Psychic Showdown
"Oh no, we forgot Janine!" Chloe loudly exclaimed, her eyes widened from shock as she couldn't believe that they'd forgotten about their friend! "She left to get help and never came back!"
Brock tensed up for a brief moment before flashing his friend a reassuring look. "No need to freak out, Janine can take care of herself and we saw her leave in one piece. Chances are she arrived too late and was dragged home by Koga." He tried reasoning.
Ash's eyes darted between the two. He knew Brock had a point and that Janine could certainly handle herself but perhaps it'd be best to check in with the Saffron Gym Leader and see if Janine made it there or not, hopefully putting an end to their worries while also granting him his next Gym battle! "Well there's only one way to find out, let's-"
"I wanna be the very best!" Ash was interrupted by his Rotom Phone's ring and he hastily answered it, figuring it may be an emergency as Delia and Professor Oak often waited for him to call them and didn't often call especially this early in the day as he was usually traveling.
"Professor is everything ok-"
"Ash, have you seen Gary lately? He hasn't captured a Pokemon in quite a few days nor even called to check in with me, this is quite unlike him!" Professor Oak's voice was more anxious than usual and filled with worry and that was perfectly understandable as Gary was the only family he had left, well the only family within the region. Ash did hear about a relative that lived on a tropical island somewhere on the opposite end of the globe.
"No Professor, I'm sorry to say that I haven't. We last spoke in Fuchsia City and I haven't seen him since."
"That's quite worrying, I've gathered that he was last seen entering the Saffron City Gym a few days ago but I haven't gotten any reported sightings after that." Ash, Brock and Chloe all gave each other a look, that couldn't be a coincidence. First Janine disappeared going into the Gym and now Gary?!
"Something's definitely going on in there..." Chloe glanced down the road with a nerved expression before lightly tilting her head as she saw what appeared to be Gary's cheerleaders just sitting outside waiting for him, possibly since he went inside as a few of them looked dirty.
"Well if it helps ease your mind we can check in with the Gym Leader, we were about to head there anyways as our other friend disa-" Ash stopped talking as Chloe hastily waved her hands for him to shut up. No point in worrying him that something happened to Gary! "To challenge the Gym!" He quickly covered it up.
"Well call me if you hear anything, I anxiously await your call. I'll leave you to it," Professor Oak hung up and Ash immediately bolted for the Gym!
"Janine's one thing but if something happened to Gary..." His fists clenched at the thought. Gary and him were friends since they were in diapers and though their friendship had been strained lately mostly on fault of Gary, Ash still valued their friendship and didn't want to lose him!
"I'm sure Gary's fine, if the Gym Leader was straight up murdering challengers somebody would have found out by now." Chloe tried easing his worries as she raced after him.
The three bolted through the front doors of the Gym, Pikachu, Eevee and Croagunk stood ready to attack. Pikachu's cheeks sparked while Eevee stretched herself out, preparing to blast the Gym Leader with Sappy Seed if it came to it while Croagunk stood defensively in front of Brock with Poison Jab active!
"Hello?! We've come to check in on our friends!" Ash called out upon finding the Gym seemingly empty as neither people nor Pokemon were present. Brock and Chloe glanced around with nerved expressions, the lights being off certainly wasn't doing any favors to the creep factor!
"I don't think she's-Aaah!" Chloe let out a scream and clung to Ash's arm as a nearby door silently creaked open and to make matters worse nobody appeared to be there!
"W-What?" Brock couldn't help but shake from the sight.
Ash was feeling rather nerved himself but with Gary and Janine potentially in danger, he wasn't going to stand by and do nothing! He bolted right into the room and shot a quick look around before discovering the unconscious bodies of Leaf, Samurai, Gary, Janine and countless other trainers! "What the-"
"Ash!" Leaf's voice cried out from behind.
"Ketchum get out of here before the witch gets you too!" Samurai shouted.
"Ash get out of here, it's Sabrina she's gone insane!" Gary warned.
"My dad's going to be so embarrassed when he finds out I've become an action figure... I'll never be a master ninja now!"
"Action figure?!" Ash quickly turned around and discovered a small doll house with what appeared to be miniature versions of his friends leaping up and frantically waving their arms at him. "Guys what's-"
"Aaah!"
"Ash!" Brock and Chloe screamed out causing Ash to race back out only to discover that his friends met a similar fate and now laid in the hands of Sabrina! Eevee and Croagunk could be seen laying in a defeated heap to the side as an Alakazam levitated through the air beside his trainer.
"Ala!"
"New friends, this is perfect!" Sabrina spoke with a possessive look as Brock and Chloe struggled to break free of her grasp.
"Let go of my friends!"
"Pika pi!" Ash took an offensive position, his fists clenched as he gritted his teeth. Pikachu angrily flicked his tail as electricity sparked from his cheeks.
"Your friends? Oh no they're my friends now, I'll never be lonely again now that I've got all these friends!" A possessive glint appeared in Sabrina's eyes as she began looking him over. "Perhaps you could be my friend too..."
"Friends?! That's not how you make friends!"
"Pi Pikachu pika!"
"Friendships are created through the bonds you form with others, rather that be through Pokemon battles or some other means! I'd consider being your friend if you weren't holding mine and countless others hostage, now release my friends!"
"Heh, cute but there's no way I'll release my friends!" Sabrina cackled. Pikachu tilted his head as a shadowy aura appeared to be forming around Sabrina.
"Pika?"
"Then I guess we don't have a choice but to fight this out..." Ash growled out as he instinctively reached for Charizard's Pokeball.
"Oh by all means try! If you can manage to beat my three strongest Pokemon then I'll consider releasing your friends." Sabrina smirked as a Pokeball levitated off her belt and flew towards the battlefield.
"Jynx!" The purple humanoid Pokemon appeared on the field.
"Charizard I choose you, now let's show Sabrina the true power of friendship with Mega Evolve!"
Charizard let out a loud roar as he burst out in front of Ash, the pink glow quickly surrounded his body as he began morphing into Mega Charizard Y! The sun began shining brightly within the Gym causing Sabrina to grasp at her forehead and grunt as the shadowy aura began shrinking.
"Pika...?" Pikachu tilted his head once more.
Ash normally wouldn't do such a thing as he liked keeping things fair for both his opponent and other Pokemon but with his friends on the line, Ash wasn't going to take any risks! "Flamethrower!"
"Char!" Mega Charizard Y blasted Jynx with the powerful stream of fire and the humanoid didn't stand a chance as she immediately dropped to the floor, swirls appearing in her eyes as a groan escaped her lips.
"I-Impossible!" Sabrina gasped out, a look of surprise crossed her before a growl emitted from her throat. "Well I've still got two Pokemon left, Espeon let's go!"
"Espeon!" Ash tensed up as the Psychic Eeveelution burst out, images of Red and his Espeon flickered through his mind as he found himself locked in place.
"Dad..."
"Heh." Sabrina smirked. Espeon's eyes began glowing brightly as she prepared to unleash a Psychic attack. Charizard gave his trainer a look of concern, he didn't understand what was going on but he could sense that Espeon triggered some memories. Charizard grunted out and turned his gaze back towards Espeon, normally he wouldn't do such a thing as it was rather disobedient but he didn't want his trainer to end up as Sabrina's prisoner! Mega Charizard Y's tail flame heavily ignited as he unleashed another Flamethrower, blasting Espeon who attempted to halt it with her Psychic attack only to fail as the attack broke and she found herself bathed in flames!
"Espe!" Espeon dropped to her side as swirls formed within her eyes. Sabrina's fists clenched and a rather demonic growl escaped her lips causing Charizard and Pikachu to raise their eyebrows while Ash began coming back down to earth upon Espeon disappearing back into her Pokeball.
"Hm? Good work Charizard!"
"Char!" Charizard gave his trainer a thumbs up.
Sabrina held onto her forehead once more as the bright sunlight continued having some strange effect on her. Ash couldn't help but give a look of concern while attempting to get an understanding of what was happening.
"Ala?" Alakazam levitated closer to his trainer as concern filled his gaze.
"Go!" Sabrina growled out while pointing towards the battlefield.
Alakazam cast her a look before levitating towards the battlefield as Sabrina silently pulled up her sleeve to reveal a Mega Ring! Upon activating it a bright pink light enveloped Alakazam's body, the Pokemon didn't look much different physically other than the long white beard that hung from his chin.
"Ala!"
"Alright Charizard let's continue taking advantage of your ability, use Flamethrower!"
"Char!" Charizard opened his mouth as he prepared to unleash another Flamethrower. Alakazam's eyes began glowing a bright blue before a similar blue glow surrounded the flame, halting it in place before redirecting it towards Charizard!
"Char!" Charizard grunted out as the flames struck his body alongside the telekinetic energy!
"What?!"
"Pika?!" Ash and Pikachu gasped from shock as Alakazam attacked without Sabrina having to issue a single command!
"One good thing about being lonely is that I spend years perfecting my own telekinetic powers, now I can issue an attack without a word! Leaving you guessing as to what attack is coming!" Sabrina cackled while flashing him a smirk.
True enough a ball of sparking telekinetic energy began forming between Alakazam's hands before flying up into the air, disappearing from sight and leaving a mystery as to what just occurred. It wasn't like Ash regularly dealt with Psychic Pokemon!
"Dragon Claw!"
"Char!" Charizard's claws glowed a bright blue-green as he slashed out at Alakazam, knocking the Mega Psychic type back!
Alakazam shook itself off before flashing his opponent a smirk, large crescent shaped blades of telekinetic energy formed within his hands as he shot forward. Alakazam rapidly slashed at Charizard, knocking him back as the lizard grunted from pain. Charizard shook as the attack ceased but right as Ash was about to order another attack, the mysterious sparking orb reappeared and came crashing down on top of Charizard before exploding!
"Charizard!"
"Pika!" Ash and Pikachu called out from concern for their friend, a bright pink light shined through the smoke indicating that he'd been defeated!
"You did great Charizard, return!" Ash returned Charizard to his Pokeball before turning his gaze towards Pikachu. "Pikachu I choose you!"
"Pika!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked as he leaped out onto the field. "Use Volt Tackle!" Ash was sure Alakazam would just redirect Thunderbolt or Splishy Splash, Volt Tackle was much faster than those attacks and packed a greater punch than Thunderbolt! It'd be much more difficult for Alakazam to reflect or even stop the attack or at least that's what Ash hoped!
"Pika pika pika!" Golden electricity enveloped Pikachu's body as he raced across the field, Alakazam's eyes glowed blue as he attempted to halt the attack only for Pikachu to break right on through, smacking the Psychic Pokemon right in the face with the attack!
"Ala!" Alakazam flew across the battlefield before landing on his back.
"What?! No!" Sabrina demonically snarled out before she held onto her head as she cast her Pokemon a look of concern. "Alakazam...?"
"Ala..." Alakazam stood back onto his feet, giving his trainer a brief glance before eyeing his opponent once more. "Ala!" The telekinetic blades reappeared in his hands as he raced forward before slashing Pikachu!
"Chaaaa!" Pikachu cried out as he collapsed onto his side!
"Pikachu!" Ash raced out to check on his buddy but Pikachu was quick to recover, shooting back onto his feet as blue electricity sparked from his cheeks.
"Pika!" Pikachu growled as his own eyes glowed bright blue!
"That's new!" Ash's eyes widened. Whatever Pikachu was doing reminded him of when he first saw Splishy Splash in action!
"Pika pika..." A bright blue vortex of swirling telekinetic energy and electricity formed around Pikachu as he levitated in the center of it, his gaze locked onto Alakazam and Sabrina as they found themselves locked in place from shock!
"What the f-" Sabrina held onto her head. "Ugh... what is he doing? I-I've never heard of anything like that!"
"Ala!"
"Pika!" Pikachu whipped his tail and the swirling vortex of electricity raced across the field, sucking in both Alakazam and Sabrina before hurling them throughout the vortex! The two let out cries as they were blasted with electricity and Ash couldn't help but tense up, hoping that Sabrina would be okay despite all that happened. However to his surprise a third voice could be heard.
"Gah!" What appeared to be the same blob that possessed Pidgeot flew out of Sabrina's hair and splattered onto the battlefield. "Sorry master, I failed-Aaaaah! Aaaah! It burns, the light burns!" Without it's host it didn't last long in the sunlight as it quickly turned to sludge!
"Aaah!" Sabrina screamed as she was flung from the vortex, landing directly on top of Alakazam as he flew out before her. Alakazam's eyes were a swirly mess as he laid beneath her, breaking her fall as Sabrina held onto her head. "Ow ow ow..." Her gaze then turned towards the action figure versions of Brock and Chloe who could be seen safely cheering for their friend on the sideline. Guilt filled Sabrina's gaze as she realized the error of her actions, she couldn't explain what happened but it was as if some mystical force blinded her of her moral compass! She wanted friends but definitely went the wrong way about it and thanks to that, she'd likely never have friends at all once word got out on what happened here!
"Oh man, I sure goofed!" Sabrina collapsed to her knees, covering her eyes to hide her tears. With a flick of her hand the action figures turned motionless while the unconscious forms of Brock and Chloe regained consciousness as did the others from the sounds of it as Samurai could be heard charging into the room with his sword unsheathed.
"It's time to pay for your crimes, witch!"
"Samurai don't!" Ash quickly tackled Samurai, knocking the sword away as Janine, Gary, Leaf and the others entered the room. "It wasn't her fault, something possessed her! I-I can't fully explain what happened but something like this happened with my Pidgeot, he was possessed and couldn't help but turn on his former friends and maybe even his family! We shouldn't rush to blame he-"
"No, I accept full blame for what happened here." Sabrina sniffled as she looked up at them all. "I'm so sorry for what I did, I understand if my words aren't enough... I expect to get penalized by the League for what happened. I-It's just that ever since my friends all left on their journey I was so lonely... I was the only girl my age throughout the entire city as everyone else left before the age limit was adjusted! I-I was do desperate for friends that I... I snapped! A-And now I might never have any friends..."
Janine frowned before placing a hand upon Sabrina's shoulder. "I'll be your friend!"
"Y-You will?" Sabrina cast a look in her direction. "Even after...?"
"Of course, truth be told I could use a friend too! The only people I really talk to on a regular basis are my father and other older men and women, I could do with hanging around somebody my age and with my Magnet Train pass we never have to be apart despite the distance between our towns, I can resist ya whenever you need a friend!" Janine grinned.
"And I'll be your friend too," Ash offered Sabrina his hand as a smile crossed his face. Brock, Chloe and Leaf smiled as they couldn't help but admire Ash's actions, despite all that Sabrina did to them he was willing to forgive her and offer her his friendship. Gary merely had a look of impatience as he most likely anticipated a match with Sabrina while Samurai stormed off, unwilling to forgive her for what she did.
"Witch..." Samurai spat. "Despite your unwanted advances, my quest continues!"
Sabrina offered him a light smile before looking doubtful as she wondered if he was even telling the truth. She closed her eyes before reaching out to touch his hand as she hoped to see a glimpse of his future. She let out a gasp as a strange muscular purple feline Pokemon appeared before quickly changing to a mysterious silver bird. Sabrina shook her head before glimpsing further into the future as she wandered what was going on, she then saw a trainer riding a long green serpentine dragon Pokemon into outer space before seeing two different Dragons, one black and one white doing battle with a grey Dragon whose body was covered in ice! The vision then further advanced and she saw herself, Janine and what appeared to be Ash's other friends engulfed in the battle of their lives as a large demonic bird flew through the skies above!
"Gah!" Sabrina's eyes shot wide open as her breath accelerated. She could see that Ash was not only telling the truth but that he appeared to be destined for greatness! "I-I suppose I owe you your badge now, here it is." She held out a golden circular badge to him as she bowed apologetically to him. "I-It's the Marsh badge w-with it I believe that brings you to six badges?"
"That it does but how did you know-Oh." Ash reminded himself that she was a psychic, of course she knew.
Sabrina smirked lightly before bowing once more. "Good luck with your journey, I expect to see you at the Indigo League!"
"Yeah yeah, Ash is so wonderful!" Gary rolled his eyes resulting in Leaf elbowing his side from annoyance. "Hey, I just want my Gym battle! Sabrina and Giovanni are the only Gym Leaders whose badges I don't have yet!" Gary boasted as he showed off his overflowing badge case to her.
"Speaking of Gyms, where is the closest one from here?" Ash turned towards Brock as he was the expert when it came to maps.
"Let's see, if we take a boat from Vermillion we could embark to Cinnabar Island. There's a Gym there and afterwards, we can return to Viridian City for your rematch against Giovanni."
"Oh I look forward to that, I can't wait to see what Pokemon Giovanni has in store!" Ash excitedly exclaimed with clenched fists.
"Heh," Sabrina smirked lightly.
"Huh? You say something Sabrina?" Ash quickly turned to her.
"Oh nothing, just wishing you luck!" Sabrina waved her hand as she figured it best to not inform them of what awaited them.
Ash smiled before giving her a wave. "Thanks and good luck against Gary!"
"She'll need it!" Gary boasted with a smirk.
"See ya!" Sabrina waved after him before turning to Gary. "Alright Oak, let's see what you got!"
Gary formed a smirk of his own as he tossed a Pokeball into the air. "Umbreon let's go!"
"So you're saying that Pikachu unleashed a vortex of sorts filled with electricity and telekinetic energy? Remarkable!" Professor Cerise gasped out. "Have you come up with a name for the attack yet?!"
"Uh not yet, we were kind of in the middle of something!" Ash nervously laughed, figuring he'd avoid informing him of what occurred as to not freak him out. The previous times he was informed his daughter was in danger he went completely bonkers and shouted for what felt like hours, at least he was unaware Chloe muted him every time! "I'm sure I'll come up with a name soon but how do you suppose Pikachu learned such an attack? We don't own any Psychic types!"
Professor Cerise stroked his chin as a thoughtful expression crossed his gaze. "It's possible that he picked up some pointers from the Butterfree or your Gengar, though I have suspicions that whatever caused Pikachu to learn Splishy Splash most likely taught him that attack as well. All it needed was for Pikachu to interact with a Psychic type in order to trigger that ability, remember how you say Pikachu and you fell into the river? That was probably the trigger for Splishy Splash!"
"Okay but how do you explain Eevee's moves?" Chloe questioned only to receive a shrug.
"Sorry Chloe but I can't really explain that one."
"Where is Professor Oak anyways?" Ash questioned. "I wanted to inform him that Gary's okay and that he's battling Sabrina right now."
"Oh he had to go meet with Professor Elm, something about research. It was quite urgent from what I gathered. Something about the sighting of a Legendary Beast?"
He was informed about Sabrina's apparent possession but not much came from it as they didn't learn much other than the fact that humans could seemingly get possessed by whatever that was. "Quite peculiar, well you let me or Professor Oak know if anything else comes up will ya? Oh and Pidgeot's in perfect shape and seems eager to battle with you!"
"Cooo!" Pidgeot appeared onscreen and cried out towards his trainer with an eager expression.
Ash couldn't help but chuckle before holding out a Pokeball. "Then I'll trade him for Charizard, I'm looking forward to battling with you Pidgeot!" Charizard likely wouldn't be comfortable knowing that he was on a boat so Ash decided to send him to the lab until they were docked on Cinnabar!
"Cooo!"
Later that night the shadows of the Gym began to move before taking form of the shadowy figure who stood over the small sludge pile that possessed Sabrina.
"Unbelievable, I had hopes that he'd find himself imprisoned like the others! How on earth did he even pull that off?! There was no way Pikachu should have beaten Alakazam that easily..."
"Whose out there?" The lights flickered on as Sabrina sleepily stepped out from the back, a yawn escaped her mouth as she shot a quick look around. "It's no use hiding, I'm a psychic. I can find you easily..." Her eyes glowed blue but strangely enough she didn't pick up any traces of an individual, it was as if whoever was there leaped into the shadows and vanished! "I must be losing it... probably just a hangover from whatever that was..."
Pikachu doesn't have as many attacks as Let's GO gave Eevee so I decided to create a custom attack just for him! I'd say it replaced Quick Attack putting his current move set as Thunderbolt, Splishy Splash, Volt Tackle and the new move! I know custom Pokemon are a bit controversial, not much a fan of them either but attacks are fair game in my book. Just not going to go crazy with them, the vortex might be the only one we even see.
Next up is the SS Anne chapter and some surprising characters will appear, they haven't appeared or even been mentioned so there's no hint as to their identities! You'll just have to wait and see!
Also I wanna try something fun, canon captures aside what is a Pokemon you always wanted to see Ash have? Not counting Legendary and Mythical species. Whichever Pokemon gets the most mentions will join Ash's team during the Johto or Hoenn stories, Ash only has a few captures left for this story and most will be during the Orange Island arc! :)