Chapter 1

Lecture

Ring… ring… ring…

Sabrina rolled over in bed and tried to ignore the noise coming from her bedside table. They'll just leave a voicemail, she thought to herself.

Aren't you going to answer that, mistress?

Sabrina sighed and answered back to the Alakazam that was in the other room, No, I'm not.

It might be important.

If it's important, they'll leave a message.

What if it's an emergency?

With a groan, the psychic type gym leader sat up in her bed and glared at the door leading to the room where her Alakazam was, I can hardly imagine anybody calling for my help in an emergency but seeing as you won't leave me to my sleep, I'll answer the damn call already.

Before her Pokemon could answer her again, she grabbed the PokeGear and looked at its screen. It wasn't a number she had registered. Reluctantly, she pressed a button and spoke up. "Hello?"

A female voice answered, "Hello? Is this Sabrina?"

"Yes, it is. Who is this?"

"It's me, Erika. Are you free to talk right now?"

Sabrina couldn't imagine why Celadon City's gym leader would want to call her. It's not that she disliked Erika particularly but after the Team Rocket incident 7 years ago, she wasn't exactly close to any of the gym leaders either.

Unsure of how else to answer, Sabrina replied, "Yeah, I am. Can I help you with something…?"

"Actually, yes. I was wondering if you'd be free to come by the university sometime today or tomorrow to give a lecture to some of my students."

"A lecture?"

"Yes. Some of my students are interested in the traits of Psychic type Pokemon and I thought who better to explain it than the leader of the Psychic type gym."

She definitely had a point there. Sabrina couldn't think of a single trainer in Kanto more knowledgeable than her when it came to Psychic Pokemon. Of course, Pokemon researchers might know more but she could understand why Erika's students might be more interested in hearing a gym leader lecture than a researcher.

"Well, I guess I'm free this afternoon. What am I supposed to talk about though…?"

"Hm… About your Pokemon and maybe your gym and then you can answer some questions. Anyway, could you maybe make it into town around 4:00 PM today? My class starts at 4:30, you see."

"Alright, sure. I'll um… give you a call when I arrive then."

"Sounds good. Thank you, Sabrina. I'm sure my students will be thrilled. I'll talk to you later then."

"Oh, it's nothing. I'll… talk to you later too then."

With that, they hung up. Once she had set her PokeGear back down on her nightstand, she heard a groan come from the person lying right next to her.

"Who was that…?"

"Oh, sorry for waking you. It was Erika."

The person beside her groaned again before finally sitting up. It was Lorelei, a former member of the Kanto Elite Four. Sleepily, she grabbed her glasses from the nightstand beside her and slowly got up to start looking for her clothes. "Celadon's leader? What'd she want?"

"She was wondering if I'd give a lecture to her students about Psychic type Pokemon. I said I'd head over there this afternoon."

Once Lorelei had gotten her undergarments on, she turned towards Sabrina. "Really? Damn, I was hoping for some more fun today."

"Just how much does it take for you to be satisfied?"

Lorelei grinned. "Hey, don't act like I'm the only one with a crazy libido."

"At least I have a bit more self restraint than you do."

By the time 3 o'clock rolled around, Sabrina had left her gym to start heading over to the train station. Lorelei had already left a couple of hours prior to do some shopping. The ride from Saffron to Celadon's new train station was only an hour long and the ride was fairly peaceful. A good amount of people looked over at Sabrina once she had disembarked from the train but her reputation as being a rather cold, ruthless trainer kept people from approaching her. She neither liked or disliked her reputation but at times like this, it was definitely useful.

From the train station, it took about fifteen minutes to get to the university campus. Once she arrived, she pulled her PokeGear out and gave Erika a call.

"I'm here."

"Ah, perfect! I'll meet you just outside the main building, by the water fountain."

After hanging up, Sabrina walked over to the fountain and before long, Erika found her. While Sabrina had only ever seen the Grass type gym leader wear a kimono, she was instead wearing a white button-up blouse and a black pencil skirt. With this outfit, she looked exactly like a professor.

"Thanks for coming, Sabrina, I really appreciate it."

"No problem. I'm guessing the class starts soon?"

Erika nodded. "Yeah. Let's get going?"

Once they arrived at the lecture hall, Sabrina was immediately taken aback. She knew that she was speaking in front of a class but seeing nearly 50 students in the room, all waiting for her, took her by surprise anyways.

Erika stepped forward. "Good afternoon, everybody."

A dozen or so voices replied back.

"As you can see, we have a special guest today. Last week you all had asked about Psychic type Pokemon and who better to talk to you all about them than Saffron's own Sabrina?" As she spoke, Erika gestured for Sabrina to come to the center of the room.

While Erika had been talking, Sabrina was able to calm herself down and keep herself composed. She slowly made her way to Erika, greeted the class, and began to speak.

Sabrina had been talking for a bit over half an hour.

"And those are just a few of the Pokemon I keep in my regular rotation at the gym. So are there… any questions?"

One student raised their hand and when Erika pointed to them, they stood up. "Um, you said that those are just a few of the regular Pokemon you use. I was wondering if there were any more… exotic Pokemon that you've begun to make use of since in recent years, there have been more and more Pokemon from different regions being brought over by various trainers to this region."

"Certainly. A few that immediately come to mind are Gardevoir from Hoenn and Meowstic from the Kalos region."

Another student raised their hand. "Why did you decide to become a gym leader?"

"Why…? I don't think I've ever really thought about it. I guess it's because I wanted to become strong and growing up, I knew that the gym leaders were amongst the strongest trainers in the land. Of course once I grew up, I learned that there were many who were able to prove themselves stronger but still, I think being able to get to this position was one step towards my goal."

A third raised their hand. "Is that why you joined Team Rocket?"

Immediately, the room burst into a mass of hushed whispering amongst students. Erika, quickly stepped forward. "Quiet down! Now, you shouldn't have to be told that asking such que–"

Before she could finish, Sabrina put a hand on her shoulder. "No, it's alright." She turned back to the student that had asked the question. "Yes, that's why I joined Team Rocket. At the time, I thought that joining them would bring me closer to what I desired and it did."

"Even if it meant hurting others?" The student glared at her.

That poor boy must hate me. I don't even need my powers to tell me that.

Sabrina looked the young man in the eyes and unflinchingly replied, "Yes. Was it wrong for me to have done those things? I believe the answer would unanimously be yes. I felt justified at the time but that doesn't even matter. What's done is done. You can't change the past."

Once class had ended, the students began to slowly leave the classroom. Once the classroom was empty, Erika sat down on the edge of her desk and sighed. "My apologies…"

Sabrina looked over. "About that question? Don't worry about it. I wouldn't have gotten to where I am now if I let a few words worry me. They have every right to hate me anyway. It's not like I care."

Erika looked at Sabrina for a few seconds, unsure of what to say. Giving up, she looked at her watch. "Um… Would you like to get dinner? It's the least I could do for dragging you all the way here last minute."

Sabrina was unsure how to respond. While she had held conversations with gym leaders before, few have ever asked for a favor. Fewer still had ever asked to eat with her. Needless to say, she was unaccustomed to being around her fellow gym leaders for non-work related reasons. Still, she couldn't see the harm in it. "Sure. I don't really have any plans this evening."

Erika smiled. "Great, I know the perfect place."

As they walked into the restaurant, a hostess standing at a podium smiled and greeted them. "Welcome! Ah, hello there Erika and… Sabrina I believe?"

Sabrina nodded.

The hostess, still smiling, continued, "Wonderful to have you with us this evening! Seats for two I suppose?"

Erika nodded. "Yes please."

"Just a few minutes then."

Before long, the two were seated and handed menus. After a few minutes, a waiter came by and took their order.

"So… what did you think?"

Sabrina looked up from the drink she had been sipping. "The lecture? It was interesting. When'd you become a professor though? Last I remember, you were just a lecturer there. Part time I think?"

"It was part time at first. I became a full-time faculty member just last year actually. One of the university's professors was retiring and they had recommended me as their replacement. I had become fond of teaching by then so I didn't see a reason to refuse."

"Even though you're already a gym leader? That's impressive. Most are already so overwhelmed with their duties as a gym leader that they wouldn't dream of having a second job."

Erika smiled. "I suppose you're right. There's just something about teaching that feels really fulfilling for me… similar but ever so slightly different from the feeling of fulfillment I get from being a gym leader."

Sabrina took another sip of her drink before looking down at her food. "Fulfillment?"

"Yes. Don't you get that feeling? That sense of happiness or accomplishment?"

"I'm not sure. I've never really thought about what it means to be a gym leader. It's not that I dislike being one. I just feels like…"

"Something's missing?"

Sabrina nodded. "Something like that."

The two gym leaders fell into silence and quickly finished their meals. Once they had finished, Erika paid and they left. As they walked back towards the train station, Sabrina couldn't help but look around and admire the city. While Celadon is smaller in comparison to Saffron, it felt much livelier at night. Both the Celadon Department Store and the Game Corner kept the city well lit and lively.

"It's nice here," Sabrina mumbled under her breath as they drew nearer to the station.

Erika looked over. "Hm?"

"Oh. I was saying that it's nice here. It feels so alive at night. Saffron's larger but at night, it just feels so dead and empty, even with all the lights."

"Mm, I see. Perhaps that's a sign that you should maybe spend more evenings here."

By now, they had reached the station. Sabrina took a few steps forward, ahead of Erika, and looked back at the gym leader over her shoulder. "Is that your way of asking me out on another date?"

This was Sabrina's way of teasing Erika but the woman's response was serious and caught her off guard.

"If you considered tonight as a date, then I suppose that is what I'm asking."

While Erika's words had surprised her, it only took Sabrina a few moments to gather herself again. "You know, I might just take you up on that offer sometime. Keep in touch."

With that, Sabrina gave a sly smile and turned around to walk into the train station, leaving Erika there alone. Erika, who had only spoken on a whim, couldn't help but smile to herself.