Chapter 2
Saffron Shake-Up
A couple sat at their table, eating a meal nervously. These were the Saffrons, an extremely influential family in the Pokémon world. Their daughter was Sabrina, the gym leader of Saffron City. The Saffrons were extremely rich; they lived in a big house with all sorts of luxuries. Sabrina's great-grandparents were in fact the founders of Saffron City; her father passed down the Saffron gym to Sabrina at a young age.
However, Sabrina was acting more and more mysterious in recent days, living at her gym, not returning her parents' phone calls. Sabrina had raised her Alakazam to such strength that he took down all challengers; she was undefeated with Alakazam in the past two years. Her parents feared her, as Sabrina would often get angry with them and threaten to attack them with her Pokémon. Moreover, Sabrina never used her psychic powers anymore when they saw her, which made them curious as to why she was not using her own powers, for good or evil.
Her parents loved her despite the way she treated them, and they were becoming more and more worried about her, being missing from home for so long. They decided to go to the Saffron gym to find out what was going on.
When they arrived, they were shocked to find no one there. The Saffron gym was deserted; it looked like no one had been there for some time. It did not make much sense to the Saffrons.
"Where could she have gone?" Mr. Saffron asked.
"I don't understand…" Mrs. Saffron said.
The two were nervous, knowing their daughter's temper, but they could not figure out where she was. Saffron City was Sabrina's home, they reasoned; she wouldn't leave it. Yet the gym looked barren, making it clear Sabrina had not just temporarily left.
Just then, Gary Oak came walking into the gym. He had all but the Marsh Badge and Earth Badge of the eight Kanto badges. Although he had ten badges, four of his badges which he had acquired previously, were from gyms that were no longer officially recognized by the Pokémon League, meaning he had only six official badges. This made Gary determined to earn his final two badges before the rapidly approaching Pokémon League tournament, especially given that his rival Ash Ketchum already had eight official badges for some time, despite the fact that he may not have earned all of them fairly. Ash was now training back at Pallet Town for the upcoming Pokémon League tournament, while Gary was hard at work just trying to become eligible for it. This Marsh Badge was a must-have.
"Is Sabrina here?" he asked. "I want to battle her for the Marsh Badge." He had collected six badges up to this time, and was hoping to get a seventh.
"No, she's not," Mr. Saffron said. "We don't know where she is."
"I've been here twice already this week and haven't seen anyone here," Gary said. "This isn't fair to me; I want another badge."
"We're sorry…" Mrs. Saffron said.
"Who are you two anyway?" Gary asked.
"We're Sabrina's parents," said Mr. Saffron. "Our daughter is nowhere to be found. But I will give you the Marsh Badge if you do something for me."
"What's that?" Gary asked.
"Find my daughter," Mr. Saffron said.
"She could be anywhere!" Gary said.
"Do you want the badge or not?" Mr. Saffron said. "Besides, I really think she's in Saffron."
"All right, but do I have to bring her to you, or can I just tell you where she is?" Gary asked.
"Tell me her location if she won't come with you," Mr. Saffron said. "I just need to know she's all right."
"Okay…" Gary said. He went out into the large town and started asking people if they knew of Sabrina's location. Her parents walked home, wondering where their daughter could possibly be.