Chapter Six: Psychic vs Dark: No Contest?
Phil stepped into the Gym, and was immediately greeted with a tall and slightly nerdish man wearing glasses and a blue suit.
"Hey there, champ-in-the-making!" the man said with a grin.
"Oh, please," muttered Phil. He didn't need this guy's help. Unlike the average trainer to come stumbling through the doors, he'd done his research and knew exactly what to expect in terms of the Gym's set-up.
"Excuse me?" the man asked, seeming slightly offended.
"I don't need your help," Phil replied with a bit of anger. He stepped around the man and walked into the centre of the Gym's lobby.
The room had a slightly futuristic feel to it; the walls were smooth purple with inbuilt lights and the floor was covered in metallic plastic tiles. In the centre of the room stood two pillars with an oddly textured floor tile between them. There appeared to be no doors out of the room apart from the one Phil entered through.
Before starting his Gym challenge, Phil decided to check out the two pillars. On top of each one was a carving of a Pokémon, in both cases a Kadabra. However, that wasn't what interested him. Carved in the grey stone of the two pillars was a list of trainers that had beaten the Gym.
Running his finger down the list, he managed to pick out several familiar ones: Red, Gold and Jen were all there. Looking elsewhere on the pillar, he spotted other familiar names, those of Gym Leaders and Elites: Blue, the Viridian Gym Leader, was there, and so was Lance, the current head of the KJC Elite Four. One name stuck out: Karen, a member of the Elite Four and fellow Murkrow user. She was the one Phil had studied in order to develop tactics for Murkrow. He hoped to one day battle her and put himself to the test.
Suddenly there was a vibration from Phil's belt and a flash of light leapt into mid-air next to him. The light faded into the familiar form of his Pokémon, Murkrow.
"Thinking the same thing?" Phil asked rhetorically.
"Murk!" the Pokémon responded cheerfully. It flew up and landed on an arm of the Alakazam statue while pointing its beak eagerly at the odd tile that stood between the pillars.
"Well then," Phil muttered. He knew what was coming. The Warp Tile in front of him would teleport to another room, and he would have to battle the occupant, a Junior Trainer of the Gym. From there he would pick another Warp Tile and repeat the process until he faced Sabrina. It wasn't the battle that worried him; it was the thought of having his molecules messed with and his fate being in the hands of a machine that gave him the most anxiety. It took a few seconds for him to gain the courage to walk forward and take his first ever steps onto a Warp Tile.
It was a strange passing sensation of nothingness, and then he found himself in the corner of a different room. The walls and floor were identical, but the contents were not. There were no pillars, and there were three other warp tiles in the other corners. In the centre of the room a comparatively small battle arena had been painted on the floor. Sitting in the middle of the arena was a short man in blue robes and with spiky purple hair. He had his eyes closed and appeared to be meditating.
There was the sound of a rush of air behind Phil indicating the arrival of Murkrow. Phil stepped off the Warp Tile and started to walk towards the man.
"Shall we get this battle…" Phil started to say.
Suddenly the man cut him off by raising his right hand towards Phil, palm outwards. The trainer looked on in confusion. A few seconds passed, and he was about to ask what was going on when he felt a massive force pushing him backwards. He couldn't resist and within seconds he had slammed into the wall behind him. It didn't take Phil long to work out what had happened. He'd been hit by a telekinetic attack.
"Two can play at that!" he yelled angrily, clutching his chest as a result of the impact. "Murkrow, use Drill Peck!"
His Pokémon was still flying above the Warp Tile, apparently unaffected by the attack. Upon hearing the orders, it dived straight for the psychic. His right hand still raised, the man reached into his robes and took out a Pokéball. He seemed to concentrate hard, and suddenly Phil felt himself being pushed back into the wall. After struggling to open his eyes, he realized he could see the telekinesis by the distortions in the air. Most importantly it let him see Murkrow, who seemed to have the distortions flowing around rather than through it.
The Gym trainer seemed to put more and more effort into his attack, causing the air to forced out of Phil's lungs and making it hard for him to breathe. Nonetheless, Murkrow remained unaffected and continued barrelling towards its target. Eventually, the man opened his eyes, probably because he realised he was having no effect. The last thing he saw was the dark shape of Murkrow aimed straight for his head.
The bird impacted with a thud and bounced away towards the ceiling. The psychic lost consciousness instantly and was knocked a few feet though the air before falling motionless to the floor. His Pokéball rolled out of his left hand and hit the floor with a clatter. Phil felt the pressure lift from his body and breathed deeply a few times to recover from the ordeal. While he got up and walked over to the unconscious form on the floor Murkrow was having a bit of fun by standing on the Pokéball and rolling it around with its feet.
"We didn't even get to battle," Phil sighed falsely. He quickly checked to make sure the man wasn't too badly hurt then he picked one of the three other Warp Tiles at random and went towards it. "Come on, Murkrow," he said over his shoulder.
His Pokémon reluctantly tossed the Pokéball into the unconscious man's face and then flew after Phil, who was now standing in front of the Warp Tile. He had an idea of what would happen this time, so it didn't take him very long to work up the courage to step onto it. Not existing was a drag, but the feeling didn't last long and soon he was in another room. This one was identical to the last except that there was a robed, middle-aged woman standing in the centre. Eerily she was staring straight at him.
"I foresaw your arrival," she said distantly before Phil could do anything. So she was a seer.
"Alright then, shall we battle?" Phil asked, glad that this one wasn't trying to kill him.
"Yes, we shall…" the woman started saying, but she stopped talking and her eyes appeared to glaze over.
"Are you okay?" Phil questioned. He didn't really care; he just wanted to know if he could move on or if he had to wait. Just then a rush of air signalled Murkrow emerging from the Warp Tile. The woman blinked and returned to normal, and then looked at Murkrow.
"I forfeit," said stated bluntly.
"What!" Phil exclaimed.
"I had a vision. You will use that Murkrow and none of my Pokémon will be able counter it. Therefore I will not put them through more pain than necessary. You are free to pick a tile and move on."
"I see…" Phil muttered.
The woman sat down on the floor, closed her eyes and began to mediate, completely ignoring Phil. He shrugged, chose another Warp Tile at random and went over to it with Murkrow flying closely behind. This time he had no hesitation before stepping onto it. Once he reappeared he noticed that once again he was in the room of a Junior Trainer. The room was once again identical to those before it, and once again a trainer clad in blue robes sat mediating in the centre. This one was a boy in his early teens with light brown hair. Phil wondered what his ability was.
"I'm a telepath," the boy said abruptly, answering Phil's question both directly and indirectly as Murkrow entered the room just behind him.
"I suppose I don't have to tell you the reason I'm here," Phil said. He had to make a choice now. Hide his thoughts or leave them in the open. The former would make it hard to concentrate on the battle but the latter would make it easy for the telepath to read what he was thinking.
"That won't work," the telepath responded to Phil's plans. The psychic got up and walked to one end of the battlefield. Phil and Murkrow went to the opposing end.
"Why not?" Phil asked. He thought psychics could only read surface thoughts.
"We can do more than that," the boy replied. He closed his eyes and his face tensed up with concentration. Phil felt small, garbled voices poking into his mind. There were so many, he had no way of making them leave. He couldn't use the same technique as he had the last night, as it seemed that only worked on a subconscious level, such as when he was asleep. "Now," the boy continued, "lets see what's inside your mind!"
The voices suddenly became sharp, although still garbled. They lanced into Phil's mind and rummaged around as subtly as knives. Phil tried his best to hide his thoughts, but that only made them more vulnerable. However, before the voices could reach them, something appeared in the way. The voices appeared confused as they tried to break around the barrier; they didn't know what it was. Phil however, instinctively knew that it was his subconscious. The voices eventually stopped trying to go around, and instead they stabbed straight through it. It held only briefly before a gaping hole appeared. Suddenly the voices disappeared; it was as though they had never been there.
Then he realised he'd had his eyes closed the whole time, and that the mental battle that had seemed to last forever had in fact only taken place over a few seconds. Opening his eyes, he saw that the psychic boy was backed up against the wall, eyes wide in fear. Murkrow was already on its way over to investigate. Phil blinked a few times and let the headache that had sprung up, recede. Murkrow flapped around in front of the boy's face, but it seemed to have no effect; the boy just continued staring at Phil in silent terror.
"What happened?" he wondered aloud. "Does this mean I get to move on?"
There was no response from the boy. Phil shrugged and turned away. He picked the nearest Warp Tile and headed for it. He'd have to ask Sabrina about that once he met her, after all she was the expert on psychic abilities. Murkrow left the boy and caught up with Phil, giving an encouraging squawk. Phil nodded at his Pokémon, and was about to step on the tile when a sound came from behind him.
"Au…au…" the boy stuttered very quietly. Phil turned back and saw the boy had managed to pull himself away from the wall, though he still looked terrified.
"Go on," Phil sighed. He was having trouble sympathising with the person who had rudely invaded his brain, but he had to at least make an effort.
"Auris…" the boy said before fainting onto the floor. Phil arched an eyebrow in curiosity.
"So all he wanted to do was tell me my own surname," he muttered, "fine. Lets go, Murkrow"
He once more faced the Warp Tile and took a step onto it. He was mildly surprised when he arrived at the other end. The room he entered was far larger than the others he had been in. It was also exceedingly dark. He couldn't make out the ceiling or opposite wall through the murk. The next thing he noticed was the voice prodding around the fringes of his mind. Unlike the boy's from earlier, this voice was clear, distinct and refined.
"The human mind is very fragile, as has been demonstrated today," the voice stated icily.
"That kid," Phil called out into the room, "what was going on there?"
"He was foolish. Breaking into the human subconscious can be a dangerous thing for one to do. You will see the innermost thoughts and primal urges of a person, and it may terrify you. That is what happened."
"I see, thanks for the long-winded explanation," Phil replied sarcastically. He stepped forward and noticed a battle arena was painted on the floor in front of him, extending into the darkness. He moved into position at his end of the field and stood there, waiting. The sound of a rush of air from behind him followed by a flapping of wings indicated Murkrow entering the room and taking off into the darkness above.
After about a minute his eyes had gotten used to the darkness and he could make out the rest of the room. Standing to one side of the battlefield was a referee. He, for Phil assumed it was a man, was standing on an elevated platform so the darkness hid his upper body. Opposite him on the field was a woman in her late twenties wearing a uniform comprised of a red jacket and short skirt with long black stockings. Her dark green hair cascaded down her back. Phil would have been attracted to Sabrina if he hadn't known she was a psychic. Instead, he only felt the urge to defeat her.
"The battle will be three against three. Only the challenger may substitute Pokémon!" the referee yelled in a voice that Phil found familiar somehow.
Phil knew she could read his thoughts, but he had prepared himself for this. She was not likely to be as forceful as the boy had been, and Phil could try and exploit this. He grabbed Rattata's Pokéball and thought only of how he could defeat psychic Pokémon using it.
"I foresaw your arrival, Philip Auris of Adelta Town," Sabrina said. Phil sighed; he knew he was in for the typical boasting. "The future, however, remains unclear," the Gym Leader continued, "though I do know that this will be a difficult match, the outcome is not predetermined. As such, I will try my hardest to defeat you." She levitated a Pokéball from her belt and threw it into the arena with her mind. "Kadabra," she stated.
The ball burst open, briefly illuminating the room and allowing Phil to see that the décor was the same purple as the rest of the Gym. In the arena, Phil was faced with a medium sized yellow-brown humanoid Pokémon. There was a yellow tail with brown stripes extending from behind it and it carried a spoon in one of its hands. Phil didn't hear it speak, but he felt its telepathy gently move around his head alongside Sabrina's. It was annoying, but he would have to put up with it for the duration of the battle.
"Rattata!" Phil yelled, lifting the Pokéball into the air, "I don't choose you!" This got the expected reaction from Sabrina, causing her to briefly lose her composure due to surprise. Phil knew that because she had only been reading his surface thoughts, it was all too easy to convince her he was going to use Rattata first. Now there was a Pokémon on the field that was easy meat for his real choice.
"Krow!" the bird Pokémon cried out as it descended from the shadows to land opposite Kadabra.
"I choose Murkrow," Phil said calmly. Sabrina didn't respond, but he expected that from what he knew of her personality.
"Begin!" the referee shouted as he raised two flags into the air, one red and one green.
"Murkrow, Faint Attack," Phil ordered without bothering to put effort into it.
He was sure they both knew that Kadabra could do nothing to fight a Dark Type. Silence descended over the arena when Murkrow disappeared from view. Phil glared at Sabrina and she stared back emptily. Suddenly there was a shimmering in the air to the left of Kadabra and the black bird reappeared. It dived forward and smashed into Kadabra, sending it stumbling to the right.
Suddenly Phil felt the tendrils of Sabrina's telepathy withdraw from his mind. He quickly realised she was communicating with her Pokémon. Moments later one of Kadabra's hands began to glow yellow. The Psychic Pokémon turned to Murkrow and leapt forward. It took until the moment that sparks flew from its hand that Phil realised what was happening. It was Thunderpunch!
"Murkrow!" Phil called out, suddenly recognized that he'd have to put in a bit more effort.
His Pokémon cried out in shock at Kadabra's counterattack. However, the Psychic Pokémon was comparatively slow thanks to its weak muscles and Murkrow was able to easily dodge the attack by taking off higher into the air.
"Now use Drill Peck!" Phil commanded while Kadabra's punch passed through empty air.
Murkrow didn't even bother to do a proper wind-up for the attack. In span through the air and hit Kadabra even as it landed from its attempted punch. Sabrina's Pokémon lost its balance and fell to the floor. It tried to push itself to its feet, but the punch had taken all of its physical energy and it collapsed again.
"Kadabra is unable to battle!" the referee announced, raising his green flag towards Phil.
"You exploited my telepathy," Sabrina stated. "You are an interesting battler. Most either ignore it or attempt to fight it. However, a vision has come to me. Your Murkrow will fall to my next Pokémon."
"Your entire strategy is based around psychic abilities, I doubt your Pokémon could defeat my Murkrow," Phil replied arrogantly, watching on as Sabrina recalled Kadabra and telekinetically switched the Pokéball with another one.
"I choose Venemoth," she announced.
On cue the Pokéball opened and Phil got another glimpse at the rest of the room. As the light faded and the usual gloom returned a new Pokémon was floating above the arena. This one was a large insect with two large, purple wings coming out of a body comprised of a brown abdomen, a purple thorax with six stubby legs and a purple head with large grey eyes and a three-pronged crown-like structure.
"Murkrow, use Faint Attack again!" Phil yelled to get the battle started again.
Murkrow cawed acknowledgment and faded away for the second time. Once more, Phil felt Sabrina's psychic tendrils poking around and reading his thoughts. He guessed that this meant she wasn't giving out orders telepathically any more in order to focus on predicting his moves.
"Venomoth, use Gust on the arena," the Gym Leader ordered blankly.
Her Pokémon began to flap its wings. Phil was concerned. Murkrow should have reappeared by now. What was taking so long? The air in the room was getting more and more stirred up with each flap of the Bug Pokémon's wings. Soon a wind had picked that forced Phil to brace himself so that he wouldn't lose his balance. Suddenly, he saw Murkrow reappear. It popped back into view on the edge of the arena, having apparently succumbed to the Gust. It was flung into the shadows, a crump signalling its meeting with a wall.
"Murkrow, are you okay!" Phil called out over the wind. There was no answer.
Venomoth began to flap its wings in a motion to counter the wind and stop it. This proved to be a mistake, because as soon as the gusts had died down, a black shape zipped out of the shadows and impacted it before it had a chance to evade. Murkrow pulled back after its attack and returned to hovering in front of Phil. Its red eyes were glowing with anger and it appeared to be eager for revenge.
"Looks like Faint Attack won't work," Phil mused, "so I guess I'll just go with a straight up Drill Peck!" He shouted the last two words, and Murkrow bolted forwards towards its opponent, who was still pulling itself back into the air after the last attack.
Phil noted that Sabrina continued to stand impassively rather than give an order to her Venomoth to dodge the attack. She was planning something, yet it seemed as though there was little she could do against such a direct attack. He could feel her pressing weakly at the outskirts of his mind, almost as if she wasn't really focused on that, almost as if she was focused on waiting for something. Suddenly it hit him.
"Murkrow! Stop!" he cried out. Unfortunately his Pokémon had committed and was now barrelling almost uncontrollably towards Venomoth. As it drew to within seconds of impact, Phil finally saw the outcome of Sabrina's plot.
"Dodge and use Stun Spore," the Gym Leader commanded bluntly.
Venomoth slipped to one side, just out of the path of Murkrow's attack. The bird was unable to compensate in time and completely missed its target. As Murkrow passed by the oversized bug it flapped its wings once, unleashing a spray of powder that Phil's Pokémon had no chance of avoiding. Murkrow's whole body stiffened and it fell from the air, still spinning from the inertia of its attack. It hit the ground and stopped moving.
"Murkow, return," Phil said, rapidly taking out the Pokéball and recalling Murkrow before it could officially be declared unable to battle. He might be able to use again in future. For now though he had to deal with a Venomoth that was only slightly injured and now had full access to its psychic techniques. There was only one Pokémon he could choose. "Finish it, Rattata!" he called out, switching Pokéballs and throwing Rattata's into the air.
The Pokéball opened in midair and sent out the stream of light that was Rattata. It hit the ground and quickly formed into the familiar small, rodent-like shape of Phil's second Pokémon. It squealed with delight when it realised it was out on the battle arena and mockingly pawed at the ground. Venomoth looked on in mild bemusement at the tiny Pokémon.
"Quick Attack!" Phil ordered quickly, attempting to catch Venomoth, at the very least, off guard. Rattata dashed forwards with surprising speed and leapt into the air towards its target.
"Confusion," Sabrina responded, not .
Venomoth's eyes glowed, and an aura surrounded Rattata. It stopped in mid leap and hung in the air, its limb flailing uselessly. Phil now knew that it had to follow the training it had been given. Venomoth wasn't a Psychic Pokémon, its attacks should be easy to overcome compared to the Kirlia he had faced before. After a few seconds, his Pokémon realised this too and began to struggle against its telekinetic restraints. Phil could see the exertion in the faces of the two Pokémon as they were drained of their energy.
Suddenly, all the tension was released and Rattata flew forward even faster than it had been before. Venomoth reeled, first from the breaking of its attack, and then from the impact of Rattata. It fell to the floor and flopped about weakly, so drained that it was unable to even fly. Rattata was in slightly better shape. It stood proudly with a triumphant grin near to where Venomoth had landed. Only take a few moments rest would be needed for it to recover from the ordeal.
"Finish it up with a Bite attack!" Phil called out, sensing an impending victory. Rattata grinned even wider and began to bound towards Venomoth.
"Use Psybeam," Sabrina responded. Phil suddenly realised that his arrogance had cost him a Pokémon. He shouldn't have underestimated the downed Venomoth.
Venomoth seemed to pull all its strength together for one last attack. Its eyes glowed once more and a rainbow coloured ball of energy appeared on its forehead. As it continued to grow, Rattata continued to approach. After a few seconds that felt like minutes for Phil, it was unleashed in the form of a bright multihued beam that Rattata ran straight into. The force of the beam was enough to fling Rattata backwards and almost straight into Phil. He sidestepped his own Pokémon and glared at Venomoth. Surely it couldn't recover after all of that. Luckily for him, his guess was correct and Venomoth fell on to its back, too exhausted to even sit up.
"Venomoth and Rattata are unable to battle!" the referee declared, both of his flags raised and pointing opposite directions.
As Phil recalled Rattata, he realised he had a difficult choice. Whatever Sabrina used next, his best choice would be Murkrow. However, there was the chance that Murkrow would be declared unable to battle the moment it was used thanks to its paralysis. It had to be kept as a last resort. As such, there was only one choice.
"Your turn, Bellsprout!" Phil shouted as he released his Grass Type Pokémon.
"I am relying on you to defeat him, Mr Mime," Sabrina countered, tossing out another Pokéball with her mind. It opened and the beam of energy that shot forth became a humanoid Pokémon that looked a lot like a short, round, pink and white clown.
"Begin with a Vine Whip!" Phil commanded to get the battle started. Bellsprout launched vines from behind its head and they lashed towards Mr Mime with a whipping sound.
"Barrier," Sabrina ordered. Mr Mime placed its hands out in front of its body and motioned them as though it was pushing against an invisible wall. The vines hit an invisible wall just in front of Mr Mime and bounced away.
"Get closer!" Phil ordered Bellsprout. He had a plan to defeat Mr Mime, but it was very risky. Bellsprout pulled back its vines into its body until only a few inches were sticking out and then it began to run towards Mr Mime.
"Psybeam," Sabrina stated.
Her Pokémon closed its eyes and a rainbow ball of energy began to form on its forehead. The ball grew much faster than Venomoth's had, which could be put down to Mr Mime being a Psychic Pokémon. After a few seconds, it released and the beam of mental energy seared through the air towards Bellsprout.
"Jump up with your vines!" Phil yelled.
His Pokémon responded by pushing at the ground with the vines that it had not fully retracted. As a result it was launched into the air, safely out of range of the Psybeam. Nonetheless, the Psybeam had an impact as it sailed effortlessly through the vines; the vines were completely disintegrated. Phil heard his Pokémon cry out in pain, first from the severing and then from its impact with the ground.
"Keep going! Get as close as you can!" Phil barked. He couldn't afford Bellsprout slowing down.
His Pokémon got to its feet and immediately began to run again. This seemed to surprise Sabrina who had probably expected him to worry about Bellsprout's condition for a while before sending it forward. As a result Mr Mime was caught off guard and Bellsprout was soon within inches of it.
"Now use Poisonpowder!" Phil yelled.
Bellsprout ran past Mr Mime, blowing a fine dust out of its mouth as it went. The dust settled on Mr Mime and the floor around it, but it appeared to have no immediate effect. After accomplishing that, Bellsprout stopped just behind Mr Mime and readied its vines, though they were still lacking tips.
"Doubleslap," Sabrina told her Pokémon, which immediately turned and leapt at Bellsprout.
Phil waited for Bellsprout to try and dodge it, but he remembered too late that Bellsprout was entirely reliant on him for orders. Mr Mime first swung its right arm back and then it swung it forwards, hitting Bellsprout and knocking it off its feet. The plant Pokémon didn't get any rest, as Mr Mime's left arm rapidly came in and hit it from the other side, sending it in the opposite direction. Soon Phil's Pokémon was being juggled back and forth between its opponent's two hands. He had to do something quickly, or he would be forced to switch to Murkrow.
"Use Wrap on an arm!" he called out, hoping Bellsprout could manage it.
The vines, which had been dangling limply from Bellsprout ever since Mr Mime's attack had begun, suddenly leapt into action and wrapped themselves around Mr Mime's left arm. The next time Mr Mime pulled its left arm back to ready a slap Bellsprout was dragged along and flung from in-between the Psychic-Type's arms leaving it with a stunned look on its face. Bellsprout landed roughly on the ground with a loud crump, but it was able to pull itself to its feet moments later. The Grass-Type appeared to be in bad shape. It probably couldn't take another attack, and yet Phil couldn't risk using Murkrow.
Phil felt Sabrina poking at his mind, so she knew this fact too. She instantly worked to take advantage of it; she gave an order to her Pokémon. "Mr Mime, use another Psybeam!" she called out.
She seemed surprised when Mr Mime didn't immediately react. Instead of preparing another attack it was standing still and clutching its stomach while groaning in pain. Phil hoped that his strategy was working. After a few moments Mr Mime's pain seemed to ease and it began to charge up a Psybeam. Bellsprout had no chance of withstanding it; Phil had to think fast to keep his Pokémon in the battle. The rainbow coloured beam was unleashed even as he was thinking. As it sailed effortlessly through the air, the answer hit Phil like a speeding train and he moved as quickly as possible to implement it.
"Use Vine Whip on the beam!" he said as fast as he could while still being comprehensible.
The damaged vines whipped forwards from his Pokémon and impacted the head of the beam. Most of the beam was stopped in mid flight for a few instants, and then it began to dissolve the vines in order to get through. Bellsprout was in obvious pain from its extensions being destroyed, but it tolerated the feelings. The beam continued along the vines, destroying them as it went. Eventually, and just inches from Bellsprout, the rainbow beam fizzled out as a result of using its energy to destroy the vines.
"Another one," Sabrina commanded.
Bellsprout couldn't pull off that trick again, nor could it move fast enough to dodge the beam while on foot. Phil still had Murkrow to call on, but if was still too paralysed to move then he would fail as soon as it came out. He couldn't take that risk, yet he seemed to have no choice. Suddenly Sabrina's voice brought him out of his thoughts
"Get over it and attack!" Sabrina said loudly to Mr Mime, her calm attitude almost breaking.
Phil looked up and noticed that Mr Mime was doubled over in pain. It seemed as though his plan was working after all. Then, the pain in its body seemed to subside and it stood upright and began preparing another ball of psychic energy. Looking over at Bellsprout, he could see that his Pokémon still had no chance of escaping a beam; it could barely stand up. The ball kept growing in strength.
"Bellsprout, I don't care what you have to do, just try and survive!" Phil called out. He couldn't do anything else.
Then, Mr Mime completed the Psybeam build-up and released it. At almost the same time, its whole body stiffened with pain and the beam split apart and went flying off in random directions. Barely missing the trainers and Bellsprout, the beams splashed harmlessly on the walls and floor of the battlefield; Psybeam was designed to only damage living organisms. Had Phil won? He saw that Mr Mime was still moving, but that movement was little more than twitches as it felt the pain of the poison in its body.
He had to do something to finish it, but Bellsprout was too weak to get close, nor could it use its vines as they had been torn apart by the Psybeam and would require days of healing to repair. Suddenly Bellsprout stood upright, only a slight shaking revealing its weakness. It opened its mouth and spat a large purple blob towards its opponent. Mr Mime didn't eve try to dodge, as it was still fighting the pain of the poison. The blob splattered onto Mr Mime, burning its skin wherever it hit and causing it even more pain. Phil was surprised. It looked like Bellsprout could use Acid after all. Mr Mime fell to the floor and writhed around in pain, utterly unable to do anything else.
"Mr Mime is unable to battle; with three eliminations to one, the victory goes to Philip from Adelta Town!" The referee declared.
"It was not your fault we lost," Sabrina said, sounding as comforting as an emotionless psychic could, "we were simply outmanoeuvred." Mr Mime returned to its Pokéball and then Sabrina telekinetically placed the ball back on her belt.
"You did better than expected Bellsprout," Phil told his Pokémon, "return." He pointed the Pokéball at Bellsprout, who was starting to collapse from exhaustion, and fired the recall beam. The beam managed to scoop up his Pokémon even as it hit the floor. At the same time he felt Sabrina's telepathic tendrils withdraw from his brain and all the psychic tension in the air dissipate.
"You are an excellent trainer, Philip," Sabrina said as she walked across the arena, carefully avoiding the patches of Acid and Stun Spores. "If you had latent psychic ability, I would recruit you on the spot"
"Well, I guess that's as close to a compliment as I am going to get from you," Phil responded.
"Correct," Sabrina stated. "And now, as recognition of your victory, I present you with the Marsh Badge" Her eyes began to glow and she extended her hand. Suddenly a there was a rush of air and a small gold circle with an indentation in the centre appeared in her hand.
"Thank you," Phil said with a smile as he took the badge from her. He was one step closer to matching Gold, but he couldn't celebrate just yet. There was still one thing to take care of that had been lingering at the back of his mind since the beginning of the battle. "Could you come down here, referee," he asked, his smile rapidly fading.
"Of course," the referee replied. He leapt off of his platform and landed on the floor a few metres behind Sabrina.
"I thought as much," Phil muttered. Standing there was the grey-haired Rocket he had met on the train. "I saw you get crushed, how exactly did you survive?"
"It wasn't too hard. Without its flames, Moltres wasn't really that dangerous and it was just a matter of avoiding its body. I got hit by a wing and knocked out"
"So why are you here?" Phil asked, stepping around Sabrina to get a better look at the man.
"You are an excellent battler, Philip, and you have a deep desire to fight Team Twilight. I would like to recruit you for Team Rocket"
"Wh…what!" Phil exclaimed. He hadn't expected this. He disliked Team Rocket as much as any trainer, and had only sided with them for the purposes of fighting the other Team. Managing to calm down, he was able to think of a compromise. "I don't really want to join a group that is little more than a bunch of glorified Pokémon thieves, but I would like to help you fight against Team Twilight."
"I see…" the Rocket muttered. He stood thinking for a while, until an idea appeared to come to him. "Well, you don't have to be a member of Team Rocket to be an ally of it. Just look at Sabrina here" He pointed at the Gym Leader.
Phil glanced over and noticed a slight glow in her eyes that the Rocket wouldn't have been able to see. Since he couldn't feel anything in his mind, she must have been reading the Rocket's thoughts.
"Go to the Pokémon Centre in Celadon City and ask for 'Soyuz'. We'll go from there," the Rocket continued. He then walked past Phil and Sabrina to the Warp Tile. "By the way," he said just before he stepped onto it, "since I know your name now, I'll tell you mine. I am Agent Dornez, fifth ranked agent in Team Rocket and…" he was cut off in mid sentence as his foot hit the Warp Tile as though an invisible force had pushed it on there.
Phil looked over Sabrina with slight disbelief. Why was she a supporter of Team Rocket? Her personality definitely suited Team Rocket, but she was a Gym Leader. He had thought they were staunch supporters of justice.
"They provide me with funds for projects that the League would not allow, and in return I use my abilities to assist them in a small, untraceable way," she replied, taking Phil's question from his mind and providing a response.
"That makes some sense," Phil said, "but what sort of project is banned by the…"
"He is hiding something," Sabrina interrupted, "be wary."
"Well, that's what Rockets do, but what about those…" Phil tried to say.
"Enough, I wish to be alone," Sabrina cut in again. Her eyes began to glow and Phil felt energy building in his body.
He sighed, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop it. The energy continued to build until reached a crescendo and Phil popped into non-existence, on his way to a destination as far away from Sabrina as she could send him.
