Darkness surrounded her. Sabrina didn't like darkness. She liked to know what was going on in the world around her. How was she supposed to be in control if she couldn't even see anything?
Sabrina felt a cold feeling come over her. She tried to wrap her arms around herself, but found that she couldn't. She couldn't move her arms at all, or even feel them. She couldn't feel any part of her body. It was as though she was just existing, there, but not there. She couldn't hear anything. The only thing that existed was the cold and the shadows.
Sabrina had no sense of time when she was in the darkness. She could have been there for a few moments, or for an entire eternity. Eventually Sabrina noticed a low ringing noise. It was quiet, barely noticeable at first, but it gradually grew louder until it was nearly overwhelming. Just when Sabrina didn't think she could take any more the noise cleared enough for her to understand exactly what she was hearing.
It was a song, albeit a rather short one. The haunting melody echoed all around her. It sounded like it could be a soothing tune, but it just sounded cold and sad to Sabrina. But when the song abruptly ended, she felt a sense of dread come over her. Something was coming.
Immediately after Sabrina thought this there was a sudden fire that seemed to just explode right in front of her. She should have been burned alive, but Sabrina didn't feel any heat at all. She barely had time to marvel at this before a pillar of ice shot up through the fire. Despite the contrasting elements, the ice didn't calm the fire, and the fire didn't melt the ice. They just coexisted with each other. It was almost beautiful in a way, but then lightning came down and struck the ice and the world sunk into chaos. Suddenly all three of the elements were at war with each other. Alone, these weren't elements that should be taken lightly. All at once though, it was a disaster waiting to happen, and Sabrina was terrified of what could happen.
Sabrina was so overcome with fear of the elements before her that she barely noticed that the song had returned. She only really noticed it because it wasn't like it was before. The song was the same, but it seemed to come from one specific point. The song was quiet at first, and as it grew louder Sabrina knew that it was because the source of the melody was coming closer. The louder the music got, the more chaotic the elements became. Though, maybe it was that the more chaotic the elements were, the closer the source of the song came.
Finally when it sounded like the song was right behind her Sabrina whipped around to face it and found herself staring right at a feather that she was all too familiar with. It was the feather that she had seen in her last vision, and had seen every day since around Lt. Surge's neck. Sabrina lifted her hands, not even noticing that she had control of her body again, and cupped them around the feather. The moment she touched the silver feather the song sounded less haunting and sad. It still wasn't a happy tune, but it was a beautiful soothing one.
Sabrina just stood there and listened to the feather's song, losing herself to it. She had been unsettled about this experience up to this point, but if she could just stand here and listen to the feather she would be completely fine with it.
But, of course, she couldn't be that lucky. Just as Sabrina was starting to allow herself to relax there was a loud pokémon roar. Sabrina, startled, turned to face the possible threat, but there was nothing around her, not even the fire, ice, and lightning. Sabrina wildly looked around the darkness, desperately looking for anything that might be out to get her. When she couldn't hear or sense anything more she slowly turned her attention back to the feather in her hands and noticed in alarm that it had disappeared, along with it's song.
Sabrina barely noticed the feather's absence before she heard the roar again, except this time she noticed that it wasn't just one roar, it was three distinct pokémon cries, one on top of the other. And after listening to them for a moment Sabrina realized that these weren't angry pokémon out to do some damage. The roars weren't a warning, they were a cry, a plea.
Sabrina didn't know what lead her to do it, but she began to walk towards where the pokémon cries had come from. She walked through the darkness, with nothing to guide her except the occasional roars. After some time Sabrina heard thunder rumble above her. Mixing in with the thunder was the cry of just one of the pokémon. Sabrina knew that she was near at least one of the pokémon that she was looking for, but she didn't stop. She just continued walking.
The more Sabrina walked the louder the thunder and roar became. Eventually the thunder grew so strong that it seemed to shake the very ground around her. Even before this particular roll of thunder had died down Sabrina could feel a heat beneath her feet. It was just warm at first, and then slightly uncomfortable, but before too long it truly began to burn. The heat spread from her feet, up her legs, and seemed to engulf her entire body. The hotter she got, the more Sabrina noticed a strange crackling sound in the air, mingled with another one of the pokémon cries.
Despite the pain, Sabrina continued walking. The burning heat lasted a lot longer than the thunder had, but it did eventually end. It wasn't immediate, but Sabrina began to feel small droplets of water land on her. It was just a little sprinkle at first, but it grew stronger and stronger until it was a complete downpour of water, accompanied by the final roar. The rain and last roar drowned out the intense heat and the cry that came with it until the pain was completely gone. And then, the rain ended as well.
And as sometimes happens after a storm, a rainbow appeared, stretching out in the darkness rs, and it has that same feel to above Sabrina. She didn't question how there could be a rainbow when there wasn't any sun or light to cause it. She just watched as the rainbow seemed to dance and shimmer in the nonexistent sky before before it changed right before her eyes. It was still a rainbow, but it almost seemed to take on the shape of a bird. A rainbow bird.
Ho-Oh.
The rainbow bird began to fly away. As it did Sabrina heard the three roars again. The pokémon almost sounded like they were in pain. The rainbow bird passed over Sabrina's head as it left, leaving a single feather behind it. Sabrina reached out and grabbed the falling feather, and the very moment that she touched it the rainbow bird disappeared completely from sight.
The roaring pokémon were devastated about this. Sabrina felt her hair stand on end as a brief static shock went through her right arm before the thunder and its roar seemed to head off in that direction. Sabrina felt water slide down her back as the rain and its mystery pokémon went off behind her to search for the rainbow. Sabrina also felt a quick burning on her left arm before the heat and final source of crying left as well.
Sabrina held the rainbow feather flat in her hand. She remembered seeing this feather in her last vision, and, more recently, in Blaine's hat. Sabrina didn't understand its significance, but she knew that it had to be something special. Possibly having to do with why no matter which way Sabrina turned the feather it always adjusted itself so that it was pointing right towards where the rainbow bird had disappeared. The feather just danced around her hand for a moment before it shot off after the rainbow, almost as though it was magnetically pulled away.
Once again, Sabrina was left alone in the darkness. No feathers to guide her, no elements to harm her, and no lost pokémon to remind her that she wasn't the only thing in existence. Sabrina was on her own to conquer the shadows, and that was not something that she wanted to do. She just wanted company, from anything or anybody, she didn't care what. She just didn't want to be on her own.
Suddenly the darkness brightened. It was still unbearably dark, just barely darker than complete blackness, but it was still an improvement. At least Sabrina was able to see a form in front of her. Sabrina approached the form and found that she couldn't walk anymore, but when she tried to move it was more of a float instead. It was only after Sabrina realized this did she notice that her surroundings felt thick and dense, and the darkness was much more of a dark blue than a black color. Was she underwater?
Sabrina drifted closer to the figure in front of her, a feeling of dread building up inside. She needed to know just who, or what, this figure was, but somehow she didn't think she would like what she saw. When Sabrina was just a few feet away the darkness cleared enough for her to make out who was in front of her, and it shook her to her very core.
It was a child, one that she hadn't seen in five years, but she recognized him immediately. There was no mistaking that maroon hair. It was Silver.
Once Sabrina overcame her shock she tried to get closer to the boy, but found that she couldn't. It was very odd. Sabrina didn't think twice about it, but when she saw Silver's expression she felt panic build up inside of her. Silver looked scared for his life. He was reaching desperately for something, but no matter how far he reached, hs couldn't quite reach what he was aiming for, and this just scared him even more. Sabrina could do nothing but watch as Silver struggled. After a few moments Sabrina noticed something strange happening. Silver's shoulder length hair gradually became shorter and darker. His face changed slightly. Sabrina didn't fully know what was going on until his clothes began to change as well. Suddenly she realized that she was no longer looking at Silver, but at Ash.
Despite it being a different boy, he was still doing the same thing. He still looked scared, he was still reaching for something just out of his reach, and he was still struggling desperately.
This went on for a moment before Ash became Silver again. He looked even more scared than he did before. He was really pushing himself, but Sabrina could see his eyes gradually become unfocused. If they were truly underwater, he was probably drowning, and he knew it.
Once again Silver became Ash, and it was so unnerving for Sabrina to see the normally energetic and cheerful boy look so terrified and weak. He was dying.
The image of Ash lingered for a moment before it quickly shifted back to an image of Silver, and then right back to Ash. Back and forth, back and forth, Silver and Ash, maroon and black. This happened so rapidly that it made Sabrina sick to her stomach. She couldn't keep track of who was who. At one point she was sure that she was seeing both boys at the same time, even though there was still just a single body there. Whoever she was seeing, they were getting weaker and weaker, until they just couldn't fight it any more and their eyes closed.
Sabrina knew that she wouldn't be able to reach the boys, but she tried anyways. She desperately reached out to them, but as she did so she felt a powerful psychic energy coming up from above them. The psychic power was powerful and strong, and Sabrina couldn't get away from it. The power quickly became overwhelming, and it scared Sabrina more than she could say. She needed to get away from this dangerous force. She needed to escape the image of Silver or Ash drowning right in front of her. She just needed everything to stop.
And, suddenly, it did.
"-brina?" Sabrina?!" She felt a child's hand on her arm, and Sabrina's eyes snapped open with a shock. She gasped for breath and sat up so suddenly that she nearly hit Ash, but she barely noticed, and definitely didn't care. Her breath came out short and fast, and she couldn't bring herself to calm down.
"Hey, it's okay," Sabrina flinched when Ash took her hand. She instinctively tried to pull away from him, but her held on. "It's okay. It was just a nightmare."
"N-no," Sabrina drew her legs close to her chest and tried to make herself smaller. "It...it wasn't…" She didn't even know what she was trying to say. She couldn't think clearly.
Ash frowned in confusion. "Did you have a vision?"
"I-I don't…" Sabrina trailed off. She didn't know what she was thinking. There was only one thing that she could think of clearly, and that was the frightening psychic energy that she had felt. "Too much...there's too much power."
"What?" Ash's brow furrowed slightly. "What power? I don't know-ah!" Ash cried out in alarm and jumped back slightly, dropping Sabrina's hand as he did so. "Your cuffs, they're sparking!"
Sabrina heard Ash's words, but she didn't really register them. She was only vaguely aware of Ash's hands tugging at her psychic cuff links. Sabrina only truly understood what was going on when Ash managed to open and pull off one of her cuffs, and it felt like a gate had been opened. Sabrina sighed as it felt like psychic energy rushed from her head down to her fingertips, and then continued out with such force that it was almost visible. Sabrina swore that she could see Ash being pushed back slightly by the sudden power.
Sabrina immediately understood what had happened, and she felt a rage come over her. She quickly unlatched the other cuff and tore it off as quickly as she could. Sabrina took the cuffs in her hands and, without thinking twice about it, she threw them as far as she could into the ocean in front of her. Sabrina couldn't normally throw all that far, but her psychic energy pushed the cuffs out so that they fell beyond the coral reef. Sabrina hoped that it would be enough to keep the cuffs from drifting back to shore, because those things deserved to rust at the bottom of the ocean.
Ash stared in shock at the spot where the cuffs had hit the water. "...I guess you really didn't like those things,"
Sabrina let out a slow breath through clenched teeth. Suddenly feeling drained she sat back down on the ground and buried her head in her legs. She could feel Ash sitting next to her. "My father gave those cuffs to me. He thought it would be good for me to restrain my powers."
"Why would he want to restrain your powers?" Ash asked. "I thought he was psychic too." Sabrina was surprised that Ash had remembered.
"He is," Sabrina confirmed. "But he has never been as powerful as I am. My powers scared him."
"Why were you wearing the cuffs if they blocked your powers?" Ash asked. "That sounds terrible."
"As much as I despise my father's fear of me, he is right about one thing," Sabrina said reluctantly. "When I get emotional, my powers are harder to control. Traveling with you, I knew that I would be pushing myself more than I'm used to, and I didn't want to lose control of my powers, so I got into the habit of wearing the cuffs, but now…" Sabrina began to seeth again.
"Did the cuffs break?" Ash asked. "Is that why they were sparking?"
"They were probably just overheating because they were being overexerted at the moment," Sabrina said bitterly. "The cuffs weren't getting rid of my powers, or even weakening them, they were just holding them back, keeping them at bay. But if something that is gradually moving forward is suddenly stopped in its tracks, it begins to build up instead, like a dam in a river. It stops the flow, but doesn't get rid of the water. If the water doesn't have a way out, it will just keep on building up until there's too much, and then it will burst free and crash through everything in its path."
"That doesn't sound very good." Ash said, and it was such an understatement that Sabrina couldn't help but laugh. "But if this buildup happens whenever your powers get blocked, why hasn't this happened before? You've been wearing those things for awhile."
Sabrina frowned and lifted her head away from her knees so she could look at her hands. "I usually take them off to sleep. That must have been enough of a break to let out enough psychic energy to keep things from getting out of control. I forgot to take them off last night though, and, of course, this whole business with Mewtwo doesn't help either."
Ash frowned slightly. "Mewtwo? What's he got to do with anything?"
Sabrina sighed and brushed her hand through her hair. "In a way, I can feel his power. He has very strong psychic energy."
"Wait, how long have you felt his power?" Ash asked, and Sabrina couldn't tell whether he sounded worried, or concerned. Possibly a little of both.
"Since before the incident on Cinnabar Island." Sabrina said. She didn't know if they were still trying to keep their knowledge about Mewtwo a secret, but she hoped they weren't. She was tired, somewhat frightened, and just too unfocused to think about what she should be keeping secret.
"That long?" Ash winced slightly sympathetically. "But Mewtwo's so strong. Doesn't so much extra energy hurt?"
"In a way," Sabrina said. It was had to explain how psychic energy felt, especially since Sabrina had no idea what it was like to live without these abilities. But, yes, too much energy hurt, that much was for sure. "I am curious though as to why it's so much worse this morning."
"I thought it was because you slept with those cuffs." Ash tilted his head in slight confusion.
"That's most certainly part of it," Sabrina said. "But it feels like something more than that." Sabrina just couldn't shake the lingering feeling of dread. She wasn't exactly scared or unnerved because of the dream, she had long since recovered from that, but she felt like something was going to happen. She had felt a very similar feeling just before Mewtwo escaped from Cinnabar Island. Either Mewtwo was up to something, or he was much closer to their location than he had ever been before.
"Ash!" Sabrina and Ash were both startled by Blaine's panicked cry. They turned to see the man running towards them. "Oh, Sabrina, you're here too. Good, we have to leave. Right now!"
Ash looked from Blaine to Sabrina, a clear look of concern in his eyes. "Something's wrong with Mewtwo." It wasn't a question, it was an observation.
"I'm afraid so," Blaine said, and he looked about as well as Sabrina felt. Blaine was sweating slightly, and favoring his arm more than he normally did, which was saying something. "He's angry."
If Mewtwo's psychic energies were as powerful when he was angry as Sabrina's were when she was, then it was no wonder she was feeling it.
"Yeah, okay," Ash said. He stood up and then held out a hand to help Sabrina to her feet. "Will you be okay?"
"If your plan works, I will be," Sabrina said. She didn't actually know what Blaine and Ash were planning to do about Mewtwo, but she knew it had to be something. Blaine was far too smart to just jump into something without having not only a plan, but a couple dozen back up plans as well.
Neither Sabrina nor Ash mentioned that they were planning on staying on the island for another day. If they had to leave, then they had to leave.
As they made their way back to the ship Sabrina hung back with Ash while Blaine hurried to make sure that they were ready to leave. "Ash, when you go with Blaine to face Mewtwo, you need to be careful." Sabrina knew that she and Koga couldn't go with them. Sabrina would be far too vulnerable to Mewtwo's abilities, and would be more of a liability than anything. If Koga wasn't injured, he would probably be helpful, but with his ribs still broken it was just too risky. They didn't want him to get any more hurt than he already was.
"I'll do my best." Ash promised, which Sabrina was glad for. She wasn't nearly as connected to Ash as Koga and Blaine were, but the two of them would freak out if anything happened to the boy. Sabrina didn't want to deal with the aftermath if that happened.
Sabrina knew that Blaine would do his best to keep Ash safe, but he might be distracted about Mewtwo. That was why she and Koga were planning on lending some of their pokémon to Ash for a little bit. If they were going up against Mewtwo, then Ash might be able to make use of both her and Koga's Venemoths, as well as Koga's Golbat.
Their pokémon might be vulnerable to psychic attacks, but they knew how to take care of themselves, and had experience, and right now that was exactly what Ash and Blaine needed.
That, and a lot of luck.