Kanto region, Saffron City.
Inside the Saffron Gym, a routine training session was underway.
"Kadabra, use Psychic."
Sabrina stood at the edge of the training field and calmly gave the command.
"Kadabra!"
At the center of the field, Kadabra raised his spoon, his eyes glowing a faint blue.
The next second, several heavy metal training targets slowly floated into the air, forming a neat row.
As Kadabra increased his psychic output, the metal targets began moving along different paths, faster and faster.
Sabrina watched for a while, then gently raised her hand.
"Control the three on the left. Keep the rest where they are."
Kadabra immediately did as instructed.
Of the six training targets, three suddenly changed direction, tracing an arc through the air, while the other three remained firmly in place.
The entire process was smooth, without even the slightest unnecessary wobble.
Sabrina nodded in satisfaction.
For Psychic-type Pokémon, precise control was often more valuable than simply increasing a move's power.
Especially against faster opponents, excellent control of Confusion could create many opportunities in battle.
At that thought, Sabrina suddenly recalled the manga she had read two days earlier.
"Pokémon Adventures."
The Kadabra in it also possessed excellent psychic control.
Although she thought certain tactics still had room for improvement, the manga artist named Masuda Senbei did indeed know something about Psychic-type Pokémon.
At least, he was far better than many of the Gym Challengers she had encountered before.
"Kadabra!"
As the last training target returned to the ground, Kadabra finished his training.
Sabrina was about to let him rest when footsteps came from outside the training room.
"Gym Leader."
A Gym staff member walked in.
"Mr. Lt. Surge from the Vermilion Gym called. He said he wanted to discuss something with you."
"Lt. Surge?"
Sabrina was a little surprised.
She had little personal connection with the Electric-type Gym Leader of the Vermilion Gym, and they rarely contacted each other.
Still, since the call came from another Gym Leader, she did not refuse it.
"Put him through."
The staff member nodded and left.
A moment later, the communication screen beside the training room lit up.
A tall, burly man with short blond hair appeared on the screen.
"Haha! Sabrina, long time no see!"
The moment Lt. Surge's booming voice came through, Kadabra frowned beside her.
Sabrina looked at the screen, her tone calm.
"What is it?"
"Of course I've got something!"
Lt. Surge waved the manga magazine in his hand.
"Have you read this?"
Sabrina's gaze fell on the magazine cover.
"Shonen Adventure."
And in the center of the cover was the manga title she had already become quite familiar with.
"Pokémon Adventures."
"Yes."
Sabrina nodded.
"Oh? You know this manga too?"
Lt. Surge immediately perked up.
"Then you must know there's a character in it who looks exactly like you, right?"
"I know."
"And she's a Team Rocket executive!"
"Mm."
"And she even has to take orders from Giovanni!"
"I know."
Lt. Surge: "..."
He opened his mouth, suddenly unsure how to continue.
Why wasn't this girl reacting at all?
When he had first read the manga, he had nearly torn the magazine apart.
Yet after hearing him say all that, Sabrina had not even changed her expression.
"Come on, Sabrina. Don't you think this is a little ridiculous?"
Sabrina glanced at him.
"So you called me just for this?"
"Of course!"
Lt. Surge slapped the manga down on the table.
"I'm the esteemed Gym Leader of Vermilion City! Since when did I become a Team Rocket executive? And that Masuda Senbei guy even made me Giovanni's subordinate!"
"What do you call that?"
Sabrina fell silent for a moment.
Then she said something Lt. Surge had not expected.
"I've already met him."
"Oh, you've met him... wait!"
Lt. Surge abruptly sat up straight.
"Who did you meet?"
"Masuda Senbei."
"That manga artist?!"
"Mm."
Lt. Surge froze for several seconds.
Then he could not help bursting into laughter.
"Well, damn! You actually moved faster than I did!"
"When did you meet him?"
"A few days ago."
"Where?"
"His studio in Celadon City."
At that, Lt. Surge could not help quirking his mouth.
Although he had not experienced Sabrina's temper firsthand many times, he had heard plenty of rumors.
The psychic girl of the Saffron Gym was certainly not someone to be trifled with.
Especially with those psychic powers of hers.
An ordinary Trainer facing her probably would not even get a chance to resist.
Yet that manga artist had actually dared to depict someone like her as a Team Rocket executive.
Lt. Surge suddenly felt a little sympathy for him.
"Haha! You didn't do anything to that kid, did you?"
"No."
"Really?"
Lt. Surge looked skeptical.
Sabrina ignored his teasing.
She simply recounted her visit to the studio, including the issue of the characters' likenesses and the measures the two sides had discussed taking afterward.
Hearing that the publisher had already added a notice to the magazine, Lt. Surge's expression softened a little.
Still, there was one thing he could not figure out.
"By the way, what exactly was that Masuda Senbei thinking?"
"What?"
"Why did he make us villains?"
Lt. Surge pointed at himself in the manga.
"Do I look that much like a bad guy?"
Sabrina thought for a moment.
"He said that because I'm strong, I'm suited to being a villain."
"..."
Lt. Surge froze.
A moment later, he rubbed his chin and nodded thoughtfully.
"Because you're powerful, you're suited to being a villain?"
"Mm."
"When you put it that way, it does kind of make sense!"
Lt. Surge suddenly laughed.
As the Vermilion Gym's Leader, he had always been quite confident in his strength.
The villainous executives in the manga all looked imposing, and the Pokémon they commanded were powerful too.
Thinking of it that way, being cast as an important villain seemed to be a kind of recognition of his strength.
"Hahaha! This Masuda Senbei has a pretty good eye!"
Lt. Surge proudly patted his chest.
"My Raichu isn't something an ordinary Trainer can handle!"
Sabrina looked at him and suddenly asked, "Are you still angry, then?"
"Angry? Haha, what's there to be angry about?"
Lt. Surge waved a hand.
"It's a manga. A little exaggeration in the character designs is normal!"
The more he spoke, the more sense it made to him.
He even picked up the magazine from the table and began leafing through it again.
"And you know what? This guy really does know how to draw Pokémon!"
"Especially Electric-type moves. He draws those really well!"
Lt. Surge pointed at one of the pages.
"Look at this Raichu. That Thunderbolt looks really impressive! And that stance-you can tell at a glance it's professional!"
At the other end of the call, Sabrina did not interrupt him.
The doll in her arms quietly peeked its head out, however, as though it wanted to read the manga too.
Lt. Surge was still talking nonstop.
"I think if this manga artist draws a few more Electric-type Pokémon battles down the line, they'll definitely be worth watching!"
"Wait, there's more after this?"
He turned a page and suddenly stopped.
In the panels, Red and the others had already begun a head-on clash with the Team Rocket executives.
And Lt. Surge, as one of the villainous executives, was commanding his Pokémon in battle.
As he kept reading, the smile gradually vanished from his face.
"Hmm?"
He turned another page.
"Wait..."
He read further.
The tide of battle in the manga turned, and Red seized an opening, successfully breaking through Raichu's attack.
Lt. Surge stared at the panels, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
By the time he saw his manga self ultimately lose the clash against the young Trainer, he had gone completely quiet.
"..."
Sabrina looked at the communication screen.
"What's wrong?"
Lt. Surge did not answer.
He flipped back to the earlier pages to make sure he had not missed anything.
Then he carefully read through that battle again.
A few seconds later.
"This is outrageous!"
His roar nearly distorted the audio coming through the communicator.
The Kadabra beside Sabrina covered his ears in displeasure.
"That Masuda Senbei!"
Lt. Surge was so angry that he stood straight up.
"He actually made me lose to a bunch of brats?!"
Sabrina watched him calmly.
"You just said there was nothing to get angry about."
"That was then!"
Lt. Surge pointed indignantly at the manga.
"Look! My Raichu clearly still had stamina left, so how did he get defeated?"
"And here!"
He flipped to one of the pages.
"This tactic could clearly have kept the battle going! Just adjust the rhythm of the attacks a little, and there'd be no need to rush like this!"
When it came to Pokémon battles, Lt. Surge had clearly gotten serious.
He spread the manga out on the table and carefully analyzed both sides' actions.
He had to admit that the tactical arrangements in the manga were quite good.
His opponents used their type advantages to seek opportunities, and their commands were quite bold.
But in his view, his manga counterpart had still underestimated the enemy a little too much.
Especially when facing young Trainers, he had actually made several mistakes in a row that should never have happened.
"What a joke!"
The more Lt. Surge read, the less he could accept it.
"If I really ran into a situation like this, how could I possibly lose so easily!"
Watching him, Sabrina suddenly remembered what she had said at the studio in Celadon City a few days earlier.
At the time, she seemed to have raised similar objections to her own performance in the manga.
It seemed this fellow called Masuda Senbei really did have a talent for making people angry.
"So what are you going to do?"
Sabrina asked.
Lt. Surge snorted.
"Go have a talk with that manga artist, of course!"
"Go see him?"
"That's right!"
Lt. Surge closed the manga, looking eager to get started.
"I'm going to ask him why he made my battle so frustrating!"
"If he doesn't agree, I can even have Raichu give him a live demonstration!"
As he spoke, he reached out and patted the Raichu beside him.
"Raichu!"
Raichu excitedly raised his paws.
Although he had absolutely no idea why his Trainer had suddenly gotten so worked up, he was naturally more than happy to have a chance to show off his strength.
Seeing this, Sabrina made no attempt to stop him.
"Suit yourself."
"Haha! It's settled, then!"
Lt. Surge nodded in satisfaction.
"When I've got some free time, I'll go to Celadon City and have a chat with that Masuda Senbei!"
He thought for a moment, then added another question.
"Oh, right. Where exactly is his studio?"
Sabrina glanced at him.
"That's his private residence."
"Huh?"
"The publisher can contact him."
Lt. Surge paused, then laughed.
"All right! I'll contact the publisher first, then!"
Sabrina said nothing more.
She had already warned Shiraishi Ritsu that the other two Gym Leaders in the manga would notice their characters sooner or later.
Now that Lt. Surge had indeed come calling, it was within her expectations.
It was just that...
Sabrina lowered her head and glanced at the copy of Pokémon Adventures beside her.
She suddenly felt that if Lt. Surge really went to see that manga artist, the scene would probably be quite interesting.
"Lt. Surge."
Just as he was about to end the call, she suddenly spoke.
"Hmm? Anything else?"
"That Smeargle draws very well."
Lt. Surge froze.
"Smeargle?"
"Yes."
Sabrina nodded.
"All the artwork in the manga was done by him."
"Oh, I know that!"
Lt. Surge said with a smile, "I've heard the boys at the Gym mention it. They said that Masuda Senbei has a Smeargle who's especially good at drawing!"
"He's very smart."
Sabrina continued.
"And very talented at drawing."
At this, Lt. Surge's expression grew increasingly strange.
"Wait, Sabrina."
"Hmm?"
"Weren't we just talking about that manga artist?"
"Yes."
"Then why do you keep telling me about Smeargle?"
Sabrina thought for a moment.
Then she answered in all seriousness:
"Because he's more capable than that manga artist."
Lt. Surge: "..."
He looked at the utterly serious Sabrina on the screen, momentarily at a loss for words.
Only after a long while did he wave a hand helplessly.
"All right, all right, I know that Smeargle draws well!"
"But I'm going there to discuss the battles in the manga with that Masuda Senbei!"
"Not to admire Smeargle's artwork!"
Sabrina nodded calmly.
"Then I wish you success."
Lt. Surge was just about to respond when the communicator's screen went dark.
Clearly, Sabrina had simply ended the call.
"..."
Lt. Surge stared at the darkened screen, stunned for a few seconds.
Then he couldn't help laughing as he grumbled.
"That girl really hasn't changed one bit!"
The Raichu beside him leaned closer curiously.
"Raichu?"
"It's nothing!"
Lt. Surge patted his head and picked up the manga from the table again.
First, he looked at the author's pen name on the cover, then flipped to the page where he was defeated.
His mouth gradually spread into a grin.
"Masuda Senbei, huh?"
"I'm going to see just what kind of manga artist you are!"
With that, he picked up the communicator and began searching for the contact information for the publisher of Shonen Adventure magazine.
Meanwhile, far away in Celadon City, Shiraishi Ritsu still had no idea that he was about to welcome a second Gym Leader who was deeply dissatisfied with the manga's plot.
He was sitting at the workbench with Smeargle, enthusiastically discussing the storyboards for the next installment.
"Partner, I think we can make Lt. Surge look a little fiercer here!"
"Smeargle!"
Smeargle nodded in wholehearted agreement.
Shiraishi Ritsu smiled in satisfaction.
"Yes! That's exactly the kind of menacing presence a villain needs!"