Hi, everyone! I'm soooo sorry that this took so long. I had a ton of issues and kinda didn't know what to do, but now I'm hoping I can! This will not be as high of priority of update such as TWIYH and WAWL, but I will not let this go over two years w/o an update.
Also, one more thing to make it crystal clear: despite the bond that forms between Erika and Sabrina, this will not be a yuri! They, along with every character on here now and in the future, are cis and hetero.
Friday, August 29th, 1997
The new day arrived and I looked out the window and smiled at the rays of sunshine that were absorbed by my skin. I still was not entirely used to it since my cold psychic side hated it, but my innocent child side loved it. I wanted to be like I was many years ago where everything was just normal and I did not want to emit an aura of hate that made people flee faster than a fire in a building. I truly felt like the living proof that biggest monster of all was human and the reactions of others provided sufficient evidence to back up my claim. I put on my new outfit I got yesterday and looked at myself in the silver plate of glass and smiled at the girl in my mirror, but beyond the surface of my reflection existed a shadow of someone I was, and I wished I could say something to comfort her.
I went downstairs after I finished tidying myself and greeted my mother.
"Good morning, sweetheart, you look nice today!" said mother as she approached me and hugged me. Feeling contact with her made me jump slightly, but I knew her mind was pure and good intentions filled her heart. Still, it was an odd sensation, nonetheless. "I assume that you are about ready to leave for Indigo Plateau, yes?"
"Indeed I am," I said softly as I looked at her with a somewhat neutral expression and then smiled. Smiling felt so foreign to me, but at the same time it made me feel good.
"Well, I made enough breakfast for you," she said as she set some as she put a bowl of strawberries and eggs in front of me as well as a piece of toast. I grabbed a strawberry and began to eat it while I had the fork in my other hand ready to eat the scrambled eggs, the way I liked them when I was a child. It was very refreshing and I finished everything within ten minutes, then I brushed my teeth.
"So what's the plan, Sabrina, after you go to the Pokemon League?" asked mother as she grabbed her purse and was about to ride her bike to work.
"I guess go to the local high school, or maybe, try to go to the one where Erika is in," I offered. "At least if I attend her school, I wouldn't be so confused and nervous."
"Did you even happen to know what high school that she goes?" asked mother. "She may go to one that is private and those aren't cheap. But she may go to one that is public but not within the zoning laws."
"I have to at least try," I said to her with high hopes. "I can give her a call? Then I will go to the place and find out."
"I think that sounds good," she said while she adjusted her hair. "I trust your judgement, Sabrina, and don't be afraid to rely on others if you have. It's all part of being human."
"You mentioned the Lavender Volunteer House..." I said with a bit of hesitance. I remembered the advice that participating there would be a great way to experience socializing with other people in my age and it would more than likely increase my chances of fitting in. "Do you think I should go there today?"
"Hmm, it depends on how you feel after you go to Indigo Plateau and the high school," said mother. "I don't want you to put to much stress on you, okay?"
"I will be okay, mother, I promise," I said as I gave her a hug. The warm embrace was something spectacular and I enjoyed it a lot. That was a rather unexpected reaction to get after hugging her. Was it a sign that I was becoming normal, despite less than 24 hours after Ash's intervention?
"I will allow you to make your own decisions since you know what's best for you," she said politely. "I didn't mean to make that sound rude if it did."
"It wasn't because I understood what you meant," I said. "You'd better go to work, mother. I'll be home later and we can have dinner, okay?"
"That sounds lovely. I enjoyed last night and I hope our relationship grows."
"I desire the same, and we should view it as one day at a time."
"Absolutely. I love you so much, Sabrina. I never stopped loving you." I watched her put a lunch box in her purse and she turned around and waved bye to me. I returned the gesture and then washed the dishes for her to show her how my intentions were true and because she would more than likely be a lot more tired than I would when she returned. To a degree, I felt that I was practically a stranger in this house since I had blocked out so many memories, but every time I looked around a little bit more was returning to me. I picked up the phone and looked at Erika's number which was on the slip of paper that was in my pocket.
I pressed the buttons on the phone and the dial toned echoed in my ear. A voice answered.
"Hello?" It was a man's voice, presumably her father.
"Um, yes, may I speak to Erika?" I said nervously.
"May I ask who is calling?"
"This is Sabrina, Saffron City's gym leader...uh, soon-to-be ex-gym leader," I corrected.
"Oh, yes, Sabrina. My daughter has said some very interesting things about you and has taken a liking to you. One second." I heard him call for her name and about twenty seconds passed before I hear a reply.
"Sabrina? Hi!" said Erika with her cheerful voice and I could tell she had a smile on her face. "It's nice to hear from you."
I smiled slightly and nodded. "Same to you. I wanted to ask you a question, if you don't mind me asking."
"Go right ahead!"
"Um, what high school do you attend? Because I'm going to find out if I can enroll myself and I wanted to go to the same one as you so I wouldn't be..." I gulped as I tried to get these words out of my mouth. "Lonely."
Erika remained silent for a couple of minutes before I heard her speak again. "You're making the decision of going back to school? That sounds amazing! But do you think that you are capable of going to high school since it's been so many years?"
"I am going to go to your high school and get some information," I said. I was a little surprised that she wasn't like, 'Don't do it, Sabrina! You'll never survive!', which almost seemed like the type of reaction that my parents were thinking about having.
"That sounds really nice that you want to go somewhere with an acquaintance. The name is East Lancaster Ridge High School, and it is on the eastern part of Celadon City in the suburbs. It's an average high school; a mix of medium income, rich, and below average. Last year the school had about 1800 students, so it fairly large."
"I see, thank you for the information," I said as I wrote this down on a piece of paper. "How are you?"
"I'm doing fine, actually. I just had some fresh fruit and miso soup for breakfast. I'm planning on helping out in the shop and then going to the gym later."
"I may stop by later and see how it is going," I said as I awaited for her opinion.
"That sounds nice, I'd like to see you again and see how you're doing," Erika answered. "You know, we should also find you another outfit before Thursday, when school starts. Six days left!"
"I think so, too; I don't think I would like wearing this everyday as I have a large sum of money from gym battles," I said with a small bit of hesitance as I was thinking of the proper way to accept her proposal. "I need to get to the Pokemon League and make this official, then I'll see about your school. I also want to see about this Volunteer House in Lavender Town that my mother suggested."
"I've worked there once for school and I liked it," Erika mentions. "I may go there again, but I'd be more than happy to go with you if you're unsure about yourself."
"I don't want to have to depend on you, but I still need some help throughout this," I said, speaking the truth of the bottom of my heart. The thought started to become increasingly more difficult to deal with. I sure hoped that I was not going to regret this decision later, and the other thought...My powers. What if some idiot made fun of me and I unleash my powers at him, hurting him? That's something that the old me would do, but...the child part of me that represented my innocence would more than likely cry.
"I'll give you all the space you need when you ask for it and I'll be glad to try to help when you want me to," said Erika. "I think you should go on ahead and complete your tasks. It was nice talking to you!"
"Same to you. I'll see you later, hopefully." With that, I hung the phone up. I probably should have said good bye, but this was really one of the first times I've used a phone in who knows how long. Now it was time to go to Indigo Plateau. I haven't been there in about two years, but I still remembered what the surrounding area looked like, so I closed my eyes to be able to heighten my abilities and within a matter of seconds, my entire body was nothing but molecules and I was there. A few people saw this and backed away slowly. Again, another feeling of awkwardness arose and I decided to look down away from everyone so that they wouldn't look at me, although I was quite sure they were saying something behind my back. I could read their minds, sure, but I had to refrain from doing this from now on.
I approached the front desk and a woman saw me. "May I help you?" she asked.
"I'm Sabrina Thorndyke, and I'm the Saffron City gym leader," I said with a high level of confidence. Good, this was going well so far. "And I'd like to resign my position as the leader and pursue a different path."
"Okay, I don't have the authority to do that, but I have paperwork regarding paperwork about applications for gym leader and stuff of that sort," said the woman as she looked through a filing cabinet and came across something. It was a single piece of paper and handed it to me. "You need to provide all the information below, such as your age, address, reasons, license number from your leader card, and a few other things."
"Okay, I'll look it over," I said as she handed me a paper and a clipboard. I immediately began to look at the papers, but as I was heading back, I collided with someone else and fell to the ground.
"Ahh! I'm so sorry, miss!" said a voice of a guy who was probably about my age, maybe a year older. He had wild bright pinkish-red hair and a really cute look to him.
"I wasn't watching where I was going," I said in my defense to prevent an awkward situation.
"You're Sabina from Saffron Gym!" said the guy. "Your skills are very impressive, I must say. You're dubbed the hardest gym in Kanto!"
"I don't know if that's a title I'm proud of," I said in a humble tone, although I did appreciate what he said.
"I'm planning on joining the Elite Four once I finish high school," said Lance proudly. He sure had a lot of ambition to vie for such a prestigious title; you had to be at least 18 and have a high school diploma and even then, your chances were extremely low.
"You sure seem quite sure of yourself," I said to him in a polite tone. "But with enough hard work, I am sure that it is possible."
"Anything is possible if you put the dedication to it," said Lance. "And if you will excuse me, I have a few things to do."
I watched him go by and was curious as to what he was doing here if he wasn't even old enough to qualify. Ah, he's talking to a man now, but I wondered who it could be.
Nonetheless, I decided to teleport back home and figure out a way to get to the school Erika mentioned she was going to.