Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!

Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga

Chapter Twenty Five

Losing From the Start

"I can't believe Red agreed to watch Ashley's match..." Rina thought, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the boy sitting next to her. "He must be feeling guilty. Last time he wasn't at all interested in watching Ashley's match with a gym leader."

"-You know, when Red battled Sabrina I beat her Alakazam single-handedly!-" Pippi's mother said. "-Red always recalls his pokemon after a single match, and because of it none of us have ever lost before.-"

"-Wow! You must all be really strong to never lose a match!-" Pippi exclaimed in awe.

"-Yeah? Well this is Ashley's sixth gym battle, and the third in a row I haven't fought in.-" Bulbasaur muttered.

After a quick stop by the Saffron City pokecenter, where Ashley healed her pokemon and made a very changes to her team, the group went to the gym with Sabrina. To Ashley's dismay, she was waiting with the door open when they got there. Now, Ashley and Sabrina stood on opposite sides of the gym's battlefield while Rina, Red, Pippi, Pippi's mother, and Bulbasaur watched from the sidelines.

Sabrina's gym didn't have much style to it, unlike most gyms. While much of the gym was painted with a purple motif, that was about it. The battlefield itself wasn't even marked out, rather the tiled floor of the gym gave way to a large dirt field in the middle. Though the gym appeared rather bland, it reflected Sabrina's "no nonsense" attitude.

"We will use four pokemon each." Sabrina explained to Ashley. She had already chosen her first pokemon, whose pokeball was now hovering in the air near Sabrina. "I will begin with Kadabra. You may choose your first pokemon accordingly." The pokeball levitating next the Sabrina opened up and released Kadabra, the pre-evolved form of Alakazam, out onto the field.

"I already know what pokemon I'm going to use!" Ashley thought, a smirk crossing her lips. She took a pokeball from her belt and held it out in her hand. "Snorlax, you're up first! Go!" The pokeball in her hand opened up and released Snorlax out onto the field. Snorlax gave a yawn and raised her head lazily to see what was going on.

"-More fighting? I'm still not budging.-" Snorlax grumbled.

"She managed to catch a Snorlax, too? Maybe she's improved afterall." Red mumbled to himself.

"Red? Do you have a Snorlax?" Rina asked him curiously.

"Yeah." Red mumbled in response without even looking at her. "Whats wrong with me? Why can't I just say it already and get it over with?"

"-Red caught a Snorlax that was blocking the cycling road.-" Pippi's mother explained. "-It was actually Ivysaur that fought him though, so I don't know the exact details.-"

"An Ivysaur too?" Rina blinked in disbelief.

"-Feh. I could be an Ivysaur anytime I wanted now.-" Bulbasaur muttered.

"-So you keep saying.-" Pippi said to him, rolling her eyes.

"Snorlax, start off by powering up with Amnesia!" Ashley called out. Snorlax focused briefly to forget something, trading the memory for enhanced defenses against special attacks. A yellow glow then surrounded her as Kadabra focused its psychic powers on Snorlax, using Disable to prevent it from using Amnesia anymore.

"I didn't hear her give her pokemon any commands, is she communicating telepathically?" Ashley wondered.

"I am." Sabrina informed her.

"HEY! Get out of my head!"

"I already saw glimpses of our battle, including the outcome." Sabrina said to her. "The result will be inevitable."

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" Ashley shot back. "Snorlax, use Belly Drum now!" Snorlax pounded on her chest like a drum, injuring herself in the process but sending a surge of power through her body. Kadabra didn't seem to do anything, though. The pokemon simply closed its eyes as though it were meditating. Ashley recognized the technique as Calm Mind, from when Gary's Alakazam used it.

"Disable...Calm Mind...so far this match has mirrored my battle with Gary exactly." Ashley smirked to herself. "I already know how that ended."

"Now, use Rest!" Snorlax laid back and went to sleep, restoring the damage it inflicted on itself. Sabrina's Kadabra still seemed to be using Calm Mind, again mirroring the same tactics Gary had been using in Ashley's battle against his Alakazam. Kadabra seemed to suddenly change its tactics soon after, though. It opened its eyes and a flash of psychic energy seemed to pulsate from it, but still nothing happened.

"She's making this entirely too easy..." Ashley thought. "Whats her plan? Snorlax is one attack away from beating her Kadabra in one hit and she hasn't even launched an attack." Ashley looked over at Sabrina, as if trying to read her mind. "Does she have something planned? Well if so, I guess I'm about to find out..."

"Snorlax, Snore now!" Snorlax let out a loud snore that shook the gym and launched a powerful shockwave toward Kadabra. The psychic pokemon barely had time to blink before being blasted by the attack. Kadabra cried out sharply as it was suddenly thrown back, flying past Sabrina and smashing into the rear wall of the gym. Sabrina didn't even flinch and quite calmly levitated Kadabra's pokeball into the air and activated it to recall her pokemon.

"...She made that way too easy for me. Something's not right here." Ashley thought, narrowing her eyes at Sabrina as she again tried to figure out what the psychic gym leader was thinking. "If she was trying to lure me into a false sense of security, it worked. She couldn't possibly have a pokemon that could stop Snorlax now!"

"Ah! Snorlax did that with just one attack?!" Rina said in disbelief.

"After using Belly Drum, Snorlax's attack power is quadrupled." Red explained. He closed his eyes as if he was in deep thought. "With that much power, even Snore could knock each of Sabrina's pokemon out in one attack. Except..." Red opened his eyes and looked at Sabrina expectantly.

Sabrina took Kadabra's pokeball in hand and placed it back on her belt. At the same time, another pokeball seemingly unclipped itself from Sabrina's belt and floated in front of her. The pokeball opened up and released another humanoid pokemon out onto the field. It had a red and white body, pink face, and wore white gloves on its hands.

"Ok Snorlax, same thing! Take it down in one attack with Snore!" Snorlax let out another loud snore, sending a shockwave toward her opponent. The shockwave struck the opposing pokemon, but suddenly dispersed and had absolutely no effect on it.

"No way! Its immune?!" Ashley cried out in surprise. The enemy pokemon began clapping its hands together, as if offering a sarcastic applause. The clapping echoed through the gym as if Snorlax had an audience. Snorlax began to wake up at that point, but looked rather confused as she sat up. She wanted to use Snore again, but couldn't do it while she was awake.

Ashley's troubles weren't ending there, however, as Kadabra's final technique revealed itself. A white blast of energy suddenly rained down upon Snorlax from above as Kadabra's Future Sight technique activated, dealing a fairly strong blow that would have left any other pokemon reeling after being powered up by Calm Mind. Snorlax pretty much shrugged it off, though, courtesy of its strong defense against special attacks boosted by Amnesia.

"-Hmm...I'm not sure who it was that beat Sabrina's Mr. Mime.-" Pikachu reached up to tug on Red's sleeve and pointed at Mr. Mime when she got his attention. Unlike Rina, Red couldn't understand pokemon speech. However, he could usually figure out what they were trying to tell him regardless.

"Squirtle beat that one." Red said. "That was when he evolved into Wartortle."

"You have a Wartortle too?!" Rina exclaimed in disbelief. "Those pokemon are supposed to be really rare and used only by pokemon researchers like Professor Oak! You must be really lucky!"

"Yeah...well..." Red mumbled, trailing off as he turned away from Rina again. "How can she be so upbeat anyway?"

"I wonder if all boys are like this..." Rina thought, turning her attention back to the battle.

"-Mom, how'd you and the rest of Red's pokemon get so strong anyway?-" Pippi asked.

"-Well...umm...I don't know honestly...-" Pikachu rubbed the back of her head in embarassment. "-It just kinda...happened.-"

"Snorlax, come on! Stop using Snore and knock that pokemon out with Headbutt!" Ashley called out. Snorlax seemed to consider this order for a moment, but in the end all she managed to do was open her mouth in a vain attempt to Snore. Mr. Mime, meanwhile, seemed to be meditating.

"Looks like that pokemon is using Calm Mind again. Snorlax can still take special hits at least, we can still pull out of this!" Ashley reached into her travel bag and took out her pokedex to scan Mr. Mime. "Just what am I dealing with here anyway?"

"Mr. Mime, the Barrier Pokemon." The pokedex read. "If interrupted while it is miming, it will suddenly Doubleslap the offender with its broad hands."

"Well knowing that doesn't exactly help me, but at least I know its name now." Ashley thought. She placed her pokedex back in her bag and looked out onto the battlefield. Thats when she noticed Snorlax no longer seemed confused about what to do. "Ok! Looks like Snorlax can use a different attack now!"

"Snorlax, now! Use Headbutt!" Ashley called out.

"-Not happening.-" Snorlax replied, turning her nose up at the notion. "-Its over there, I'm over here, and I'm not going over there. I don't see any reason why I should follow your orders.-"

"What? Why is Snorlax ignoring my orders all of a sudden?" Ashley wondered, blinking in disbelief. With Snorlax still pretty much immobile, Mr. Mime stopped its meditations and raised its fist back. Its fist began to glow as it focused energy into it, and then Mr. Mime charged across the field with its clenched fist held out straight toward Snorlax.

"Focus Punch?!" Ashley cried out in surprise. "But if its using Focus Punch, then that meditation technique..." Mr. Mime's fist connected with Snorlax's stomach at the end of Mr. Mime's charge. Snorlax staggered back, taking a very harsh blow from a pokemon that was normally physically weak. Only Snorlax's immense bulk kept it in place. Mr. Mime then backflipped twice away from Snorlax to distance itself.

"It was a different technique...that increased Mr. Mime's attack power..." Ashley said in disbelief, Mr. Mime's attack confirming her suspicions. "Snorlax! Use Rest!" Without any hesitation, Snorlax closed her eyes and went to sleep. The damage inflicted on it by Focus Punch was instantly restored. Sabrina's Mr. Mime seemed to go back to meditating.

"I don't get it..." Ashley thought. "Snorlax ignored me when I told her to use Headbutt...but listened to me when I told her to use Rest? Whats going on here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sabrina, who had been reading her thoughts, said to her. "Your Snorlax doesn't like you. As such, she only listens if she doesn't have to move."

"What? Thats why Snorlax didn't listen?" Ashley said, blinking in disbelief. "But then...what other tactics can we use? I can't recall Snorlax after she managed to power up!"

"I knew waking Snorlax up to catch it wouldn't work out!" Rina said in an astute tone. "Ashley should be thankful Snorlax listens to her at all! It wasn't at all happy when we woke it up."

"-I think any pokemon would be upset if you woke it up.-" Pippi said, nodding in agreement.

"I had that problem too, but I was able to resolve it the first time I talked to Snorlax." Red thought to himself. "Ashley...you need to put more effort into your relationship with your pokemon. You can't just expect every pokemon you catch to listen to you without question."

Snorlax continued to sleep for the short period in which its Rest technique forced her to do so. With Mr. Mime immune to Snorlax's Snore attack, there was nothing she could do. Mr. Mime, meanwhile, was continuing to use its meditation technique. The gym fell silent during the brief pause in the battle, but that was about to end as Snorlax finally woke up and opened her eyes.

"Ok, Mr. Mime isn't that far away...so maybe Snorlax will accept using Body Slam?" Ashley wondered briefly, knowing she didn't have long to think over the attack. "Snorlax, use Body Slam!" Ashley called out the attack expecting Snorlax might be willing to just 'fall over' to attack, however it didn't work. Snorlax turned away, ignoring Ashley's command.

In disobeying Ashley, Snorlax had left itself wide open for attack. Mr. Mime raised its fist back, which began to glow from the energy it focused into it. Mr. Mime jumped into the air and then dove down toward Snorlax, driving its powerful punch into Snorlax's face. Snorlax toppled over while Mr. Mime backflipped several times, putting it halfway across the gym by the time Snorlax hit the ground.

"Snorlax..." Ashley whispered her pokemon's name sadly. Ashley had hoped to sweep Sabrina's entire team with Snorlax, but now it had been taken down in only one blow. Ashley raised Snorlax's pokeball and recalled her. She then paused for a moment to analyze the situation before she would send out her next pokemon.

"Ok, with that kind of attack power now, Mr. Mime is definitely a dangerous foe." Ashley thought. "Whatever pokemon I send out has to stay on the offensive to keep it from using Focus Punch, but also can't get close or else it'll be able to use Doubleslap. Vaporeon knows Quick Attack and Shadow Ball, that'll allow him to hit hard from a distance while still being able to evade Mr. Mime's attacks. Wait a minute..."

Ashley blinked as another thought struck her and shot Sabrina a glare. "HEY! You better not be reading my mind right now!"

"It hardly matters. The end result of this battle is inevitable." Sabrina replied calmly. "No matter how strange the means to achieve that result may be, my predictions are never wrong..."

"I already said I don't plan to give in to your predictions!" Ashley yelled back. She returned Snorlax's pokeball to her belt, clipping it on in one quick movement and taking another pokeball in hand. She then thrust the pokeball out in front of her. "Vaporeon, GO!" She called out her pokemon's name as she pressed the button, releasing Vaporeon from its pokeball. Vaporeon gave a yawn as he appeared on the field.

"-Finally...I thought I'd never get to see any real action.-" Vaporeon tensed his muscles, looking ready to pounce. "-Ok, you freaky looking...thing! Prepare to be defeated!-" Mr. Mime made a few motions with its hands in response, though no one could make any sense of them.

"If you wish to try to fight your fate, then by all means. I won't stop you." Sabrina said to Ashley. "Regardless, you will find your fate is inevitable. You seem to have quite a special fate in store..."

"Enough with the psycho mumbo-jumbo already! This is a pokemon battle, not a fortune teller's booth at a carnival!" Ashley shot back. "We're through talking! Vaporeon, use Shadow Ball!"

"-Heh. I can see Sabrina's starting to get to her.-" Bulbasaur mused.

Vaporeon began forming its Shadow Ball attack, while at the same time Mr. Mime made several gestures with its hands as if it were pretending to be trapped in an invisible box. As Vaporeon fired the Shadow Ball attack at Mr. Mime, a blue barrier surrounded it. The Shadow Ball passed through the ball and knocked Mr. Mime off its feet, though it quickly got up and shook it off. The barrier remained around it as well.

"A barrier like that could only be Reflect." Ashley thought. "That halves the effectiveness of physical attacks, but I won't let that stop us. We'll keep going with Shadow Ball for as long as we can!"

"Vaporeon, again! Attack with Shadow Ball!" Vaporeon formed another Shadow Ball attack in front of him and then gestured with his head to send it flying toward Mr. Mime. Mr. Mime's barrier flashed as the attack passed through, but it still had enough power to cause Mr. Mime to stagger back and nearly fell over. It flailed its arms around and eventually managed to regain its balance, then proceeded to close its eyes and clear its mind in a form of meditation.

"Meditating again? But isn't it strong enough?" Ashley thought. "Wait...or is it using Calm Mind this time? Well either way, we need to keep up the attack!"

"Vaporeon, Shadow Ball again and then move in with Quick Attack!" Vaporeon focused and formed another Shadow Ball, then flung it at Mr. Mime. Mr. Mime's barrier flashed, weakening the Shadow Ball, but the attack striking it still distracted it briefly from its meditation and caused it to stagger back a step.

Vaporeon then followed up its Shadow Ball attack by shooting toward , striking it in a blur of movement. The sudden Quick Attack threw Mr. Mime completely off balance, knocking it to the ground. Mr. Mime quickly sat back up and held out both hands toward Vaporeon, preparing to attack.

"Vaporeon, Quick Attack!" Mr. Mime fired a beam of psychic energy from the palms of its hands, nearly at point-blank range with Vaporeon. Vaporeon was caught by the attack briefly before he managed to build up energy for a sudden burst of speed, shooting out of the attack's line of fire. Vaporeon winced in pain when he came to a stop, feeling a lingering effect from the attack.

"Evading her attacks isn't as easy as I thought it'd be, even with Quick Attack!" Ashley thought. "Without calling hearing her call her attacks, I have no idea what she's going to use next! I'm lucky I even caught that visual cue, I'll need to watch Mr. Mime closely." Almost as soon as Ashley had thought it, Mr. Mime held its hands out flat like the wings of an airplane. It was a sign of another impending attack.

"Vaporeon! Get ready with a Quick Attack!" Vaporeon tensed his muscles, getting himself ready to dodge Mr. Mime's next attack. Mr. Mime spun around, sending several sharp leaves flying from its body. Vaporeon swiftly moved out of the way as the sharp leaves came flying toward it. The attack missed completely, but the leaves began to turn around to come back toward him.

"A Magical Leaf attack?!" Ashley thought in surprise. "Vaporeon! Quick! Shoot it down with Ice Beam!" Vaporeon quickly turned around to face the incoming leaf attack and fired a blue beam from his mouth. The beam struck a few leaves, freezing them instantly, and several more were knocked off course from the proximity of the beam.

Several leaves still reached Vaporeon and slashed across his body. He cried out in pain, barely able to endure the attack. Mr. Mime then started to spin around, preparing to launch another Magical Leaf attack to finish Vaporeon off. However, as it did, Ashley noticed Mr. Mime's Reflect barrier become visible briefly and then vanish.

"Vaporeon, Mr. Mime's barrier is down! Finish it with another Shadow Ball now!" Vaporeon nodded and turned toward Mr. Mime while gathering a shadowy substance for its attack. Mr. Mime fired several sharp leaves while spinning, to which Vaporeon responded by firing its Shadow Ball attack. None of the leaves hit the Shadow Ball, leaving both attacks to reach their targets without hinderance.

The sharp leaves fired by Mr. Mime reached Vaporeon first, slashing across Vaporeon's body. Vaporeon cried out in pain and its legs gave way under it, bringing Vaporeon to the ground. Vaporeon was instantly knocked unconscious. Mr. Mime, likewise, was knocked to the ground when it was struck. The Shadowball burst on contact, knocking Mr. Mime out instantly. Both trainers recalled their pokemon.

"Vaporeon...I shouldn't have used you in battle before we had more practice." Ashley thought remorsefully as she placed Vaporeon's pokeball back on her belt. Sabrina returned Mr. Mime's pokeball to her belt without hesitation and levitated another one, already releasing her next pokemon. A purple-colored moth pokemon appeared, flapping its broad wings to remain aloft.

"Huh? That doesn't look like a psychic pokemon." Rina noted curiously.

"Its not, but it can still use psychic attacks." Red explained to her.

"Oh." Rina blinked. "So what pokemon did you use to beat this one?" She then asked, glancing over at him. Red looked at Rina briefly as he was about to reply, but quickly turned away again.

"I...well...I used Espeon..." Red mumbled quietly. "Its hard just to look at her after what I said..."

"There he goes again..." Rina thought. "Red...if you're still worrying about what happened earlier, don't." Red blinked in disbelief and looked back over at Rina.

"Rina?"

"I know you didn't mean to say any of that, you were upset. You don't need to say anything." She continued, smiling at him.

"Rina...I'm sorry about all that, its not like me to let my emotions get the better of me." Red said to her apologetically.

"Red! I told you not to worry about it, ok?"

"Right...sorry..." Red rubbed the back of his head in embarassment and turned to face the battlefield.

"-You know, they'd make a cute couple.-" Pikachu's mother said, stifling a giggle with her paw.

"-Oh, Rina's totally into him! You should hear the way she talks about him in her sleep!-" Pippi added, giggling with her mother.

"I...I don't talk in my sleep!" Rina interjected. Her face was turning beet red. "You take that back, Pippi!"

"Well at least they seem to be getting along now..." Ashley thought, smiling to herself. "Anyway! I have a battle to finish here!" Ashley looked across the field, casting a fierce glance toward her opponent as she reached for another pokeball.

"Ok, Charizard! You can take this one!" Ashley called out. She held Charizard's pokeball out in front of her and pressed the button, releasing him out onto the field. Charizard gave a mighty roar as he appeared, announcing his presence.

"Her Charizard...whats wrong with it?" Red wondered, noticing the cracked appearance of Charizard's skin. "I can tell its weak for its species at any rate. Ashley must not be raising her pokemon properly at all."

"-Red's Charizard doesn't look like that at all...-" Pippi's mother noted, blinking in disbelief.

"-Its a long story.-" Pippi said to her.

"Charizard, attack Venomoth with Flamethrower!" Charizard opened his mouth and belched out a cone of flames, engulfing Venomoth completely in fire. Charizard maintained the attack for as long as he could, keeping Venomoth surrounded by flames until he ran out of breath. When the flames died down, Venomoth was still floating in the air and began to glide toward Charizard. Though heavily scorched, it managed to remain airborn.

"What? It purposely stayed in the flames?" Ashley thought in disbelief. "Why would it do that, though?" As Venomoth approached Charizard, it stopped and gave a flap of its wings. A green, powdery substance was released from its body and sprinkled around Charizard. Charizard felt his eyelids grow heavy and his legs give out from under him. He fell fast asleep and dropped to the ground.

Once Charizard was asleep, Venomoth set about using more status-inflicting techniques on it. First, it released a cloud of purple powder, inflicting poison on him. It next released a cloud of spores to paralyze Charizard while he continued to sleep, and then followed that up by focusing a psychic power on Charizard. A yellow glow surrounded him, sealing off his Flamethrower attack.

"Sleep Powder, Poisonpowder, Stun Spore, AND Disable?!" Ashley thought in disbelief. "There should be some kinda rule against this or something!" To Ashley's relief, Charizard finally started to wake up after being disabled. He didn't look too thrilled about what Venomoth did to him.

"-Annoying insect...is this the only way you can fight me?!-" Charizard growled as he slowly got up on his feet.

"Charizard, use Wing Attack!" Charizard rose up on his feet and lunged toward Venomoth. He made a punching motion while bringing one of his wings forward, holding it stiff and striking the bug pokemon. Venomoth stagger back but quickly shook it off, despite already growing weak from Charizard's attacks. It then released a green powder toward Charizard, sending him crashing to the ground, knocking him out with another sleep attack.

"Charizard's really taking a beating from Venomoth's status-inducing abilities." Ashley thought. "We can still win this, though. The only damage inflictedon Charizard so far was from poison, but Venomoth took a heavy hit from Charizard's Flamethrower. I bet if I could just land one more attack, any attack, I could take it down..."

While Charizard was still asleep, Venomoth took the time to back away from it to avoid another possible Wing Attack and then fired twin beams of psychic energy from its eyes, blasting Charizard in his sleep. Charizard woke up almost immediately after, looking even more enraged than he was before.

"Charizard, attack now and finish it off with Ember!"

"-If I can't incinerate you with another Flamethrower, then this will have to do!-" Charizard growled at Venomoth. He weakly raised his head from the ground, struggling with his paralysis, and quickly spat out a ball of fire. The attack caught Venomoth in the mid-section of its body. Venomoth cried out and fell back to the ground as it was knocked out by Charizard's attack.

"Phew...at least that was an easy one." Ashley thought to herself, breathing a sigh of relief. "Wait a minute...her Kadabra was easy too, and then that Mr. Mime of her's took out Snorlax and Vaporeon!" Ashley clenched her fist in determination. "I can't relax now! I've still got one more to go!"

"Compared to most evolved pokemon, Venomoth is weak. Sabrina tried to make up for this with status-inflicting techniques rather than giving it any special care, thats why it falls so easily." Red thought to himself. Catching sight of something glowing out of the corner of his eye, he looked over at Charizard and saw it evolving.

"What the...?" Red thought, looking on in disbelief.

"Alright! Ashley's Charizard is finally evolving!" Rina shouted enthusiastically. Red looked at her in utter disbelief.

"Finally? Im positive it doesn't work like that..." Red muttered in response.

Charizard's body didn't appear to undergo any immediately visible change while surrounded in the white light. The changes were more apparent when the light faded, as its skin looked normal. The poison and paralysis effects seemed to have worn off as well, as Charizard rose to his feet without any difficulties and gave a triumphant roar.

"-HELL YEAH! I AM THE KING OF FIRE!-" Charizard roared and fired off a Flamethrower attack toward the roof of the gym in a dramatic display.

"Alright! Charizard's finally reached his true evolution!" Ashley shouted excitedly.

"I see...so this is why I foresaw Charizard evolving." Sabrina thought to herself. "Its evolution was incomplete, this 'true' evolution seems to have restored it to its true potential. Now it all makes sense to me."

"I wonder, when Berg evolved he learned that Hydro Cannon technique..." Rina thought to herself, then called out to Ashley. "Ashley! Check your pokedex!"

"My pokedex?" Ashley took her pokedex back out of her bag and pressed a few buttons to open Charizard's statistics page. "Wait! It learned THAT?!" She blinked in disbelief and looked over at Rina, wondering how she knew.

"Ok, explanation someone?" Red asked.

"Charizard's evolution was forced on him by his...uh...previous owners." Rina said to him. "The resulting evolution was actually weakened by the unnatural means used to achieve it, but by reaching a point where he would evolve normally it would remove the effects of the forced evolution."

"I see..." Red nodded slightly. "So Charizard's weakness and appearance weren't Ashley's fault..."

"So, Sabrina, still so confident in your predictions now?" Ashley said to her with a smirk.

"Of course. I had forseen this already." Sabrina replied. She finally recalled Venomoth, which was starting to recover by that point. She returned Venomoth's pokeball to her belt and then held out her final pokeball.

"Now, you will face my most powerful pokemon. This will be the beginning of the end." The pokeball opened up and released a pokemon that Ashley was already well familiar with. A yellow, humanoid pokemon with a long mustache appeared on the field. Alakazam, the evolved form of Kadabra.

"Ok, I can't take any risks with this one." Ashley thought to herself, taking Charizard's pokeball in hand. "I'll use Haunter first, since she has an advantage against psychic-types, and save Charizard for last if I have to."

"Charizard, good job, but thats enough for now!" Ashley recalled Charizard and returned his pokeball to her belt. She then took another pokeball in hand, Haunter's, then held it out in front of her and pressed the button. "Haunter, go!" The pokeball opened up and released Ashley's ghost pokemon, Haunter. Haunter gave a maniacal laugh as she appeared on the field.

"-My dear, 'Haunter' won't do! Let us up the ante, shall we?-" Almost as soon as she had appeared, Haunter's body began to glow.

"Ehhh...thats the last of Ashley's pokemon I wanted to see evolved..." Rina mumbled, shuddering at the thought. Pippi nodded in agreement.

"Another evolution?" Red thought to himself. "But then again, Haunter's evolution is triggered by being transferred via PC, so Ashley must have withdrawn it recently."

Haunter's body began to change shape with her evolution. Her detached hands moved closer to her body and grew a pair of short arms. From the bottom of her body, a pair of short legs grew out. The trailing edge of her body turned into a tail. The glowing then ceased as her evolution came to an end, revealing a very different looking pokemon as Gengar.

"She evolved so suddenly..." Ashley mumbled to herself, blinking in disbelief. She shook her head and focused her attention on the battle. "Ok then, Gengar! Lets win this one! Attack Alakazam with Hypnosis!"

"-Don't mind if I do. Hehehehe...-" Gengar looked Alakazam straight in the eyes and began focusing her psychic powers on it. Alakazam disappeared from view almost as soon as she started, though, evading the attack with Teleport. Alakazam reappeared near the middle of the gym, off to the side, and a yellow glow then surrounded Gengar to cut her off from using Hypnosis again.

"Ok then! Lets try Will-o-Wisp instead!" Ashley called out next. She was determined to hinder Alakazam with some form of status effect in to make sure she could still take it on if Gengar was defeated.

"-Now this one might...burn a little.-" Gengar said with grin. A purple flame formed between her hands, and it zigzagged through the air when she released it. Alakazam made no effort to stop it, instead taking the moment to close its eyes and concentrate, which Ashley assumed to be a Calm Mind technique. The flame struck Alakazam, inflicting a burn on the pokemon's stomach. To Ashley's surprise, Gengar grimaced in pain as a burn suddenly formed on her stomach as well.

"That burn...a synchronize ability?" Ashley wondered. "Unfortunately, thats going to weaken Gengar's Shadow Punch quite a bit. I'll have to stick to Night Shade when I go on the offense. This isn't really going as planned though, I should have thought more about her pokemon's abilities!"

"Gengar, attack Alakazam with Confuse Ray!" Gengar formed a ball of light in her hands and then threw it toward Alakazam. Alakazam followed the ball of light with its eyes, finding itself drawn to the orb. As the light began to circle around Alakazam's body repeatedly, the psychic pokemon found itself getting dizzy. When the light faded, Alakazam suddenly smacked itself in the forehead with its spoon.

"Now use Night Shade!" Gengar created an illusion around herself, making it seem as though her body was growing much larger. The illusion cast a darkness around Alakazam that sent a chill down its spine. Alakazam responded by using Recover. Its body shimmered briefly as Gengar's attack began to fade, and Alakazam was restored to nearly full strength.

"Even with Night Shade, Sabrina's Alakazam can just Recover off any damage we inflict on it." Ashley thought to herself. "Ok, new strategy then!"

"Gengar, put a Curse on Alakazam!"

"-Ooo, with pleasure!-" Gengar snickered malevolently. A pin appeared from the shadows, hovering in front of Gengar, and then stabbed through her. The pin vanished, and Gengar nearly collapsed from the sudden loss of energy. A dark aura then surrounded Alakazam, placing a deadly curse on it that would inflict a great deal of damage over time.

Alakazam didn't seem to take too kindly to the curse being placed on it, though. Alakazam's eyes flashed, and a blue glow surrounded Gengar. Gengar winced in pain as Alakazam's psychic powers were focused on it, and she soon collapsed after. She had little strength remaining after using Curse, and so she couldn't endure the attack.

"Gengar, you might not have been able to hold up against Alakazam, but you've definitely paved the way for Charizard to finish this!" Ashley recalled Gengar and then quickly swapped pokeballs. "Charizard! Lets end this!" She called out as she held out Charizard's pokeball and released him out onto the battlefield again.

"And this...is where it ends." Sabrina thought to herself, her face remaining expressionless as usual. "Every option...now leads to defeat. Alakazam, use Psychic." Alakazam's eyes flashed and it began to focus its psychic powers around Charizard's body.

"Charizard, push through it and fly to the top of the gym!" Ashley called out. Charizard struggled through Alakazam's psychic attack to lift his wings. A red glow soon surrounded his body briefly and the fire on his tail doubled in size. With a renewed strength, Charizard flew up to the gym's roof.

"Whats she plan to do up there?" Rina wondered. Red smirked to himself, having already figured it out.

"Now! Blast Burn! Aim for the floor below you!" Ashley called out. "Just try to dodge this!"

Charizard opened his mouth and began to gather a ball of fire. The ball expanded quickly and remained hovering in front of Charizard's mouth as he continued to add to it. He then pointed his attack toward the ground and released. A massive wave of flames shot downward and then spread across the battlefield, turning the entire field into a sea of flames and leaving nowhere for his opponent to run.

At first, Alakazam seemed to endure it well. Although the psychic pokemon was clearly in pain, it was still standing throughout the attack. However, as the curse and its burn continued to take effect, Alakazam found the last of its strength leave it and collapsed into the fire. Charizard ended his attack then and dropped to the floor of the gym just as the flames began to vanish. Charizard gave a triumphant roar, signalling his victory over Alakazam.

"So much for your predictions, Sabrina." Ashley said smugly.

"I never said what outcome I predicted." Sabrina said calmly as she raised a pokeball and recalled Alakazam. "You merely assumed I meant you would lose. However, I foresaw your choice of pokemon, as well as Charizard's evolution and Alakazam's defeat."

"What! Then why would you make it seem like you knew I would lose?"

"I did nothing of the sort."

"You know, Sabrina's right there..." Rina said.

"If you predicted all that, then why didn't you do anything to try to change the outcome?" Ashley then asked her.

"I did all I could." Sabrina replied. "Had I chosen to do things differently, then your Snorlax alone likely would have won you the match. Only my Mr. Mime was capable of stopping it, and even then only after I allowed you to defeat Kadabra so you would become overconfident and reluctant to recall Snorlax."

"-And Sabrina again.-" Pippi noted.

"So you set it up for Snorlax to lose from the beginning..." Ashley muttered to herself. "But even then, you're so good at reading my mind, why couldn't you just predict my every move and counter it?"

"Reading your mind is pointless." Sabrina replied with a slight shrug. "You already call out all your attacks. Trying to counter your attacks before you do so is pointless, as then you can simply change your tactics."

"-And Sabrina for the win.-" Bulbasaur said, snickering to himself. "-Ashley might have won the pokemon battle, but she just lost this one.-"

"What are they talking about?" Red wondered, then shrugged to himself. "Well, either way, looks like Ashley managed to win this time. She actually seems to have improved afterall."

"In the end, whether I win or lose is hardly of any consequence." Sabrina explained to Ashley. "As a gym leader, my role is to test your capabilities. Even if the result is inevitable, what happens throughout the battle is more important."

"-Hey, know whats even more important than that?-" Charizard began. "-ME! Thats what! I came, I evolved, and I totally KICKED ASS!-" Charizard raised his head and gave another roar, reminding everyone that he had won the match.

"Well, I guess now that you've evolved you can go free Charizard." Ashley said to him, but he quickly turned around and snorted at her.

"-'Go free'? And what does that leave you with, huh?-" Charizard said to her. "-Face it, human! You NEED me, and I'm in such a good mood right now I'm actually willing to lend you my services! You can thank me later.-"

"Ashley, he basically said he's willing to stay with you." Rina translated for her, and soon found Charizard's fiery gaze on her as well.

"-HEY! Translate it exactly or don't do it at all!-" He said to her. Rina coughed to clear her throat, then said it again.

"Face it, human! You NEED me, and I'm in such a good mood right now I'm actually willing to lend you my services! You can thank me later." Rina looked to Charizard and not an approving grin. "Berg didn't change at all after evolving." She thought to herself. "Ashley's Charizard? It all went straight to his head..."

"Well in that case...congratulations, and welcome to the team!" Ashley said to Charizard, grinning widely to try to hide what she really thought of Charizard's speech. "He's become awfully arrogant all of a sudden..." Ashley raised Charizard's pokeball and he allowed her to recall him.

"These ones are certainly strange." Sabrina thought to herself. "Though, perhaps not as strange as the blue haired one and her friend I seem to be expecting three years from now."

Sabrina reached into a pouch tied to her belt and pulled out a badge and TM disc. She focused briefly, levitating the two small objects and then floating them over to Ashley. "The Marsh Badge, you earned it."

"Thanks, though somehow it doesn't feel like I earned it as much when you knew I'd win from the start." Ashley took her trainer card out of her bag and placed her new badge on the card. She now only needed two more.

"Red, for your next badge, I must warn you to keep an open mind. Rina, you as well." Red and Rina looked at Sabrina curiously, and then looked at each other. Sabrina then disappeared into the rear office of her gym to heal her pokemon.

"What was that all about?" Rina wondered. "I'm not even trying to collect badges..."

"When Sabrina speaks, I listen." Red hopped up off the bench and his Pikachu followed suit. "Ashley, you've made a lot of progress. I think its for the best that you chose to challenge the gym leaders instead of becoming a photographer."

"Oh no! I totally forgot about that!" Ashley slapped the palm of her hand against her forehead. "I completely forgot to take pictures during the gym match..." Red blinked and stared at her in disbelief.

"Maybe next time you should give me your camera, since you always forget?" Rina suggested.


With Ashley's gym match over with, the group headed outside. With Red heading back to Viridian City, and Ashley and Rina's next stop being Cinnabar Island way down in the south, it was time for them to say goodbye.

"Well, it was nice seeing you guys again." Red said to Ashley and Rina. He thought for a moment to come up with something else to say, but couldn't think of anything. "See you around I guess."

"-Pippi, you've managed to evolve, and someday you'll be stronger than me for sure.-" Pikachu said to her daughter.

"-Mom...I'm not going to cry this time!-" Pippi replied with a nod, smiling widely. "-I know for sure I'll see you again this time!-"

"-Be good, and don't give Rina too much trouble!-" Pikachu waved, and then turned around with Red and the two started off on their way.

"Red! I'll become a great trainer AND photographer, just you wait!" Ashley called out after him.

"I hope we run into him again soon..." Rina sighed softly and turned around to face Ashley. She was about to suggest they head to the pokecenter when she noticed what looked like another gym nearby. "Hey, whats that?" She asked, pointing to the gym.

"That?" Ashley looked back, following Rina's direction. "Thats the fighting dojo, it used to be a gym. They still take challenges but they're not official."

"Ok then! In that case, I'm going to challenge that gym!" Rina declared, then started off toward the building.

"Huh...well, suit yourself I guess." Ashley shrugged and followed behind her. Meanwhile Red, who hadn't gotten very far, couldn't help but overhear.

"I'm kinda curious actually..." Red said to Pikachu. "I think we'll stay a bit longer. I want to see what that girl is capable of."

"-No complaints here! I just know my Pippi will be involved, so I'll get to see how far she progressed too.-" Red's Pikachu nodded in agreement, and the two of them went to the fighting dojo with the girls.


Author's Notes: (Rant, feel free to skip)In many anime, you run into an opponent who is either psychic or can read their opponent's every move. This usually manages to translate into them being immune to everything the character fighting them tries to attack with. The two examples I can immediately think of are from the Super Robot Wars OVA episodes, with the mobile suits that become immune to an attack after its been used on them by being able to dodge/counter it, and Pegasus from Yugioh.

In particular, in both these cases that just shouldn't have worked. There comes a time when knowing your opponent's next move just means you know how screwed you are, but you never see that happen. Its one thing for Pegasus to know every move Yugi is going to make, but he also just happens to have the right card to counter it? Yeah, I know, that anime is like that, but still.

And the hive mind robots from SRW, sure, they can see the attack coming after its used once and know of any possible ways to avoid it. How does that help you dodge homing missiles? Or a beam attack with a wide area of effect that can essentially sweep? I would have loved to see them evade a Cyflash after the first, but maybe thats why they just didn't show a second Cyflash.

This sort of thing has never happened in pokemon, as far as I can tell, and as its been pointed out it'd be rather pointless. Trainers have to call out their attacks so their pokemon know what to do, and thus are basically telling their opponent their next move. Even in the games, if you had hacked someone's game so it'd tell you what they were going to do next, you'd still have to have an answer for it. This actually happens a lot in the competitive field. You know your opponent is going to use Earthquake, but your remaining pokemon are either weak to it or just have frail defenses. So this knowledge does you no good.(End rant)

Looking back, I honestly can't think of a way for Sabrina to have put up much of a fight if her Mr. Mime didn't beat Snorlax. Snorlax would have rampaged all over her team, shrugging off psychic attacks like nothing and defeating them in one hit with Snore. That tactic would work just as well against Sabrina in-game too I bet. Better, in fact, since Snorlax WILL Headbutt Mr. Mime and you can use items. Belly Drum, Rest, Snore, Headbutt.

Also, I knew I had to throw in the 'I predicted your arrival three years ago' Sabrina pulls from G/S/C. Its just a brief aside by Sabrina to say she's predicted it at this point.

Think thats all there is to say.