Darius tosses his new Pokéball to himself as we leave the Fighting Dojo. The big grin on his face tells me he is satisfied with his new Pokémon. I look down at Jaws, who appears to have a disappointed look on his face. I whistle at him and he looks up. I toss him a Sitrus Berry. “I’m sorry, bud,” I say. “I didn’t know they would allow only Fighting types. I’ll try to get you a battle at the gym.” Jaws eats his Sitrus Berry and nods at me. I take a deep breath as we walk next door to the official Saffron City Gym.
The building is fairly plain. It is bigger than the dojo, but other than that, there really is no difference. It looks just like every other building in the city. The doors open automatically as we approach and we step through. Despite the building being quite large, the room we just stepped into is very small, about the size of your average living room. Two statues of Alakazams stand beside the entrance, each holding a large spoon up and toward the other, creating an arch. A lone trainer stands in the back of the room.
The trainer is a young woman. Her hands are held out, one with a Pokéball resting in the palm and the other empty. With her eyes closed, she manipulates the ball and flips her hands over. The ball stays in place, not falling. She then brings her hands together, keeping the ball in her palm. She then flips the ball over, so it is resting in her palm, and hovers the free hand over the ball, palm down. Her eyes open wide suddenly, and she focuses on the ball with a fierce stare. After several seconds of staring, the ball appears to hover upward to her upper hand. She catches the ball and rests her arms at her side.
Darius claps his hands. “Wow, that was amazing!” he says. “How did you do that?”
The woman looks at us and bows. “Welcome to the Saffron City Gym,” she says with a soothing voice. “Home to the most powerful psychic in Kanto, Sabrina. We specialize in the Psychic type here. What you just witnessed was a small taste of my power.”
“Oh man,” Darius says, amazed. “I wish I had psychic powers!”
“That wasn’t psychic powers,” I say, skeptical. “That was just juggling.”
The woman glares at me. “A non-believer, I see,” she says.
“No, I acknowledge the existence of psychic abilities,” I say. “Just not in humans.”
The woman hesitates, then finally speaks. “Okay, you got me,” she says. “I’m not psychic. But Sabrina is, and she will make a believer out of you when she utterly defeats you.” She gestures to her sides. “Next to me are telepads, new technology courtesy of Silph, Co. Step on one and you will be transported to another room. Careful not to get lost. One wrong step and you will wind up back here and never face Sabrina.”
I look at each of the two telepads, one to her left and one to her right. I look at Jaws. “Hey bud, how about you pick?”
“What?!” Darius exclaims.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I assure. “Let’s see where the first one takes us and we’ll go from there.”
Darius nods. “All right. Go ahead, Jaws.”
Jaws looks left and right, then left again. He trots up to the pad, circles it twice, then stops. He looks back at me and points to it. I nod and walk over. “This one, huh?” I say. “All right, buddy. Let’s do this.”
YOU ARE READING
Beyond the Adventure - A Pokémon Story
FanfictionCrono is a 17-year-old boy living in Goldenrod City who longs to escape the noise of the big city and see the world. One day, a strange Pokémon falls into his lap, sparking the adventure of a lifetime.