Type: Psychic
Shipping: DeathShipping
One-Shot 3: Doll-Faced
Ash and his friends celebrated May's first Kanto Contest win in Saffron City. "To Squirtle!" cheered May as she lifted her cup.
"To Squirtle!" the rest cheered. The Pokémon joined the celebration. As they ate at the Pokémon Center, Max turned to Ash about their next stop.
"So now that May's done with her time in the spotlight, it's on to your next Battle Frontier," he checked.
"It is, but where do we go?" wondered Ash. Brock brought out his pocketbook to search for the next location.
"Here we go!" he announced. "The Battle Tycoon around Celadon City." Ash nodded to the next destination. Pikachu seemed pumped for the next Battle Frontier.
"Well, we're not gonna make it in one overnight trip," Max pointed out. "We'll rest up for the night before we go- Oh?" A doll caught Max's eyes. The raven-haired doll in a white dress and white hat seemed to be glaring at Max while the others wondered the silence.
"Max, what's wrong?" asked May. Max pointed to the door where the doll stood.
"There! A doll looking at me!" The others looked, no one at the entrance to the Pokémon Center.
"What are you talking about, Max?" wondered Brock. "I don't see anybody." Max looked again, but the doll vanished. He shook his head to be sure.
"Someone might've picked it up." Ash grew a little suspicious.
"Do you know what the doll looked like?" he questioned.
"I think so… White hat, white dress… that's it." Ash pondered to Max's briefing. He walked to the door, opened it and searched. There, he found something flying to the side of the Center. He dashed to see the item. Ash found the item, the doll that Max described. It appeared to be levitating.
"Sabrina's doll?" A familiar laugh caught Ash's attention. Haunter appeared, clutching the doll in one of its claws. "I thought the doll was familiar. I take it Sabrina's doing okay?" Haunter nodded to Ash's guess. "That's good. Say, you wanna come in to see our new friends?" Haunter became excited to learn of new company. The two entered inside which Ash held the doll to his friends. "Is this the doll you saw?" Max gasped to the sight.
"That's it!" To May, the doll had no significance.
"What's the big deal?" she asked. "It's just a doll."
"In a sense, May," Brock started. "You're right. However, Ash and I saw that with Saffron Gym Leader, Sabrina. Boy, that doll brings back some memories." Ash scoffed to the last word from Brock.
"You want memories, how about this one?" he pointed out. Haunter emerged from behind Ash. May awed at the sight of the Gas Pokémon.
"A Haunter?" she noted. "Not as scary as that Duskull who was with me on my first day as a trainer." Haunter laughed again to the comment.
"Haunter's not trying to scare anyone. It needed someone to play along with Ghastly and Gengar." Haunter nodded its body to confirm.
"That's what happened back when you wanted to get a Ghost Pokémon to battle Sabrina?" questioned Brock.
"Yeah, the three weren't doing anything to spook us away." Brock sighed in relief in knowing the truth.
"I'll tell you what's spooky: Misty and I finding you and Pikachu crushed under the chandelier." Pikachu remembered the chandelier falling on them, itching his head. May and Max gasped to the incident.
"And you two are alive?!" the little brother asked in surprise. Ash shrugged his shoulders, unsure how it's possible. Just then, someone else entered.
"There you are," a familiar voice spoke out. All turned to see Gym Leader herself.
"Sabrina!" awed Brock. He dashed to her but she stuck her hand out before Brock froze in mid-stride. His body became coated in a blew energy before she made her way to Haunter and the others.
"What were you doing with my doll, Haunter?" Max and May awed the appearance of Sabrina as Ash offered the doll back.
"Haunter must have known Brock and I came back to Saffron," he claimed. Sabrina smiled at the sight.
"Doubtful, though it is refreshing to see you again." She then turned to the siblings. "New company, is that right?"
"We are," May acknowledged. "I'm May and this is my brother, Max." Sabrina nodded before recognizing seeing her earlier in the day.
"I see. You won the Saffron Contest with your Squirtle." The brunette smiled. The glow around Brock faded and he fell to the ground. "Now can I have the doll back?" Ash complied and handed the doll to the Gym Leader. "Thank you. Good night. Haunter, let's go." Haunter obeyed and flew out with Sabrina. Brock recovered to see her leave.
"Sabrina, wait!" he cried. The door closed, as did Brock's chance. As night fell, the siblings fell asleep in the rented room. Ash finished a glass of milk when he made his way to the room. He reached for the door when he felt a presence. Turning, he found the same doll Haunter held.
"Haunter, that's enough," he sighed. "We leave for the morning." However, the doll laughed.
"Haunter's not in control, Ash," she spoke. Ash glanced back to the floating doll. "Sabrina seeks your attendance immediately." Ash looked to the door before finding a problem.
"It can't wait?" The doll shook her little head. "Alright, I'm coming."
"Good… She's waiting at the Gym." Advice in mind, Ash bolted out the door, a mere 15 minutes before curfew. Ash followed the doll to the Gym where he had that tough battle with Sabrina. He entered to find the Gym Leader in the middle of the battlefield unconscious.
"Sabrina!" He rushed to her side and lifted her head.
"She's okay… Just under Hypnosis." He turned to see Haunter and Kadabra approaching. Ash feared of an ambush. That's when Kadabra used Confusion to hold Ash in place. Then, Haunter used Hypnosis. It lulled Ash to sleep. He laid next to Sabrina. Their combination a success, the Gas Pokémon grabbed Ash's head. Instead of lifting him up, it pulled Ash's spirit from his body. A minute after his spirit's extraction, he opened his eyes.
"What?!" Ash checked his spirit body. "Not again!" The doll came to Ash's spirit, only to see Sabrina's spirit holding said doll.
"I must say, my ventriloquism isn't bad," she smirked. Ash gawked to the surprise.
"Sabrina? You mean you're the doll?!"
"I know, right? Ever since you and Haunter restored my humanity, I've enjoyed the greater parts of my life like having time with my father who's spoken rather highly of you." Ash tried to recall before but nothing came to his head.
"Your father? I don't know who he is." Sabrina shook her head, not worried about the history.
"Anyway, I wanted to bring you somewhere only our spirits can reach. Come!" Both Ash and Sabrina flew to the sky where Ash had more questions.
"Anyway, if you wanted me like this, why not have Haunter pick me up at the Pokémon Center? At least with Pikachu."
"Don't think Haunter forgot. Here he comes." Ash turned to find Haunter and Pikachu's spirit soaring towards them. Pikachu felt reunited with his trainer's spirit.
"Can't see this without you, right?" Pikachu squeaked, not wanting to miss out. They flew upward through the clouds.
"I wanted you to find my body since I know my Kadabra can watch over us and give a warning if there's trouble." Considering the bond between Gym Leader and Pokémon, Ash accepted the idea. Above the clouds, the two gazed up to the giant Full Moon on display. Ash awed the size.
"I can almost touch the moon from here!"
"Not to mention that we can exceed orbit since we're now spirits. But we won't leave Earth." Ash didn't think they'd be traveling that high. "Actually, I wanted to thank you personally for all you did to bring Haunter to me when I was imbued with my psychic powers." Pikachu squeaked to Sabrina to accept the praise.
"I mainly wanted to use Haunter to battle your Kadabra, not used to pull pranks. A tall order since the Ghastly Trio were a bunch of Pokémon who wanted to have some laughs." Sabrina laughed to the tale.
"There's a few reasons I had you come up with me." That's when Sabrina floated to Ash before she gave him a kiss to the lips. Ash and Pikachu gawked in shock. "I believe love should come under the Full Moon. There's just something magical about the setting of such." Looking to the moon, Ash began to feel the connection.
"Wow, it does! When Haunter brought you back to normal, you've wanted to know what it's like… and you found somethings that you didn't realize for awhile."
"I have. Let's return to the Gym." Complying, the two returned to Saffron and to their bodies as Pikachu returned to his to sleep, knowing Ash would be okay. After waking up, Sabrina showed Ash to a room full of stitched dolls. They're of different Pokémon and people.
"You handcrafted all of these?"
"Yes. They're all the trainers and Pokémon I faced after you broke me free." Ash found one which caught his ire: a brunette boy wearing a purple long-sleeve shirt.
"Gary challenged you after I did?"
"Yes, and his Nidorino proved more challenging than anticipated. Such a resilient Pokémon Trainer." Sabrina stepped to her bed which had two dolls. "Here!" Ash looked to find the dolls and gasped.
"Us?! And in what I wore before?!"
"My powers have significantly weakened but my memories are strong. Because you're the one since I've mentioned a dozen times already, it's why I've got your doll with mine. Kadabra and Haunter insisted that, and I haven't argued to change it… not that I want to." Ash crossed his arms while nodding.
"So I've been told by Misty... Pokémon tend to act like us. I guess this is what she meant." Sabrina's giggle told Ash that she also understood.
"Since Pikachu's with your other friends, he'll know where we are tonight. It's after curfew." Ash surrendered easily to the information.
"Good point. Hopefully, May and Max understand as well." Both entered the bed and tucked themselves under the blankets with Sabrina's nightgown being worn. Both fell fast asleep but Sabrina's arms wrapped around him, as well as their dolls. While Ash may have his mind on the Battle Frontier, Sabrina has her arms around her dolls… and one is alive.
END of PSYCHIC
Next up: FAIRY
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