Well I guess I'm back here again. Even though the original plan was to make this a one-shot, a friend of mine had apparently successfully convinced me to continue with this work. She had her way, I must admit. So, I'm here now, and let's get this story officially started, because if you hadn't noticed before, the previous chapter (?) was nothing more than a prologue. Reviews are always appreciated but not mandatory, since I do feel satisfaction in my own work.

Disclaimer (apparently I have to do this): I don't own any characters used in this story.

The setting of this story is set in the world of the game Pokémon Fire Red/Leaf Green a.k.a Gen III.

Chapter 1: Walk this way

"Hello?"

"Hello, is Miss Sabrina there?"

"Yes, sir, may I ask who you are?"

"Tell her that it's an old friend."

"Yes, sir. Please hold on a minute."

…

"Hello, this is Sabrina."

"Sabrina, how are you?"

"Surge?"

"You know it!"

"What exactly do you want?"

"Why are you so cold? I thought we were closer than this."

"Not close enough, so tell me now before I have to slam this phone down."

"Damn it, Sabrina, why are you always like that? Fine, the League had a message for you."

"The League? I thought I told those people to just leave me alone."

"They say it's important and for me to tell you about it."

"Important enough for me to care?"

"Yes. How soon can you make port?"

Sabrina silently cursed. It was bad enough that she just had to interrupt her own focus to have such an idiotic conversation with a person that she did not want to speak to, she apparently had to agree to meet him too. Sighing, Sabrina was left without a real choice. As far as she was concerned, every single League work was always such a drag, and she usually tries to stay away from those things as much as possible. However, it seemed like she had little choice this time around. She might hate Surge, but she knew that he would never lie to her. If he said it was something important enough that require her involvement, it would only be exactly that and nothing less. She might never admit it, but she did enjoy having her place in the League, as far as being a closed-off gym leader would be. She'd rather be doing this than some office work somewhere. She had Surge to thank for that, reluctantly.

"Dan."

"Yes Miss Sabrina?"

"Tell my apprentices to close off my Gym for a few days, I'm heading out."

"Yes Miss, where would you be going?"

"Vermillion."

"Yes Miss."

Sabrina scoffed as she turned to her inner chambers to pack things up. Thinking about it, she was fully aware that Dan was a rather committed member of her gym. He had always been doing things to the best of his abilities. She would have trained him too, if his abilities themselves weren't so completely limited. Rather, she had to take in smug trainers from all over the region, thinking that they apparently have what it takes to prove they were good enough to be one of her underlings. They always used "apprentices", but she knew that she would rather think of them as familiars to willingly do her bidding, rather than consensual beings. Of course, there were always some tough nuts to crack from time to time. That boy who came to this gym a few months ago was one of them. She had to make it a fair fight, according to the League's stupid rules. It was stupid in her opinion at least, since there was no apparent reason for gym leaders to have to tone down their assaults for some puny 10 year olds to be able to fulfill his/her dreams. She did it nonetheless though, and she lost as expected. However, she did not lose on purpose for him like many of the bratty kids that used to come to this gym, got whipped to the ground and got her badge for consolation. No, this guy was good. She hated that he turned out to be better than her.

"The port is here."

"Yeah, here's your cash."

"What, no tip?"

"Would you just piss off?"

The cab driver grunted and left. Sabrina should have felt better after doing that, but she did not. Instead, she felt even worse, but definitely not because of some guilt. Rather it was because of the fact that she would have to meet Surge soon, and there was no way around it, so it'd be better if she'd just get this over soon. She recalled when she was young, she never realized how much of a prick he was, but she does now. There was just nothing about him that she could even stand looking at anymore.

Being a gym leader, one of their privileges was to be able to board the S.S. Anne anytime they wanted, for free. She would have preferred to do so a bit more often as well, if Surge himself were not always hugging the boat like a boar and its piece of meat. It was only a few hours straight ride from Saffron to Vermillion, but this being the luxurious tour boat that it was, the S.S. Anne always took its time around the bay. She did not mind, honestly, since it would mean she could delay facing Surge. Getting on the boat at the late afternoon did not help though, considering how little time she actually had left before arriving on shore of Vermillion. It was, in fact, soon to be dinner time, and Sabrina was just sitting in her room right now, doing basically nothing. It did not bother her much though. She was psychic after all, and a great one at that. Suppressing her needs was an easy thing to do, and so was meditating.

Before she knew it, the horn of the ship had already ringed, calling her for dinner. Sabrina was torn for the briefest of moments. She was not sure whether to go to the hall to eat something or just simply stay here for the rest of the day and get out tomorrow. Weighing her options, she felt like it was a truly hard choice. On one hand, she would get more time to meditate; on the other hand, she would get some energy back, since she had not eaten anything since this morning. Sighing, she decided to get up and grab some food, since she suspected she would need all the energy she can get once tomorrow comes.

Unsurprisingly, the food did not appeal to her much. Looking over things, she decided just to go with the most efficient of meals for her money. Silly thing was that everyone had to pay their own meal regardless, even though the travel money on this trip is often skipped for several of people. That was why young trainers who got free tickets aboard the S.S. Anne usually pull themselves away from the temptation of the food court and just make due with what they had. She had not really been on this ship for too many times, but she knew how overpriced the food here can be. In fact, it bothered her so much that even though she was rich, even for a gym leader, she just chose to skip everything and keep meditating. This time was different though, as she ordered some actual food for herself. Gourmet chefs or not, she assured herself she did not need all those delicious yet little amount of food presented on the plates of others around her. They were just throwing money out the window in her opinion, and she did not feel sorry for them at all. Let those smug bastards break their own fortune, she was not here nor there to be concerned about how they spend their money.

It took her a full half hour of waiting to get her serve, even though the food court themselves were not too overly populated. She suspected it was because those cooks were just purposely trying to piss her off, but she did not care regardless. Eating her food, she had to take note of how different burgers taste when they were four times as expensive as a usual one. She did not care much about eating junk food either, unlike some other girls she could mention. Since she work out all the time, it would be hard for unhealthy things like that to be able to leave their mark on her body. At least that was one of the many things she could have been proud of.

Her meal ended quietly, nothing short of her previous expectations. The waiter did seem somewhat bothered how little she spent on her meal, but at least he had the decency not to show it while she was still there. Being the psychic that she was, it was easy for her to read his motions. If he actually said anything, she wondered, would she simply just hit him out of spite or something. People sometimes mistake her silence as a sign of calm. In truth, she was just too pissed off at what everyone else does that if she were to act on every single one of those occasions she would have been behind bars by now. The fact that she was a psychic, able to read the minds of those creeps was not helping anything at all still.

Surrendering to her own quarters, Sabrina wondered slightly about what she was going to do tomorrow. She could always bail on Surge with some ridiculous excuses that he would just buy anyways. However, that would make her nothing more than a coward who could not deal with her own problems. Her pride being hurt would probably bother her to no end, so she decided she was going to go through with it.

"We have arrived in Vermillion, and we will stay here for the next two hours. Passengers who wish to make quick trips and visits are advised to leave immediately should they want to make it back for the next course, or they would have to wait until tomorrow's morning. That is all."

Sabrina could not wait to get down from the ship. She wanted to wrap this thing up as fast as possible. She knew that the only reason which Surge did not inform her about what she needed to know through the phone was because he wanted to request a personal meeting. She hated that though. Why people can never come right up and tell her what their intentions were was beyond her. Regardless, she did not want to bother herself with him after this, so she would just make this quick.

Thankfully, she avoided any unnecessary travels due to the fact that Vermillion's gym was rather close to its port. It took her no longer than five minutes of strolling for her to arrive at its front yard. Looking at the building, Sabrina could definitely feel everything about Surge being imbued onto the construct. Signs of lightning everywhere, an extremely rigid writing of his own name being imprinted onto the side, and an unintentionally flamboyant style of decoration of old military… stuffs made everything rather dull and pretentious. Sabrina called what was in front of her military stuffs because firstly, she could not careless what they actually were and secondly, the fact that Surge kept yapping about it every time she was here just made her not want to know of them more, or else Surge could take that as a sign that suggested she might actually have been paying attention to what he said.

"Surge…" She knocked on the gym door. She expected it to be open at this point, since it was an obvious week day, but it was not. She did not care too much as for why, since Surge was never one that was punctual. Perhaps he was just asleep inside of there, since it was only seven in the morning. For whatever reason she could not fathom, the man actually slept in his own gym, filled with boxers' sweats and putrid smells that had been there ever since who-knows-when. That was also one of the many reasons why she never wanted to go back to this place again. "It's me Sabrina."

"Sabrina!" Surprisingly, Surge was already up at that point. It seemed that he was expecting her, which did not come as too unusual, since she did tell him that she would be here this morning and he knew the S.S. Anne's schedule like the back of his hand. However, she was not counting on him being on time, not even once. "Come in!"

"You are starting to make me feel uncomfortable Surge." Sabrina narrowed her eyes as she stepped into his gym. To her bemusement, it was actually cleaned. As good as that must have been, it also meant that he was preparing to meet her today, which only raised a red flag concerning his intentions. Finding a place to sit was rather inconvenient for her though, as she did not want to really touch anything that he had been using recently. After a while, she had no choice but to settle down at a far side of a couch, something that she hoped was too civilized for him to use. "So, let's get this thing out of my hair fast."

"I would not have it any other way." Surge, with a smile on his face, approached the sofa and sat down next to her. It was painfully obvious how it annoyed her, but he was not backing down. Sabrina was not feeling too great about this meeting at all, but she had to be patient, if just this once. "So, to get straight to the point, we have crowned a new champion recently."

"Is that so?" Sabrina was admittedly surprised. It was a good thing that at least Surge's military past did something good to him for once, and that was teaching him to not beat around the bushes, most of the time. "What is the League's say?"

"They want us to have a meeting, all the gym leaders." Surge shrugged as he continued explaining. If this encounter would stay like this, Sabrina would appreciate it.

"For what purpose?" She did not see much of a point considering how things were. It was not like this was the first time there was a champion during her time as gym leader. Why they suddenly had to arrange a meeting was beyond her. "What does it have to do with me?"

"Well, a complication arose." Surge conceded his expression. No one was used to seeing him like that, but Sabrina did not care too much. "You should know the new champion as a kid named Red."

"Red…" Sabrina's fist tightened. Of course she remembered him. After the last 9 months of preparation for the Pokémon League, only him and Green were able to snatch the badge from her gym rightfully. Green showed more potential at that point, but Red was different. He was just… out there. She could not really read him as well as she wanted to, as if there was just something so cut off about the kid, and it bothered her even now. "Yeah, I know him. What about him?"

"He refused to take the position as one of the next Elite Fours." Surge stated coldly. Sabrina nodded, not sure of what to make of that news. It was certainly understandable how one would be concerned about that. Rumors could go around on how the Kanto Pokémon League could not keep hold of its most prestigious contestants to date. She could see the flares sparked from something like that, definitely. The League had already made a huge and controversial breakthrough of not always keeping the champion, unlike the other regions, and something like this could push public opinions over the edge. "It would have been fine too, if Lance did not set his sight to quit the Elite Four."

"Is that so?" That was always a bit of news that could stir up trouble. Sabrina understood that, and she definitely did not want her day job to be interfered by some random chain of events that might threaten what she had now. "Why is that?"

"He was apparently concerned of his own strength, having lost to two trainers in a row." Sabrina raised an eyebrow at that, as if she was not following what Surge had been saying. He quickly patched up his explanations. "Oh yeah, Green was actually the first one to beat the Elite Four. However, only after a few hours was he beaten by Red and was basically robbed of his Champion title. Poor kid was devastated and did not turn up ever since, and I've always liked him more."

"I see." Sabrina suspected that was it, since Surge had stopped talking. Concerning the meeting, she would probably not enjoy it. New bloods were going to be there, and she hated strangers, most of them anyways. There were not so many people that she actually did not hate every time a League meeting was conducted. "I understand. So can I go now?"

"There is… one other thing I wish to talk to you about, Sabrina." Surge hesitated before saying that, but he was still on the sofa, and the female psychic did not like it at all. She was feeling extremely uncomfortable as it is. He then made a confused smile, which did not go too well with his conversation partner. "It's kind of personal."

"Really…" Sabrina was definitely uninterested. Anything that he had to say at this point would not matter to her the slightest bit. She was only still sitting there because of proper manners that were forced down her throat once she was a kid. Despite how he hated to admit it, she was never really able to get herself away from attending to such a thing. "Whatever it is, I must say it's boring me."

"Fine, here goes." Surge, as funny as it looked, sucked up a large breathe and went with his guts. "You know how we have known together for such a long time, right? I mean I was with you when you were much younger, and it was way before the war too. Now, after all this time, since you've become such a wonderful young woman, I'd like to ask you out."

"You're not serious…" Sabrina did not actually expect this. She had always suspected that Surge had some kind of unnerving affection towards her, but she had truly never expected something like this. The worst part was: it was actually getting to her. Not because that she had any feelings for him, no, but because she was afraid that he would never let this go.

"I am. Why wouldn't you believe me?" Surge seemed hurt by her words. Sabrina rolled her eyes, as to express exactly how she felt. He had prepared and cleaned up everything for her arrival and anything. Surely she must have seen how caring he was.

"Maybe because you're a huge prick." Sabrina grunted. She was definitely not appreciating this conversation. It did not matter how she seemed about this matter, there was absolutely no way she could get with a guy like Surge.

"That was one time, and it was not even anything romantic!" Surge tried his best to explain himself. It was pathetic, in Sabrina's opinion, how he probably thought that he was not at fault when it happened. He had failed her badly once, and her view of him changed drastically after that point, and it had only worsened since.

"I'm a lesbian you numbskull, is that so hard for you to get?" Sabrina was ready to blow up on him, but she held herself. He was not worth it, she conceded. Instead, she simply stood up and motioned herself towards the door. "I won't have any part of this."

"Sabrina!" Surge grabbed her hand rather forcefully. She almost screamed. The last thing she wanted was to get physical, but the ex-marine in front of her was probably too much of an idiot to be able to realize that. He had never really been able to pull himself out of his apparent fantasy, and she saw no hope in him. "Don't say that, you just haven't been able to find the right man. I can..."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." She slapped his hand of her arm. At least she was decent enough to let go after that. "Look, lieutenant, I know you have your Voltorbs and Magnemites here, but unlike those Pokémons, your real balls aren't actually made of steel, and it would prove beneficial to everyone the sooner you realize that. If you dare speak of this to me again, I would have to prove that to you, do you understand me?"

"Sabrina…"

"Do you god damn understand me?" Sabrina finally cracked. She had already run out of patient for this man, and was not afraid of proving her point if it came down to it.

"Fine…" Surge huffed. He was not about to call her bluff on that. Knowing her for so long, he was rather aware of just what she was capable of. He was not about to give up though, not by a long shot.

"Glad we reached an agreement."

Sabrina was angry at everything at that point. Not only did that meeting took precious time off her schedule, Surge's little Casanova act did not help lift her mood either. Walking back to the ship, she wondered if she should just go home, or maybe some resting time on the cruise would do her some good. After a moment of self-deliberating, she decided that it was probably best for her to stay upon the ship for a few more days. She did not need any more problems to come her way after all. The ship's horn rang as the S.S. Anne departed.

"Next stop: Celadon city."