Author's Note: And now Ren gets to fight Sabrina. Oh, remember Gino? He's back, too…

Chapter Thirty Seven: Vs Alakazam!

"Are you ready?"

Sabrina's monotone echoed around the room, and Ren gulped as she nodded. Wordlessly, the dark-haired woman gestured to her Abra, which had been sitting behind her the whole time. It floated forward, and Petro jumped into a fighting pose.

"I-I think I'm ready, anyway…"

"All right."

Once again, Sabrina simply gestured to Abra, and a purple aura surrounded it. The Psychic attack then launched towards Petro, and the Electric-Type was taken off-guard. Petro was struck directly by the attack, and he was sent flying. When he landed on his feet, he glared at Abra and growled.

"Okay, try Thundershock!"

Petro immediately launched some electricity from his cheeks. Before the attack could reach Abra, however, it vanished. Moments later, Abra reappeared several feet away from where the Thundershock hit the floor. Blinking, Petro tried to repeat Thundershock several more times, but Abra kept teleporting away.

"Wait, Petro," Ren whispered. "Try Quick Attack right when it comes back."

Petro nodded, and then shot a Thundershock at Abra to make it Teleport. Then, Petro squinted, waiting for Abra's shadow to start forming. When he saw the Psychic-Type materializing a few feet away, Petro immediately darted forward and crashed into it, catching it by surprise.

Abra tumbled backwards, landing in a heap on the floor. It managed to untangle itself quickly and tried to use Teleport again. Before it could, however, Petro hit it with another Quick Attack, abruptly followed by a Thundershock. The singed Pokémon once again landed in a heap, and this time, it didn't get back up.

Sighing, Sabrina reached for a Pokéball and quietly recalled Abra. She then released a taller Psychic Pokémon with long whiskers, and it lazily tossed a spoon from hand to hand a few times as it looked appraisingly at Petro.

"Kad… abra," it said resignedly.

"Chu!" Petro glared again.

Darting forward again, Petro attempted to use another Quick Attack. Sabrina's lips twitched upwards momentarily before she nodded to Kadabra.

"Psybeam," she droned.

Kadabra raised its spoon, and a rainbow-colored aura formed around the utensil. Then, a beam shot towards Petro, causing him to tumble backwards. Wincing, Petro pulled himself back up, but didn't try to attack again.

"Um… Maybe… Maybe we can try Thundershock again?"

Petro nodded, albeit a bit weakly, and started to launch another Thundershock. Sabrina simply nodded to Kadabra in response, and the human-shaped Pokémon raised its spoon again. Slowly, a thin yellow screen of light formed in front of Kadabra, absorbing the electric attack and then vanishing.

"L-Light Screen?" Ren blinked, and Petro groaned. "Well… Maybe Slam will work?"

"…Psychic."

Petro leapt towards Kadabra, trying to crash into its side. To counter the Pikachu, Kadabra simply swiped at him with its spoon, throwing him off balance. Then, a purple aura surrounded the Psychic-Type, and it unleashed the energy attack on Petro. He stumbled backwards, and then collapsed near Ren's feet.

"Aww, no, Petro…" Ren sniffed. "Y-You were doing well… I don't know who to use now."

Pausing, Ren tried to think of what to send out next. She was pretty sure that most of her Pokémon would have trouble with Kadabra… But she had to pick something, and she needed an attack that would catch Kadabra off guard. Suddenly, Ren had an idea, and she pulled one of her Pokéballs out of her pocket.

"I know… I'll use Venus!"

The Ivysaur materialized next to Ren, a confident look on her face as she leaned forward. Sabrina had a brief look of mild amusement on her face, and Ren remembered that Venus would have a type disadvantage… However, she had an attack in mind that she hoped would work.

"Psybeam, Kadabra."

"V-Vine Whip, Venus!"

Kadabra raised its spoon again and started to form another Psybeam. Before it could, though, Venus shot a vine out of the flower on her back and hit the spoon, knocking it out of Kadabra's hand. As the Psychic Pokémon's narrow eyes widened in shock, Venus shot some more vines out of her flower, striking Kadabra several times. It tumbled over, trying to get back up, but Venus hit it one more time and caused it to faint."

Sabrina closed her eyes, wordlessly recalling Kadabra. She then pulled a third Pokéball from her belt and released an Alakazam. It practically towered over Venus, and Ren gulped despite the defiant look on the Grass-Type's face.

Venus glared, and moments later, a flash surrounded her. As the glow died down, a Venusaur stood in her place, and she had an even more confident look on her face as she was on a more equal footing. Ren gasped, about to congratulate Venus, but then Sabrina spoke again.

"Psychic."

After the one-word command, Alakazam's eyes started to glow. Ren unconsciously took a step back, immediately nervous again, as she tried to come up with a counter quickly enough. Abruptly, she remembered her battle with Koga, and an attack came to mind.

"Venus, use Poison Powder!"

Nodding, Venus shot a fine, purple powder from her now-larger flower. As the spores reached Alakazam, the Psychic-Type suddenly started coughing and blinking, and its attack was halted. Its skin paled and then turned purple, and it slowly fell backwards. Ren held her breath, and she released it when Sabrina withdrew Alakazam.

"That is my last Pokémon… I predicted that you would do well, but I did not think you would win so quickly. You have earned a Marsh Badge."

The pale woman took a round badge off of the small table in the corner of the room and handed it to Ren. Smiling, Ren recalled Venus and put the badge in her pocket.

"Um, thanks."

"Oh, and…"

Trailing off, Sabrina closed her eyes and put her hand over Petro. A pale light surrounded him, and a moment later, be opened his eyes and jumped up. Blinking, Ren looked back and forth between Petro and Sabrina.

"But… If you can use psychic power to heal Pokémon… Then why didn't you have yours use Recover?"

Sabrina shrugged. "Obviously, your Pokémon has to be conscious to use any move, correct? Your Venusaur was too quick with Vine Whip and knocked out Kadabra before I could order it to use Recover… And even if Alakazam had used Recover, I couldn't have gotten rid of the poison."

"Oh. Well, uh, thanks anyway for healing Petro… I guess I should go now…"

Ren started to walk towards the glowing teleportation tile in the back of the room with Petro in tow. Before she could step on it, Sabrina stopped her.

"I can teleport you directly outside, if you wish."

"Th-That would be great! Thanks!"

With a nod, Sabrina closed her eyes, and a bright blue aura surrounded Ren and Petro. Ren started to feel numb and closed her eyes as well. When she reopened them, she blinked and saw that she was standing directly outside of the gym. Petro appeared next to her a few seconds later, grinning.

"Pika!" he cried, waving his arms excitedly.

Ren smiled at him, and started to take a few steps forward. Before she got very far, a vaguely familiar voice called out to her.

"Ren?"

Pausing, the blonde felt her eyes widen as she spotted Gino. He shrugged and ran his hand through his spiky brown hair, and then he smirked.

"Did you just lose at the gym or something? Is that why you're here?"

"N-no," Ren stammered defensively. "I just got a badge! Wh-Why are you here?"

Gino turned to the side, clearly trying to decide whether or not to tell her. A few seconds later, he sighed and turned back to her.

"Well… I don't know if you noticed that this place is cracking down on security. It's not because they're scared of anything… It's because they've been ordered to be uptight."

"Huh? What does that mean?" Ren asked.

"It means that they've got someone in charge that shouldn't be here. I heard about it from Uncle," Gino explained. "He knows some people here who are part of this big company called Silph that makes a lot of Pokémon products, and they said that lately their president has been working with some shady characters. I told him I'd check it out for him."

"But is it safe to go alone?"

"Probably not, but it'd be even less safe if you came along."

"Gi-Gino…" Ren's eyes watered, and Petro glared at the boy. "What if something happens? I want to go with you!"

"All right, all right," Gino caved in. "Just don't hurt yourself or anything, got it? Follow me."

Feeling a bit better, Ren tried to smile down at Petro again as she trailed after Gino. Even if it was risky, going to Silph Co. sounded a bit exciting as well… And she was glad that Gino was letting her go.