaming "We're blasting off again!" into the distance.
"Today's battle ends here. Perhaps this won't be the last time we meet..."
Before leaving, Sabrina stood elegantly, as if trying to carve Hakuya's image permanently into her mind.
Then, she covered her mouth and forced a very small, thin smile.
"Next time we meet... I hope you'll have time to come play with me in my personal psychic space. Hehe~"
"She... she just vanished?" "Pika?"
Ash and Pikachu rubbed their eyes in shock, seeing a living person disappear into thin air. They both let out a synchronized yelp of surprise.
"Meowha—!!!"
The kitten bared her fangs, staring fiercely at the spot where Sabrina had been.
Her sharp feline intuition told her that this icy, quiet two-legged woman was definitely interested in her human.
Misty, meanwhile, was fuming. Sabrina had ignored her from start to finish and then just teleported away.
"Dammit, that flat-faced ice block..."
Hakuya, on the other hand, rubbed his temples. He wasn't thinking about jealousy or slights.
Dangerous. This kind of 'yandere' energy is extremely dangerous.
If he wasn't careful, he really might end up as a doll, or worse, cut into pieces for her collection!
"On second thought... maybe I should leave Kanto early to lie low for a while..."
Hakuya stroked his chin, nodding to himself.
He remembered Sabrina mentioning he was the Rainbow Hero blessed by Ho-Oh.
Even though he didn't understand how a single glance at a shiny Fearow made him a legendary hero, the consequences were clear.
Not only was Sabrina hunting him, but the man behind Team Rocket—Giovanni, the Boss of the Earth—was almost certainly watching him from the shadows.
Being hounded by Team Rocket was a massive pain in the ass.