At last, night fell, and the moon hung in the sky.
Xiao Yan and his companions passed through a forest on their way to the Gym in Saffron City.
"This late at night, with all this thick fog? What a pain in the ass."
"Stop complaining, Xiao Yan. You've been at it for over an hour. Isn't that enough? Are you going to keep making me suffer?"
"Fine, I'll shut up." Without Xiao Yan's grumbling, the forest became especially quiet.
"Hehehehehehehehe." A little girl's laughter suddenly reached my ears. Was that supposed to be laughter?!
A little girl kept running ahead until she vanished into the thick fog.
I stood there, bewildered. To think I was scared of a little girl with a creepy laugh. I chased after her and spotted her again, but she suddenly sped up. Just as I was about to catch her, I felt nothing beneath my feet.
"Aaaah!!!!!!" There were plenty of ways to die, but apparently mine was going to be falling off a cliff while chasing a girl. Just before I hit the ground, a creature caught me.
"Charizard!?"
"Rooar~~~" Charizard answered me.
"Xiao Yan, are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Charizard carried me back to the edge of the cliff.
"Seriously, you just started running ahead like a madman."
"Sorry. Look over there. That's Saffron City." Xiao Yan pointed at a nearby town. Several tall buildings rose from it, making it look quite prosperous.
Charizard took them along a shortcut, and they soon arrived in Saffron City...
"Thanks, Charizard!" After recalling Charizard, Xiao Yan headed toward the Saffron Gym with Xiao Lan.
The city's glittering lights looked like colorful fireworks scattered across the earth. Streams of bright headlights flowed endlessly along the roads like a river of stars. Saffron Square was packed with people and bustling with activity, while the city lights illuminated the night sky.
"So this is the Saffron Gym." Xiao Yan was a little scared, worried that he would be turned into a doll and have to sleep in a dollhouse, single forever.
"Young man, are you sure you want to go into Sabrina's Gym?" a middle-aged man standing beside the Gym entrance asked Xiao Yan.
"I'm here to get my Saffron Badge." Xiao Yan turned to answer the man. After hearing his reply, the man ran off in the blink of an eye.
"Wow, this place looks more like a temple than a battlefield." Xiao Yan grew increasingly unnerved. (Xiao Yan currently had nine Pokémon: Charizard, Arceus, Ho-Oh, Pikachu, Dragonite, Eevee, Riolu, Squirtle, and Entei.)
"Xiao Yan, I don't like it here. This place feels strange," Xiao Lan said, tugging at the hem of his shirt.
"Don't worry. I'll finish this quickly."
Just then, a chair appeared ahead of them. An expressionless girl sat on it, holding a doll.
"Sabrina, battle me. I want the Saffron Badge."
"Fine, but on one condition. If you lose, you have to become my friend." Sabrina immediately hugged the doll in her arms tighter.
"No problem!"
Xiao Yan and Sabrina, the Saffron Gym Leader, stood at opposite ends of the battlefield.
(Am I seeing this right?! There's no referee?!)
Sabrina sent out Kadabra.
"This will be a one-on-one battle," Sabrina said curtly.
After a moment's thought, Xiao Yan sent out Ho-Oh. As soon as Ho-Oh appeared, Pressure (Ability) activated. (In the games, it doubled the opponent's move PP consumption, but in reality, there was no limit on how many times a move could be used, so the Pressure ability caused Pokémon to expend stamina especially quickly. An original setting.)
"Ho-Oh, this is our first battle. Let's do our best!"
"Of course, Trainer!"
Without Sabrina opening her mouth to give an order, Kadabra launched a wave of Confusion. Ho-Oh flapped its wings, generating tremendous energy that blocked the wave.
"That's Ho-Oh for you! Now it's our turn to attack. Fire Blast!"
Fire Blast closed in on Kadabra, but in the blink of an eye, Kadabra appeared on the other side as though it had used Teleport.
"Fool. This is called Synchronize. No matter how powerful a move is, it's useless unless it hits."
Xiao Yan had actually been looked down on by a little girl.
"..."
(I remember that Kadabra's thoughts are already synchronized with Sabrina's, so her reactions should affect Kadabra too.)
Xiao Yan watched Ho-Oh repeatedly attack Kadabra while Kadabra kept teleporting away. Then Xiao Yan did something that shocked everyone. Ho-Oh froze, Kadabra froze, and everyone else froze too.
"Pfft." Sabrina laughed at the funny face Xiao Yan was making.
"Sabrina, before we resume the battle, I want to set a condition too. If I win this battle, please promise me that you won't use your psychic powers to hurt people or turn them into dolls anymore," Xiao Yan said earnestly while still making faces.
"Whatever, hahaha~~~" Sabrina was still laughing, and Kadabra laughed along with her.
"Ho-Oh, Hyper Beam!" Xiao Yan knew Ho-Oh would be unable to move for a while after firing Hyper Beam, but the move dealt considerable damage. He could only gamble on taking Kadabra down in one hit.
Energy steadily gathered in Ho-Oh's mouth, then a fierce Hyper Beam shot toward Kadabra. Since Sabrina was still laughing, Kadabra's thoughts were disrupted as well. Naturally, it was sent flying...
Kadabra collapsed in the corner by the wall, unable to battle. After recalling Kadabra, Sabrina walked over to Xiao Yan.
"Challenger, as promised, I won't use my psychic powers to hurt anyone anymore. Here's the Saffron Badge. Congratulations!"
"Thank you. Also, you look pretty when you smile. You should smile more often."
Sabrina blushed, lowered her head, and said nothing.
(I didn't do that on purpose. I was just saying what I thought.)
"Xiao Yan, a psychic performance~."
"All right, all right. I'll take you to see it in a bit."
And so, Xiao Yan obtained the Saffron Gym's Badge.
Before you continue