A breeze stirred the tall grass, rustling softly.
Kazuki hadn't surrendered himself to Sabrina.
As dawn broke and the first glimmers of morning light painted the skyline, Sabrina slowly pushed herself up, her voice stubborn as ever.
"This time... we'll call it a draw!"
A faint flush bloomed on her cheeks as she looked down at Kazuki. There was no need for further words. Yet for someone as proud as Sabrina, leaving that sentence unsaid would have felt like admitting defeat.
She locked eyes with the prone Kazuki for a long moment before finally pulling out the Marsh Badge.
Kneeling down gently, she leaned in close to his ear, retrieved her own discarded clothing from his hand, and whispered sweetly:
"This isn't some kind of prize for a playboy."
"This is a badge meant for a warrior."
"Win the Championship—and then come back. We'll settle things properly."
She placed the Marsh Badge on his chest, brushed a soft kiss upon it, then disappeared into the morning dew, leaving nothing behind but crushed grass and lingering warmth.
Still half-dreaming, Kazuki fumbled the badge into the side pocket of his clothes bundle.
"Hm?"
Suddenly blinking in confusion, he shot up to a sitting position, shirtless and startled.
"Wait, Sabrina—you said you were going to teach me psychic powers, didn't you?"
Just then, another breeze blew by, lifting his jacket and gently draping it over his shoulders. From within the wind, her voice floated to him, serene and playful.
"Silly boy... There are no shortcuts to mastering psychic power. Only tireless training!"
"There are only two ways to rapidly boost psychic abilities."
"One—genetic inheritance. A gift from birth. The other…"
The wind paused. The silence thickened with a subtle shyness.
"…is taking the first red essence of a psychic girl."
"You, now... You're a beginner-level Psychic."
The breeze faded, taking her voice with it.
Kazuki chuckled as he bent down to pick up his clothes. "Heh, who says it's always so absolute? Maybe the system'll unlock some kind of shortcut later…"
Halfway down, realization hit.
"Wait... wasn't last night with Sabrina...?"
"I am a beginner-level Psychic now?"
Taking a deep breath, he straightened, stretched out a hand, and tried focusing his psychic energy. To his amazement, his shirt and pants lifted cleanly into the air.
"Ha! Knew it!"
His clothes didn't even drop when he got excited.
After dressing, he attempted teleportation. A flash of light—and he reappeared a few meters away.
Not far, but enough.
In his head, knowledge about proper psychic training methods had appeared from nowhere, clear as day.
Kazuki tapped his forehead, grinning.
"How does this even work? We 'did it' and suddenly I inherit her training knowledge?"
"It's like... some kind of magic?"
"Haha, this is wild."
Now that he had powers, he wasn't about to walk like a chump. With one teleport after another, Kazuki zipped his way back to the Pokémon Center—though the constant jumps did take a toll. By the time he arrived, he was panting and out of breath.
Misty had just woken and was heading out with Nurse Joy to visit a food supplier. She spotted Kazuki doubled over and rushed over.
"Kazuki—what happened to you?" Misty gasped, helping him stand. "You look like you just plowed half a field!"
Kazuki waved her off, trying to catch his breath. "Didn't really burn that much energy plowing."
"It's the psychic teleportation practice that's got me exhausted."
"You did plow a field?! I thought you went to get the Marsh Badge?" Misty gently rubbed his back, clearly not catching the double meaning.
"Heh, just kidding," Kazuki said with a sly grin, producing the golden badge with a dramatic flourish.
"Whoa! You actually won? That's amazing!" Misty beamed, then looked past him and whispered, "Hey, uh, where's that psychic Gym Leader, Sabrina?"
"She didn't give you any trouble? Just handed it over that easy?"
"Oh, she gave me plenty of trouble. I gave her a real beating, and then she gave me the badge."
Misty's jaw dropped. "You... you hit her?! Are you crazy?!"
"No way," Nurse Joy chimed in, joining their conversation. "Miss Sabrina of Saffron Gym? I've never heard of anyone getting that close to her. You're being teased."
"Ugh! Kazuki, you're messing with me again," Misty pouted. She raised a hand to swat him but ended up only brushing his arm with a sigh. "Whatever. At least you came back safe with the badge."
"Come on! Let's go check out the food supplier."
With Misty's support, Kazuki followed Joy forward. But her comment stuck in his mind.
No one can get within ten meters of her?
But... he'd already gotten close. Really close. Before she even cracked a smile.
Weird.
Well, not like it matters. We've already been well past zero distance. What's a few meters now?
He chuckled. Hopefully when I come back to pick her up, she won't be so... yandere. If she's still like that, no one else will ever have a shot at me!
Yandere. Tsundere. Psychic.
That combo was... something else. And the best part? No props, no tricks—she was one hundred percent bound to him.
Bound a bit tight, sure. But hey, that's what Poké Balls are for.
Kazuki took a deep, satisfied breath and twirled his fingers, sneaking a tiny braid into Misty's hair as they walked side by side to the store.
In the end, the custom food cost nearly twice the usual price. Still, they bought it—and soon, they were back on the road to continue their journey.
---
The same day Kazuki left the city, Sabrina floated to the very top of the Saffron Gym, cradling another new doll. She gazed longingly into the distance where he had vanished.
It wasn't just any doll—it was a chibi-style Kazuki.
Sabrina beamed as she rocked the plushie in her arms.
"Kazuki, you'd better win the Indigo League!"
"You're the only friend I've ever had in my whole life!"
"Actually... now I guess we're not really 'friends' anymore, huh? We're more like... lovers, right?"
"Ehehehe... when you come back with that championship, we're gonna have a real rematch!"
"Next time, I'm beating you. Whether it's with Pokémon... or lessons!"
Her eyes sparkled pink with psychic light as she perched the plush Kazuki on her lap, smile uncontainable.
---
Back on the road, Kazuki suddenly felt something off with his pants. He hastily yanked them up.
"Hey! What's with you, perv? We're barely out of the city and you're already trying to take your pants off?" Misty teased, glancing at his flustered reaction.
"What?! No—I swear, the waistband just felt loose!"
Kazuki checked again, confused.
"But wait… I tied them just like this earlier. Did I get skinnier?"
He looked back toward Saffron Gym. For a second, he swore he saw Sabrina's lovesick grin flash across his mind.
"You lost weight?" Misty's shout yanked him back.
"We've been eating the same stuff! I weighed myself with Nurse Joy and I gained weight!"
"How'd you lose any?!"
She poked his stomach suspiciously. "Hmm, still there."
Kazuki retaliated by pinching her side. "And you definitely put on a little. Having too much fun lately, huh?"
"Hehe, we've been taking transports so often lately," Misty admitted sheepishly. "It's fine! We walk for a couple days and I'll be back in shape."
"Oh right—we haven't even let the Pokémon try the new food yet!"
"Let's call them out and see what they think!"
Grateful for the subject change, Kazuki released his full team and began taking inventory.
[Lv34. Pikachu, equipped with Light Ball and Electric Booster Disc, has consumed Special Grade Experience Boost Potion]
[Lv37. Pidgeot, equipped with Sharp Beak and Swift Wing, has eaten Top-grade Swordcap]
[Lv33. Wartortle, equipped with Mystic Water]
[Lv33. Bulbasaur, equipped with Everstone and Miracle Seed]
[Lv30. Charmeleon, equipped with Charcoal, currently using Elite Trainer Kit]
[Lv22. Gastly]
It was true—he hadn't done much level grinding lately. Aside from Wartortle's training at sea and Charmeleon's use of the Elite Kit, progress had stalled.
[Ding! Mission Triggered—"Full Steam Ahead": Congratulations, Host! You've collected half the required badges! Keep it up! From the list below, earn badges using only one Pokémon per battle for generous rewards!]
[Mission Rewards: Defeat Celadon Gym, earn Rainbow Badge: One Grass-type Pokémon gains 5 levels.
Defeat Fuchsia Gym, earn Soul Badge: One Poison-type Pokémon gains 5 levels.
Defeat Cinnabar Gym, earn Volcano Badge: One Fire-type Pokémon gains 5 levels.]
Kazuki grinned. "Nice! Now this is a system."
Just when leveling was slowing down, the system delivered buffs.
Except for Gastly, all of his Pokémon had now reached Elite-tier levels. Grinding on wilds wouldn't cut it anymore.
He glanced at the listed Gyms—standard Kanto lineup.
Still, fighting with just one Pokémon per match would make things tricky. Not impossible, though. At least the system hadn't included Giovanni's Viridian Gym. That would've been sadistic.
Still... the Perfect Justice Mission was tied to that gym—and Mewtwo.
He'd definitely be taking that on later.
Back then, all he had was a low-level, mostly-cute Pikachu, so he'd pretended the Viridian Gym didn't exist when passing through the city.
But now? Now he had a team.
A team worthy of facing Giovanni.
And with a few more levels and upgrades, that battle would be his.
Still, he wondered... would Giovanni really unleash Mewtwo on a rookie like him?