Chapter 16

A dark, foggy forest was already enough to put anyone's nerves up to the max during the day. But here they were, walking through the forest in the dead of night. And, of course, lost again. Knowing that Saffron City was just around the corner, Ash urged them to keep going, determined to get to his next Gym battle. But there wasn't even a path to follow, and they seemed to be walking around in circles. So much so, that Ash was starting to get angry, and he finally stopped and let out a frustrated growl.

"Saffron City is just around the corner! Go through the forest and it will make it quicker," he said in a mocking tone, raking his fingers through his dark locks. "I'm starting to think that journalist didn't know what he was talking about when he told us how to get to Saffron."

"Now now, Ash." Brock attempted to ease the Pokémon Trainer with both hands out. "Maybe we should stop for the night. We'll have better luck when this fog clears up and the sun's out."

"I don't want to stop for the night – I want to get to Saffron City and challenge the Gym!" Ash's snapping made Brock's tension raise as well, and the Pokémon Breeder snapped back.

"And I don't want to hear your whining. Bad enough we're lost, but-" A strange sound in the forest made his voice trail off, and they looked up to see a little girl wearing a beautiful silk dress and matching hat over her long hair. She was barely visible in both the dark and the fog, but she still looked out of place in the forest – almost like she was a doll come to life. Ash questioned whether he was seeing things or not, but they could hear her giggling and see her staring at them whilst bouncing a white rubber ball off the grass. The sight of the young girl caused all the tension to melt away, and Ash was the first to speak up.

"Uh, hello!" he called out in greeting. "Do you live around here?" Instead of answering, the girl bounced the ball into both of her hands, and grinned wider before spinning on her heel and running off into the darkness behind her. Her dress seemed to glow in the moonlight as it waved back and forth from her running, but eventually even that became hard to see. "H-hey! Please don't run away!" Not wanting to lose the girl, Ash took off after her. Unfortunately, she had already been swallowed by the black of the forest, and all he had to go on was her constant giggling that seemed to echo in the woods.

"Wait! We need directions!" Ash shouted, picking up speed in an attempt to try and catch up with her. "Wait u-uuuuupppp!" The trees cleared, and seconds later, so did the fog, but just seconds too late before Ash noticed the ground had stopped, and his shoes skidded to a halt just centimeters over the cliff's edge. He screamed and waved his arms in an attempt to catch his balance, but he was unsuccessful, and he topped over the side towards the sea of trees far, far below. Panic was overtook by adrenaline, and Ash's hand instantly went to his belt, whipping out a Poké Ball and throwing it up above. "Bulbasaur!" Lucky for him, the Grass Pokémon appeared at the top of the cliff where he had been just moments before, and its vines shot out from underneath its bulb and wrapped themselves around Ash's torso. The Pokémon Trainer stopped in midair thanks to the catch, and the black-haired boy let out a sigh of immediate relief.

"Ash! Are you okay?" Brock called, appearing beside Bulbasaur and looking down over the cliff.

"Yeah!" Ash answered, and Bulbasaur retracted the vines to hoist its Trainer back onto solid land. With his feet planted firmly on the ground once again, Ash ran his forearm along his forehead glimmering with sweat, and he let out another sigh. "Phew, that was close!" Looking around, he frowned. "I wonder where that little girl went..." But another vision brought a smile to his face, and he pointed ahead. "Well, beats me, but take a look over there!" Following Ash's pointed finger, Brock also smiled. In the distance, the huge city of Saffron was spread out just at the end of the forest. The lights from all the many-sized buildings glimmered in the darkness like stars on the night sky, just on the ground. "Saffron City!"

"Sabrina's the Gym Leader of the Saffron City Gym," Brock explained, recalling the information that Tim had told them from a couple of days ago. "You defeat her, you win a Marsh Badge."

"Yes!" Ash exclaimed, gripping his fist in excitement and peering out over the city again, this time in determination. "Look out Sabrina; here I come!"

o 0 o

Exhaustion was creeping up on them now that their destination was in sight, and as they passed under the gate of Saffron, a purple arc over the main paved street bearing the city's name, they seemed to sigh in relief. "Now this is what I call a city!" Ash said as they crossed the town line.

"Yeah," Brock agreed, looking up with marvel at the tall buildings that were even bigger than trees. The whole city was lit up with both lights from the buildings and various street lamps, to the point that the stars weren't visible up in the sky, but that wasn't necessary now. Their next stop was to a Pokémon Center, where they would have a small rest before heading out to the Gym in the morning. But like any forest they happened upon, this concrete jungle was no exception to them getting lost, and it was almost curfew time before they found their way into the Pokémon Center.

"Good evening! You're out late," Nurse Joy commented upon their arrival inside.

"For you, Nurse Joy, I would travel to the ends of the planet, day and night without rest, in order to see your face," Brock flirted smoothly, but Nurse Joy only smiled.

"That's nice. Would you like a room?" she dismissed, and Ash gave her their information while Brock sulked off to the side at the rejection.

o 0 o

The next morning, Ash woke up at the first sign of sun, as he was too excited for his upcoming Gym battle to sleep in, and they headed out immediately. The morning moisture still hung around, making the surrounding air almost heavier than normal. Mixed with the fog that had still yet to clear from the night before, it made for an almost creepy environment.

Aside from the fog, another thing that didn't help the situation was the lack of people despite the huge city. There were a few here and there starting their morning commute, but they were barely visible through the thick fog, and it was almost as if their minds were in a fog themselves, as when the newcomers to the city walked past them, they didn't even glance in their direction.

Trying to navigate through the massive labyrinth of a city, they eventually came upon a building unlike any other. It was circular in shape, but the roof looked like a parachute that was opened in the air. "What's that?" Ash questioned aloud, commenting on the strange shape of the building.

"You've come to Saffron City and you don't even know Sabrina's Gym?" a man wearing a green jogging suit puffed. He surprised Ash and Brock, since he had just come through the fog seemingly out of nowhere, but was also one of the first people to even acknowledge their existence. They turned to look at him, and he was jogging in place, but had his yellow hat pulled down over his eyes.

"So that's Sabrina's Gym!" Ash said with a smile.

"If you're trying to enter the Pokémon League, young man, this is one Gym I suggest you stay away from," the bearded man warned cryptically.

"Huh? But why?" the Pokémon Trainer asked, but when he turned back to look at the man, he was jogging away from them. "Where's he going?" The two Trainers stared as the man was swallowed up by the fog, but only sat in silence for a moment or two before they both turned around to look at the glass doors leading into the Gym. "I've got to compete here. Without a Marsh Badge, I can't get into the Pokémon League," he decided, and together, the pair headed inside.

"Anyone here?" Ash cried as the doors shut behind him electronically. His voice echoed down the hall, but otherwise it was empty. The foyer was a long hallway that curled out of sight to the left and the right around the building, and another hallway that led forward. The floor was polished marble of purple and teal, and the walls were the color of the city it resided in. "That's weird. Everyone's gone." Frowning, Ash and Brock walked down the hallway straight ahead, their footsteps bouncing off the empty walls. "Hello!" They walked along for a few moments, and finally saw a door to their right. The door had a window looking inside, so Ash and Brock approached it and peered through the glass. What they saw made them reel in confusion.

The room was large, and there were many different circular tables laid out in the room, and many people all wearing white lab coats were sitting at them in groups of two or more. Some were just plainly staring at spoons but with faces that looked as though they had a stomach cramp, while others were playing with tarot cards. One girl in particular let out a sigh, and Ash could have sworn he saw the spoon in her hand bend just a tad. "What kind of place is this?"

"What are you kids doing here?" a man with a thick Russian accent asked, approaching them from their left. He also wore a lab coat like the people inside the room before them, but his voice was muffled by the mask he wore over his mouth and nose.

"We've come to ask for a Pokémon match, to earn a Marsh Badge," Ash answered. The man seemed to snicker, but his eyes gave no hint to finding this generally funny.

"You vant to challenge 'ze great Sabrina?"

"Sure do."

Once again, the man let out a chuckle and closed his eyes. "You know so little, yet you wish to challenge 'ze great Sabrina?" Ash and Brock both furrowed their brows when the man fished a spoon out of his pocket and held it up for them to see. His face seemed to tense up as he stared at the silverware with intense concentration. He was concentrating so hard that his face soon turned pink, then red as time went on. Ash and Brock stared breathlessly as the only sound that filled the hallway was the grunts of the long-haired man, and finally, he let out a loud push, and the spoon in his hand tilted slightly. Sweat pouring from underneath his auburn hair that hung down over his face, he breathed heavily through his mask.

"Is something wrong?" Ash asked, oblivious to what just happened. "You look like you've got a headache."

"Fool. It's telekinesis," the man said in between breaths, and held up the slightly bent spoon for Ash to see. "You can't control a Psychic-type Pokémon without using telekinetic powers." Despite this, Ash smiled and stepped forward.

"That's what you think," he stated, and pulled the spoon out of the man's hand. "Telekinesis is okay, but I have my own secret method to bending spoons." Putting both ends of the spoon in each hand, he grunted in a show of strength before the silver spoon bent from the pressure. Holding the v-shaped spoon out, Ash let out a laugh. "Muscle over mind!"

"I'm just gonna pretend... I've never met him before..." Brock muttered, his face turning red from embarrassment as he turned his head and crossed his arms. The man also seemed annoyed with Ash's antics, but the Pallet Town native spoke up again, discarding the spoon and looking at him with a clenched fist.

"Now, hurry up and take us to Sabrina so we can start the match," he demanded. The man's eyes narrowed as he sneered beneath his medical mask.

"As you wish." He led them from the direction he had come from, and the hallway didn't last very long before ending at a pair of heavy-looking double doors with Poké Ball symbols decorating them. Clutching the handles, he pulled both of them open. "Here we are," he said, and stepped aside for both boys to see. The inside of this room was the arena, but it was very dimly lit. Rows of purple columns held up the roof, and the only source of light was from the pair of torches burning on the other side of the arena, where a raised platform held a small staircase down to the actual arena. There was a bamboo curtain hanging down between the two torches, shielding whatever held behind it from view.

"This is more like some kind of temple than a Pokémon Gym," Brock commented nervously as the man walked across the battle arena. Arriving just in front of the staircase, he bent down on one knee and bowed his head.

"O' great Sabrina," he stated as if praying to a god. "These strangers have come who wish to challenge you." He threw an unseen smirk over his shoulder at the pair. "Though I don't know why you'd waste your time on this group of losers." He laughed, and when he did, a light shone inside the bamboo curtain. There was a dark throne behind it, and the figure they saw inside made both Ash and Brock gasp in surprise. Sitting in the seat was the girl with the white dress, but in her hands was not the rubber ball from the night before, but a red and white Poké Ball.

"It's the little girl from the forest!" Ash pointed out. As he said this, the little girl raised her head, and her eyes seemed to be glowing bright red as she peered down at the man who bowed before her. Suddenly, a mysterious blue aura surrounded his body, and he soon started to quiver in pain and sounding as though he was struggling to breath.

"Forgive me, great one!" he begged, clawing at his bare throat as if something invisible was holding it. "It's not my place to decide whom you battle!" The glow around the man faded, and as soon as it did, he let out a scream and scrambled out of the arena, bolting past Ash and Brock without even giving them a second glance.

"Who is she?" Brock exclaimed.

"Are you really Sabrina?" Ash questioned. The girl didn't answer, but instead giggled as she had in the forest the night before. "Sabrina, I demand an official match to compete for a Marsh Badge!"

For the first time since they had met her, the little girl in the sun hat nodded. "I'd like to have a match!" she replied.

"Well, that was easy," the black-haired boy smiled back at Brock, giving him a thumbs up.

"But if you lose," she continued in a sing-song voice, and Ash dragged his attention back to her again. "You have to be my friends and let me play with you."

"Ah, be your friends?" The request threw Ash off, but nevertheless, he smiled and gave her a victory sign with his fingers. "Okay! You bet!" And he once again turned back to Brock and shrugged. "You got to have a little more faith in me. Even if she does have some telekinetic powers, she's still only a little girl."

"Ah, just don't let your guard down, Ash," Brock stuttered, pointing past Ash at the bamboo curtain that began to rise on its own. With the curtain now raised, the chair was now fully lit from the fires on either side of it, and it revealed that the little girl was actually sitting on the lap of another young woman that looked to be in her late teens. She looked at them with a blank but chilling expression.

"So now... time for us to play," the young woman spoke up in a light monotone voice. Ash and Brock both gasped, but then their hearts leaped into their chests when the double-doors behind them slammed shut and locked.

Slowly turning back to the throne at the back of the arena, it all clicked together in Ash's head. "So you're really Sabrina, the Gym Leader." The dark green haired woman didn't respond, and instead wrapped her arms around the little girl in her lap and floated out of the chair. Ash could barely believe his eyes as she floated through the air and past the stairs before landing gracefully on the Gym Leader's side of the arena. As she did, the lights from the stadium turned on, giving light to the room at last.

"One on one; an all-out match. Agreed?"

"Agreed!"

The little girl opened her arms, and the Poké Ball she held floated into the air in front of Sabrina's face. "Come out, Abra." The ball then chucked itself onto the floor, and the sound of the metal hitting it echoed before it opened in the center. From the light that came out, a small tan Pokémon with closed eyes appeared sitting on the ground and didn't make a sound.

With Sabrina's Pokémon chosen, Ash pulled out his own Poké Ball and threw it forward. "Go get 'em, Wartortle!" he declared. Like Sabrina's, the Poké Ball clattered on the ground and opened, releasing his Water-type from inside.

"Wartortle!" his Pokémon announced, and it stuck one knee out and rested its hand on it, leaning forward to taunt the Psychic Pokémon. "Wartortle war!" But Abra didn't respond, or even react in the slightest, and Wartortle's arms drooped slightly. "War?"

"Abra..." Sabrina's Pokémon muttered in a droning tone, and Wartortle raised one of its brows. A whistling sound came from Abra's nose as it breathed in and out slowly, and the Turtle Pokémon looked at Abra and skipped around it, studying it from a couple different angles before turning back to its Trainer.

"Wartor-war, Wartortle!" it told him, pointing at the Gym Leader's Pokémon, and Ash understood at once: the whistling noise that was coming from Abra was snoring!

"I don't get it! Nobody sends a sleeping Pokémon into a match! Maybe she's making fun of me!" Ash frowned and whipped out his Pokédex to scan the Pokémon.

"Abra, a Psychic power Pokémon. It sleeps eighteen hours a day, but employs telekinesis even while sleeping."

"Telekinesis?" the black-haired boy repeated, but quickly replaced his hesitation with a smirk and put away the red machine. "No problem. Wartortle, BubbleBeam!"

"War!" his Pokémon complied, jumping backwards to make room between it and Abra, and took in a deep breath before releasing a barrage of clear bubbles from its mouth at Abra. But as this was happening, Sabrina's blue eyes suddenly began to glow red, and soon, Abra opened its eyes and they were also glowing the same color. As the bubbles shot at Abra, its body began to glow white, and it disappeared from where it was sitting in a blink of an eye. Wartortle let out a gasp as the Water attack hit the ground harmlessly, and its head swiveled back and forth to try and find where Abra had disappeared to. A flash of light appeared at its rear, and Abra materialized, now standing up with its arms raised. The sudden form of Abra appearing behind it shocked Wartortle, and the Water Pokémon let out a loud cry before jumping back.

"Childish fools..." Sabrina mumbled, and a light blue aura glittered around her body as she narrowed her eyes. The same aura appeared around Abra, and soon its body began to glow white once again. But this time, it didn't disappear. The white glow expanded outward before condensing once again, and when it faded, a new Pokémon stood in Abra's place. It held a spoon in its three-fingered hand, and had grown a long mustache on its snout, as well as sprouted a large tail behind it to hold it up.

"Kadabra!" it declared, its voice echoing in the stadium. Wartortle flinched back, and Ash whipped out his Pokédex again in response.

"What's that?"

"Kadabra. A Psychic Pokémon. The evolved form of Abra. Employs powerful telekinetic attacks."

"That isn't fair!" Ash declared. "I thought this was one-on-one!"

"Evolving during a match isn't against any rules," Brock replied, and Ash growled as he looked back out onto the battlefield.

"This time, you won't get away from Wartortle! It's against the rules to leave a stadium, even by teleportation! Wartortle, fill up this whole stadium with water! Hit 'em with your best shot!" The Turtle Pokémon reacted quickly, pulling in a deep breath before releasing a flurry of powerful Water Gun attacks at Kadabra. It fired them quickly, and soon five blasts of water were coming in at Kadabra like water missiles. Kadabra didn't seem worried at all, however, and it simply looked at the oncoming attacks blankly, but soon its eyes began to glow red.

"Kadabra!"

"Now what?!"

"Confusion!" Sabrina commanded. As the attack soared at Kadabra, it raised its free hand, and the water all condensed and spun around Kadabra as though it had hit an invisible tornado around the Psi Pokémon's body, and it spun around a bit before Kadabra pointed its finger at Wartortle. The attack formed into a water dragon that slithered at Wartortle. The Turtle Pokémon quickly spun on its feet and ran away to try and avoid the attack, but it was too slow for the telekinetic-controlled attack, and the dragon's maw opened and chomped down on Wartortle. The water combined with the psychic attack caused a reaction, and a shock wave rocked the stadium. Seconds later, Wartortle came bouncing out of the dust that was kicked up and landed on its stomach in front of Sabrina.

"Wartortle!" Ash cried.

"Psychic attack..." Sabrina ordered quietly, and her irises began to glow once again. Kadabra approached Wartortle calmly as the Water-type struggled to stand, and its eyes glittered red for just a moment before a blue aura surrounded Wartortle's body. Wartortle lifted into the air and strangely enough, back onto its feet.

"That's right, Wartortle! Don't give up!" Ash said with relief, a small smile crossing his face. Wartortle spun around, and though its face looked exhausted, it began to wave its arms back and forth and dance from one leg to another. "Look at that! Wartortle feels like dancing!"

"That's no dance, Ash," Brock warned. "Kadabra is using its psychic powers to control Wartortle's body!" The Pokémon Trainer gasped, and turned back onto the battlefield just in time to see Kadabra's eyes flash red once again, and it nodded up to the ceiling. Suddenly, Wartortle was launched straight up into the air, and only stopped when the back of its shell slammed into the ceiling.

"Wartortle!" Ash yelled in horror, and Kadabra lowered its head back down, and when it did, Wartortle plummeted to the ground and crashed against it. But Kadabra wasn't done, and it continued to nod its head up and down, and each time, Wartortle went crashing into the ceiling and floor, respectfully. "Oh, Wartortle!" Finally, when his Starter Pokémon crashed into the floor one last time, Ash grimaced and closed his eyes, unable to watch his Pokémon suffer any more. "That's it! Stop the match!" he exclaimed, and rushed out onto the arena. Kadabra eyed him with its beady eyes as the black-haired boy rushed past him. With its concentration broken, Wartortle fell onto the floor with a thump, and Ash cradled the Pokémon in his arms. "Wartortle, are you all right?"

"Tor..." his Pokémon moaned weakly.

"I... I forfeit," Ash told the Gym Leader hesitantly, looking up at the two girls. The much smaller girl in her cradled grasp smiled behind the Poké Ball she held.

"Be my friend," the girl in the sundress spoke up. "You promised I could play with you." Suddenly, the girl raised her head, and her eyes began to glow red beneath the shadow from the brim of her hat. A strange sensation tingled up and down Ash's skin, and a blue aura shimmered around both him and Brock. The whole world went white for a brief moment, and then in a blink of an eye, they were somewhere completely different, and crash-landed on the ground on their backside. Still cradling the injured Pokémon in his arms, Ash looked around at the unfamiliar surrounding.

"Now where are we?" he questioned aloud, and the pair stood up.

"It looks like we've been teleported," Brock stated as they looked around at their surroundings. It wasn't familiar to them, but it looked like they had been brought to a residential area, as two and one story homes surrounded them on either side of the paved street. But unlike how Saffron had been this morning, it was completely void of any kind of life that they could see. "This place is empty."

"I'll take a look around!" Ash announced, putting his Wartortle back on the ground and rushing ahead towards the closest house. Brock and Wartortle hurried after him as he approached the door, and knocked. At first, he got no response, and when he knocked a few more times, he tried the doorknob. The doorknob was surprisingly plastic, and not locked at all, so he walked inside. "Is anybody home?" Again, he got no answer in the well-put room, and the house smelled like wood and stale paint. "Please, can somebody help us?"

His eyes scanned the one room of the house, and eventually fell to a table that was set up with food in the corner. The sight of it brought a smile to his face. "Hey!" Him and Brock approached it, and it looked as though they were just setting up for a tea party.

"That cake looks delicious!" Brock commented, and Ash took in a deep breath to see if he could get a hint of the aroma of it, but strangely, all he could smell was plastic.

"Sabrina wanted to play with us, but I guess we're gonna have lunch first." While Brock stayed at the table, Ash and Wartortle walked to the door in the back of the house. "I wonder where she is." Walking in through the door, he pushed it open and walked inside what looked like a bathroom. "Hm, now what's in here?" Suddenly, he let out a gasp as he saw a woman with her back towards him sitting in a bathtub filled with bubbles and water. Shock made him flinch back, and he slapped his hand over his eyes and turned away as a blush crept up his face. "Wah! I'm really sorry! I really didn't think that anybody was home! I just-" He went to stumble away, but a tug at his pantleg made him look down.

Wartortle was at his feet, the Water Pokémon stopping him from going any further, and it pointed into the bathroom with a worried look on its face. "Wartor, Wartortle." Ash's eyebrows furrowed and he looked at the mirror, which was reflecting the face of the woman inside. But much to his surprise, the woman wasn't a woman at all, but instead, a life-size doll.

"Something's not right here..." Ash murmured as the doll turned in the water, and his suspicions were confirmed. "That thing is a doll!"

"Ash!" Brock exclaimed, coming through from the living room. "This is gonna sound strange, but I think we're inside a dollhouse."

"This is a dollhouse?!" the black-haired boy cried in shock.

"Everything in here is made out of plastic, including the food!"

"How can that be?" Suddenly, the whole house began to shake as though an earthquake was happening throughout the plastic town, and both Ash and Brock both whipped their heads around, not knowing what to expect. The roof soon began to move, and was peeled off as a familiar giggling filled their eardrums. Letting out a loud gasp, they stared up at the little girl in the sundress, who looked down at them with her head tilted. She was being held by Sabrina, who was staring down at them with a stone-cold face.

"Now I can play with you all," the little girl said.

"Wow, she's pretty tall for a little girl," Ash commented.

"I think we're the ones who got smaller!" Brock corrected as the little girl began to cackle menacingly. Behind her, the Gym Leader unclutched one of her hands from around the little girl and reached out to grab them.

"Run for it!" Ash screamed, and him, Brock and Wartortle booked it as Sabrina's giant hand came crashing down where they stood moments before. Barreling out of the front door of the dollhouse, they took off down the road, going the way they came, but they realized that it was overall useless.

"How can we get away from her?!" the Pokémon Breeder yelled as he ran beside Ash.

"These are all her toys! That means we're trapped! She-" the boy deduced.

"Must have shrunk us with telekinesis!" Brock finished for him, both of them getting to the same conclusion.

"So when she said she wanted to play with us, she really meant it!" They ran until sweat was pouring down the sides of their faces, but still, the little girl's cackling of delight seemed to follow them wherever they went. Finally, they reached a dead-end, and couldn't run any further as the street was blocked off by a giant photograph. Though it was probably only giant to them because they were so small, the photo depicted a man and a woman laughing and cradling a little girl in a sundress, the same little girl that Sabrina held in her arms.

"It's a dead end!" Brock exclaimed, and a loud crashing came from behind them and shook the fake ground beneath their feet.

"What's that?!" The three turned around, and saw the little girl walking down the street of the toy box, a giant among the houses and trees around her. The crashing was coming from the white bouncy ball she was dribbling beside her with each step.

"Uh oh..."

"We're gonna have a ball..."

The little girl stopped some distance away from them and bounced her ball off the pavement a few times before finally catching it and holding it with both hands. "I wanna play catch!" she said slowly, and threw the ball forward at them. The rubber ball hit the floor and started to roll toward them, picking up speed and towering over them as it got closer. It looked like a white, rolling boulder.

"We're gonna get squashed!" Ash screamed, and Brock let out a moan of helpless horror. Just when it seemed like the end, a flash of white light appeared in front of them, and materialized into the bearded man who had warned them about going into the Gym in the first place. He stood in front of them protectively, and faced the ball.

"Listen! Let your minds rely on mine!" he instructed, and though they couldn't see, his eyes flashed red. "Teleportation..." he chanted, and similarly to how they got in the toy box in the first place, Ash's vision went white and a tingling sensation ran its fingers up and down his body. Seconds later, he rematerialized, and crashed onto the ground once again. This time, his backside met hard pavement, and he looked around to see that Brock and Wartortle were also beside him as well, and saw the Pokémon Breeder had a look of relief on his face.

"This is a real place," he said, pointing out the skyscrapers and taller buildings around them. "We made it!" Looking ahead, they saw the man in the green jogging suit standing ahead of them with his yellow cap casting a shadow over his eyes.

"Thanks for the help," Ash thanked as they all collected themselves and stood up. Instead of replying politely, the man ignored Ash's thanks.

"Sabrina is a dangerous Pokémon Trainer," he stated. "I got the chance to help you this time, but next time you won't be so lucky; you'll all be trapped in her toy box for eternity." Ash and Brock gasped at the man's attitude, and he continued. "Give up your crazy idea of challenging Sabrina. Leave Saffron City and never come back here."

"I can't do that!" Ash argued. "I have to win Sabrina's Marsh Badge so I'll be able to get into the Pokémon League!"

"You will never be able to defeat Sabrina and her Psychic Pokémon."

"Yes, I will!" the Pokémon Trainer snapped stubbornly, taking a step forward. "We just need to make a quicker attack before she can kick in with her psychic powers!" The man frowned further, showing off the wrinkles in his face and his blue eyes began to glow red. Ash felt a strange sensation all over his body, and before he knew it, his pants fell to his knees. He let out a yell of horror, and soon his body began to move on its own. It was a strange sensation having his body move without his brain telling it to, and he realized he was dancing much like how Wartortle was in its Gym Battle against Kadabra.

"Ash, what do you think you're doing?!" Brock cried.

"It's not me! My body's moving by itself!" Ash told him, and the old man laughed.

"If you can't beat me, you haven't a chance against Sabrina," he scoffed, and the glow in his irises faded. Feeling the strange sensation lift away, Ash quickly picked his pants up from around his ankles and fastened his belt over his white boxers as fast as he could.

"What do you mean? Can you use telekinesis, too?" Without waiting for a response, Ash ran forward. "Please! Teach me how to use psychic powers!" The man's face didn't change, but he raised his hand and pointed his finger at Ash. A strange orange bubble flashed at the tip, and Ash was suddenly thrown backwards lightly. He let out a cry and groaned as the seat of his pants scraped against the concrete.

"Woah!" Brock exclaimed, unable to believe his eyes.

"You usually have to be born with telekinetic powers. You can't just learn them," the bearded man told Ash, and turned his back on the group to walk away.

"Please, wait!" the Pokémon Trainer protested. Shaking in pain, the boy picked himself up and hobbled towards the psychic man.

"Just forget about it, Ash," Brock warned him, but Ash ignored him and continued forward.

"I may not have telekinesis," he began, "but I've still got the guts to take on Sabrina again..." The older man didn't response, and his eyes simply flashed red. Once again, Ash was thrown backwards, but this time higher into the air and with more force. The boy let out a loud cry as he landed on his stomach, and the air was forced out of his lungs.

"Wise up, kid," the man said, no longer finding Ash amusing. "Not even I have the powers to defeat Sabrina. Guts don't count in this contest; I'm telling you this for your own good." But despite the man's words, Ash peeled himself off the floor weakly, his whole body aching, and slowly hobbled towards the man once again.

"Better call it quits, Ash!" Brock once again warned, and like before, his words fell upon deaf ears. The old man turned around completely this time, and his eyes flashed red once again. This time, it felt as though gravity had intensified all around Ash, and the boy let out a groan as he struggled to stay upright, but soon he was forced onto his knees, and then onto his hands, trying to use them for support as the man with the psychic powers attempted to squash him like a pancake against the road. Using all of his strength, both physical and mental, Ash fought against it and crawled forward. The fact that he took one step made the man reel back in surprise, but the pressure didn't let up at all.

"Ash! Give it up!" Brock exclaimed.

"Wartor!" his Pokémon cried, worried about its Trainer. But Ash persisted.

"Please! I need... your help..." he begged with each push forward. "I've got to defeat Sabrina for the Marsh Badge... I have to!" The man looked down at Ash, studying him as he crawled closer and closer to him. "You've got to help me beat her. Please, show me how..." Finally, he gave up under the weight of it all, and fell forward onto the ground, but not before reaching his hand out, and clutching the man's running shoes in his gloved hands.

"Well, that's one determined kid," the man said, and though it wasn't seen by Ash, a smile grew on his face. Instantly, Ash could feel gravity right itself all around him, and he let out a sigh, drawing in a deep breath now that his lungs weren't being forced into his rib cage. "There just may be one way you can defeat her." The words made Ash look up at him in surprise. "Only one other type of Pokémon can battle the Psychic-type. If you capture a Ghost Pokémon from Lavender Town, you might have a chance."

"A Ghost Pokémon... from Lavender Town..." Ash murmured, and a smile drew across his tired and weakened face. "Thank you..." The man scoffed instead of saying anything, and Ash couldn't hold his head up any longer. Exhaustion took over and he closed his eyes, and a bright white flash of light glimmered in front of him before the shoe in his grip dematerialized. With the man gone, Brock and Wartortle rushed up to their fallen friend.

"Ash! Hey, Ash!" he cried, running up to help him up. "Are you okay?" But the older boy's words were left unanswered as Ash's mouth drew up into a grin as the man's words echoed in his head.

"Let's go! On to Lavender Town!"

-end-

Ash:

Party:

Wartortle (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Dig, Water Gun, BubbleBeam

Pidgey (Poké Ball)

Moves: Gust, Sand-Attack, Whirlwind, Wing Attack

Bulbasaur (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Vine Whip

Charmander (Poké Ball)

Moves: Flamethrower

Krabby (Poké Ball)

Moves: ViceGrip

Badges:

Boulder Badge

Cascade Badge

Thunder Badge

Brock:

Party:

Onix (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Bind, Dig

Geodude (Poké Ball)

Moves: Seismic Toss, Tackle

Zubat (Poké Ball)

Moves: Whirlwind, Supersonic