Author's Note: Saffron City's pretty cool… And Sabrina's one of my favorite Gym Leaders, in both the game and the manga. (I even liked her in the anime… gasp!) Anyway, like Koga, Sabrina is going to have her Yellow team. And by the way, telepathy is shown like 'this' instead of "this." And yes, the chapter cuts in a weird place, but that's because I'm going to have a bit more happen next chapter.

Chapter Thirty Six: Vs Abra!

"Hmm…"

Ren blinked a she looked at the map in Lavender's Pokémon Center. She and Petro had just woken up and eaten breakfast, and they were ready to head on to Saffron City. However, Ren was slightly confused as she examined the map.

"Saffron is much closer to here than I thought… Did we pass it on the way to Celadon City, Petro?"

"Chu."

Petro shook his head, and Ren sighed. When Ren stood up from the couch she'd been sitting on, she stretched, Petro jumped to the floor after her. Ren yawned, still a bit tired, as she walked over to the Center's glass door and pushed it open.

She and Petro quickly walked outside, eager to get to Saffron. Remembering the directions from the map, Ren walked towards the west end of Lavender with Petro scampering after her, entering the familiar route she'd taken to Celadon. After several minutes of walking, though, Ren spotted a separate path that branched slightly to the south. The path was partially blocked by trees, however, which could explain why Ren hadn't seen it before.

"I guess we go this way…" Ren trailed off.

As the blonde continued to walk, Petro scurried in front of her as usual. A large gatehouse appeared in front of them a few moments later, and Ren head to struggle a bit in order to open its heavy door. Several guards were sitting at the counter in the back of the room, and they all looked at her as she walked in.

"Excuse me, miss, we need to see an ID of some kind," one of the men called.

Gulping, Ren walked over to the guards and pulled out her Pokédex. She pressed a few buttons to open the Trainer ID page before placing the device on the counter. The guards nodded, and one of them handed the Pokédex back to Ren.

"All right, go on."

"Th-thanks!"

Ren was admittedly still a bit nervous as she walked to the opposite door. When she exited the building, however, she could see why Saffron might be worried about security.

"W-Wow, Petro! This place is huge! They must have a lot of people coming through here all the time…"

"Pika," Petro agreed.

Saffron was practically crammed with skyscrapers and business buildings. The apartments towered over Ren and Petro as they walked through the completely pavement-lined town in amazement. Slightly intimidated, Ren hoped that she'd be able to find the Pokémon Center in case she needed it later.

After several moments of walking, the Center's red roof jumped out at Ren. The girl blinked; even Saffron's Pokémon Center was huge. It had to be at least three stories tall…

Gulping, Ren ducked through the glass doors, hoping she'd find a map of Saffron inside. Petro scurried ahead of her, jumping onto the couch and pointing to a poster above it. Fortunately, the poster displayed a map, and Ren saw that the Gym was on the northern edge of town.

"Okay… Are you ready to go to the gym?" Ren asked, trying to sound confident.

"Chu!"

Smirking, Petro jumped off the couch and darted back to the door. Ren pushed it open, and she swallowed as a large group of trainers entered the building. She hoped that they hadn't all lost their gym battles…

Finding the gym was almost as hard as finding the Pokémon Center. Ren had to wander through several more winding paths, and she almost lost Petro a few times. However, she managed to find a large, dome-shaped building after several minutes. A small sign next to the door read "Saffron City Gym" in purple letters, with "Led by Sabrina" in smaller letters at the bottom.

"Here we go, Petro—Eek!"

Ren was about to reach for the golden door handle when a pair of shadows suddenly formed in front of her. The shadows slowly came into focus, forming an Abra and a trainer. Brushing a piece of her long black hair out of her eyes, the woman carefully looked at Ren.

"A challenger… aren't you?"

"Um, uh, yeah, but h-how did you know?" Ren stuttered, still in shock.

"I sensed you coming. If you truly want to battle me… then enter here and prepare to put yourself to the test."

With that, Sabrina gestured to the Abra, and its eyes promptly opened. The two turned into shadows again as Abra's eyes started to glow, and they were gone a few seconds later.

"Creepy…" Ren blinked. "I guess we don't have a choice…"

"Pika," Petro replied, rolling his eyes.

Ren paused as she opened the door, hoping that nothing else would appear in front of her. Nothing did, thankfully, but she was surprised again as she and Petro stepped inside. She had entered a small, uncarpeted, metal room with two glowing tiles in the floor.

"What are we supposed to do?"

'Choose the correct floor panel to reach me. That is all.'

Ren felt her eyes widen; she was sure she'd just heard Sabrina's voice in her head. Trying not to feel scared, Ren decided that she might as well try stepping on one of the strange tiles just to see what they did. They had no other way to go on, anyway…

"C-Come on, Petro."

Hesitantly, Ren walked over to the tile on her right, with Petro close behind her. When they stepped on it, Ren felt a tingling feeling in her limbs, and then she saw a bright flash of light. Ren blinked, trying to see clearly again, and realized they were in a different room. Sabrina wasn't there, however, and this room had four glowing tiles instead of four.

"I guess we have to try again… But I don't know which to pick…"

Anxiously, Ren walked to the panel in the lower right corner of the room and crossed her fingers. She felt the vibrating sensation again as she and Petro stepped on it, and she closed her eyes.

Ren opened her eyes as her limbs felt normal again. This time, she'd arrived in a larger room, and Sabrina was leaning against the back wall, and her Abra was next to her. Although Sabrina still made her nervous, Ren was actually relieved to see the pale woman; she was glad that she'd found the right room after two tries.

"Not bad…" Sabrina droned. "Now let's see if you are good at fighting, as well. I can at least feel a hopeful aura emanating from you…"

Ren held her breath. She'd have an interesting battle, that was for sure…