Giovanni considered the events of his encounter with Sabrina. What may have seemed to an observer as a mere dispute that he had eventually won was in fact a careful verbal battle, one in which the victor was much less clear. To be a criminal lord, one must analyze every battle. Replaying the conversation in his head, he noted subtle jabs, feints and parries made. It was refreshing, if also, worrisome, to have an opponent as well versed in the arts of diplomacy and manipulation as he. Everyone, after all, is an opponent in diplomacy, regardless of alliances. Sabrina was an interesting case. The fact that she was empathetic made disguising any intent more difficult than ever, and she had rigorous self-discipline, which generated seemingly impenetrable barriers to her psyche.

The barriers were penetrable though. Sabrina was solid as a rock under most circumstances, but minerals have cleavage planes, allowing a properly applied force to tear them apart. In truth, she was almost… delicate. There were points in her emotions that when properly probed caused her to lose control. Seductions of power, wounds to her pride, visions of grandeur she could sometimes be prone to, they could reduce her to a point where Giovanni could win those verbal battles.

There was risk involved though. A powerful psychic without self-discipline is more dangerous than one with it. He had heard stories of her fits of rage as a child, throwing men like rag dolls and crushing minds out of spite, making her bed-ridden afterwards from the energy she used. Underneath that cold and calculating exterior was a neurotic and aggressive girl who could get her way no matter what Giovanni did. Finding the weak, malleable being in between the two was difficult and potentially dangerous.

It was what Giovanni had over her though. Sabrina was vulnerable to her pride, her emotions, her hormones. Giovanni was always the man he displayed, a calculating and powerful man, one who rarely knew defeat, and when he did, was always a better man for it.

This was why he analyzed his chance meeting with Sabrina now, that he could ensure that this subtle balance of power stayed in his favor. He noticed an undercurrent in the conversation, a force that, instead of motivating their careful game, seemed to detract from it. Giovanni knew that Sabrina had something to hide, but her something else had been distracting her. He seemed to have been distracted as well, and they were both more accommodating than they usually were.

"The game has changed," he noted. "But why?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sabrina landed on the beach of Cinnabar Island. It was surprisingly cold, until she realized that it was night. She had lost track of the days while she was underneath Celadon City. She felt a minor urge to take off her shoes and feel the sand between her toes, and revel in being aboveground again for a moment, but she suppressed it as she usually did. Sabrina had to suppress these desires more often lately. It seemed to have something to do with Giovanni.

Her master had been pushing her buttons lately. He was experimenting to see just how much control he had over her, and what territory he had yet to conquer. Something inside told her that 

although his mind games had become more frustrating lately, that they were not the cause of her inner child breaking out again. Something deeper within her said that Giovanni was still related to these fragments of her id resurfacing past the superego she had to construct for her protection. Giovanni would have to learn that it was in his best interest to preserve the disciplines she had created to control herself. Her primal wants and desires were more potent than that of an ordinary human being, and she had them locked up in her psyche, where she no longer recognized them but neither had to deal with them.

These Freudian self-evaluations would have to wait for another time however. Perhaps between finding this secret project of Giovanni's and confronting him with whatever information she had attained she could digress so. Sabrina was not certain what she would do with leverage over him, but it would certainly be worthwhile.

She was distracting herself again. A moment's meditation should be all that she would need to regain her composure. She deftly assumed a lotus position and rose from the sand beneath her, when she was struck by a sudden pang of telepathic energy. All thoughts of Giovanni leaving her, she immediately moved to locating it. There was some being, of considerable psychic power, on the island. She began to pinpoint it when the source quieted. A small frown escaped her face as she began another technique, finding trails of psyonic energy left from this being. The source appeared to be the Pokémon Lab, which suggested that whatever this being was also was the project Giovanni had.

"Were Giovanni's plans to create some sort of psychic soldier?" she wondered. "Was I not enough to satisfy whatever he needed? Why wouldn't he consult me with something like this?" Sabrina gritted her teeth and felt a sharp pain in her heart, as if she was not needed, or had been replaced for someone her master thought was better. It suddenly became even more important that she find this being, her job, her work, and most importantly her pride was at stake.

Sabrina brought herself back into focus, but struggled. Anger clouded her vision of where this psychic energy was coming from. She gritted her teeth and willed the image back into focus, and was surprised to find it was a mansion of some sort where the trail ended. The building was lone and large, built into the bedrock of the mountain, which made it a surprise when she got another telepathic jolt from beneath the building. Someone had gone to great lengths to hide something there. Sabrina snuck inside, and found no access to the lower levels. Tired, she sent out her Alakazam, which quickly used its psychic attack to blow the hinges off a stubborn door to a staircase.

An alarm activated, and Sabrina raced down the stairs only to find herself face to face with one of a select few Pokémon trainers as accomplished as she in both intelligence and battling skill.

"Hello Blaine," Sabrina feigned.

Blaine did not reply. Sabrina continued to speak.



"I don't suppose you know why I'm here? We both know you work for Giovanni, but I work for him too now. I need to see the weapon you've been developing." Sabrina said coyly, attempting to distract him. "He said it would be a surprise. What is it?"

Blaine was disturbed by Sabrina's lapse in judgment, failing to lead him as he expected her too. Unfortunately for him, Sabrina did not intend to fool Blaine, but to distract him, and his momentary confusion was enough for Sabrina to draw a Pokeball and hopefully disable him quickly.

Hopefully being the key word. Blaine had managed to draw a Pokeball just as quickly, and soon an Alakazam and Ninetales were spaced between them, both ready to destroy the other.

"Wrong answer," the Quizmaster said, and the battle began.

A/N: A Cliffhanger! I'm so evil. Anyways, please review my story, because no one reviewed the last chapter and it made me sad. Plenty of hits, but no one clicked the review button. Its right down there. Move the mouse down, to the left, now click it. CLICK IT!