Kaori was making his way towards Saffron City; he is quite exited as well as nervous due to the next gym battle. Sabrina is quite the challenger, and if Ash hasn't arrived at the city yet, she'll be that semi-sadistic child that poses as a woman.
Kaori keeps walking until he senses something moving on his waist pouch, it was Haunter's Pokéball. Kaori was quite worried by the condition his ghostly confidant was going through, and not being able to help him was even worse so, knowing that he has woken up brightened his mood.
Kaori released Haunter and the ghost-type was back to his usual self. Kaori did some mock battles between his own Pokémons and after a few of them he concluded that his haunter is indeed OK.
Kaori was a bit worried about his haunter but the system reassured him that everything was going ok…for the moment.
Kaori kept walking and decided to make a sprint towards Saffron. The youngster ran towards Saffron at top speed. Kaori took this time to enjoy the breeze while running, he also saw various Pokémons off the road and he was happy about it, he feels embraced by the world.
After a few hours.
Kaori finally arrived at Saffron and was ecstatic about his next gym badge. Kaori quickly made his way towards the city and took his Pokémons out.
"Alright, guys! Let's play for the day and then we'll have our gym battle tomorrow!" Kaori.
His team cheers and realize something, there's a limit amount of Pokémons that Kaori can bring per battle. They began to look amongst themselves about the matter.
Fearow, Monferno, Beedrill, Ivysaur, Eevee and Haunter have all battled in at least 1 gym battle. Although Monferno and Fearow have battled in two, both of them were aching for a battle against Sabrina.
Kaori knew that it wouldn't be good if the situation escalates further and tries to calm his team down. Normally, he would've gone for Haunter and Beedrill, but after Haunter's last performance, he decided to let him adapt to the shadow energy before it consumes him.
"Guys, the one who'll be fighting are gonna be, Beedrill and Eevee." Kaori announced.
The rest of the team felt dejected while the bug and vee duo were happy about it. Beedrill wanted to fight against Lt. Surge but was not allowed and Eevee wanted to fight Erika but was also denied.
So, now they're really excited about this outcome.
Kaori and his team spent the whole day playing/training together and at night, Kaori decided to focus on Haunter. Haunter has been trying to control the shadow energy for over an hour but he always gets out of control.
Kaori had to alternate between Fearow and Monferno to keep him at bay but, it's been getting tiring to keep up with him at that state. Haunter's problem was not the shadow energy itself; but rather his own inability to overcome it.
'Does Haunter have some emotional trauma? Should I ask him about his home and fix this from the get-go?' Kaori thought.
Kaori looked at Haunter's trust on him and since it was only 30%, he decided to wait until he was 50% for it to be a safe path to explore. Kaori ended the training and made a mental note to only let Haunter ever fight again in harder matches, that way, he can be more tired and the shadow energy won't screw him too much.
[The next day]
Kaori made is way into Sabrina's gym, he knew that she's gonna use a Pokémon from the Abra evolutionary line, but he has no ide which one it may be. Her Kadabra might've evolved into Alakazam already. Or, she could use some different Pokémons completely.
Kaori entered the gym and was received by a man using sports clothes in the gym lobby.
'Sabrina's dad, well, I guess that seeing that Ash just came from Saffron, this was expected. I'm still relieved that her other half was dealt with.' Kaori sighed in relief.
"Welcome to Saffron City's Gym, are you a challenger?"
"Yes, I came to challenge the gym leader." Kaori.
"Very well, please come forth."
Sabrina's dad guided Kaori throughout the building, it wasn't only a gym building, it also had kids' playgrounds and other recreational devices.
"Are you surprised?"
"Ah, yes. I wasn't expecting this when I came." Kaori.
"Well, truth to be told, a few weeks ago; a youngster defeated the gym leader and she, who was going through some difficult moments, remodeled the whole gym to allow kids enjoy themselves in here."
"I see…WAIT! A few weeks? Don't you mean a few months?" Kaori.
"No, Sabrina holds quite the power within the league, that and her psychic powers allowed this gym to be remodeled in such a short amount of time."
"I see. I hope she's not too tired to fight me." Kaori.
"Nonsense. She's been eagerly waiting for the next challenger since that battle. You don't have to worry about anything."
Soon, both of them arrived at the arena. The arena had lava lamps on the walls and the whole place gave off an abstracted vibe, Kaori was excited about his battle and saw Sabrina sitting on a chair while playing with a Haunter.
"Welcome, my name is Sabrina and I'm the gym leader of Saffron city." Sabrina.
"I'm Kaori, future champion of Kanto!" Kaori.
"That so…I hope you can show me in battle if you speak truth about it." Sabrina.
Sabrina signaled her Haunter and Haunter went to the sidelines with Sabrina's father. Both trainers took their positions and glare at each other friendlily.
"This is a 3vs3 Pokémon battle, the gym leader and challenger switch out their Pokémons without restraint and the winner will be the one that defeats all three of its opponents Pokémons, is that clear?"
Both trainers nod and Kaori was thinking about his third pick.
"Send your first Pokémon!"
"Go now!" Sabrina.
"Eevee, I choose you!" Kaori.
Sabrina sends out a Mr. Mime and Kaori began the battle with Evee.
"Ready...…BEGIN!!!"
"Reflect and Light Screen!" Sabrina.
Mr. Mime created two barriers around himself that cut off the power of physical and special attacking moves.
"Eevee, use Substitute!" Kaori.
Eevee created a green doll that adjusted its size and got stuck on its fur.
"Psybeam!" Sabrina.
Mr. Mime charges a powerful psychic beam and shoots it towards Eevee.
"Evade with Quick Attack and prepare an Iron Tail!" Kaori.
Eevee ran through the arena and was slowly making its way towards Mr. Mime.
"Create barriers to block Eevee's path!" Sabrina.
Mr. Mime enveloped itself in barriers and stopped Eevee's attack.
"Shadow Ball!" Kaori.
Eevee began his barrage of attacks against Mr. Mime's barriers. Mr. Mime kept protecting itself against Eevee's barrage but his vision was getting clouded by the dust.
"Alright Eevee, use Double Team and go with the plan B!" Kaori.
Eevee creates its clones and hides itself within the dust. A bunch of Eevees continue to barrage the barriers and cracks begin to appear on them.
"Eliminate everyone with Psychic." Sabrina.
Mr. Mime's eyes glowed blue and send a pulse of psychic energy around itself. One after another, the Eevees were damaged by the Psychic and began to disappear. Once the last one vanished, Sabrina was confused as to where is the real Eevee.
Eevee emerged from below Mr. Mime and tackled him.
"Toxic!" Kaoir.
Eevee shoots a blob of poisonous energy towards Mr. Mime's chest and poisons him. Mr. Mime's face has a dark shade of purple and he begins to breathe heavily.
"Now, Iron Tail!" Kaori.
Eevee's tail glows grey and dashes towards Mr. Mime.
'The barriers are still there but, Mr. Mime can't concentrate enough due to the poison. Then, I'll clash head on.'
"Focus Punch!" Sabrina.
Mr. Mime's fist begins to glow orange as Eevee dashes closer and closer to him. Eevee delivers the Iron Tail and Mr. Mime counters with the Focus Punch.
A big dust cloud envelops the arena.
Eevee is seen coming out of the dust cloud a bit dizzy while Mr. Mime coughs again as the poison damages him further.
"Eevee, come back!" Kaori called Eevee back and send him into his Pokéball.
"You did well, rest for a while, Beedrill, finish him!" Kaori.
Kaori sends out Beedrill and the giant bug quickly takes the heights of the arena.
"Venoshock!" Kaori.
Beedrill creates various poisonous needles and sends them towards Mr. Mime.
"Block it with Psybeam." Sabrina.
Mr. Mime began a barrage of Psybeams that destroyed one after another the Venoshocks.
"Swords Dance!" Kaori.
While Mr. Mime was taking care of the Venoshocks, Beedrill boosted its attack stat by two times. A powered up Beedrill makes its way towards Mr. Mime and Kaori gives him the finishing order.
"Poison Jab!" Kaori.
"Protect!" Sabrina.
Mr. Mime tried to create a protective barrier but the poison damage prevented him from fully making it on time.
Beedrill's sting was small enough to bypass the last part of the forming barrier and stung Mr. Mime in the chest. The mime Pokémon fell to its knees and then got knocked out.
"Mr. Mime can no longer continue; the victory is for Beedrill." Sabrina's father.
Sabrina sends Mr. Mime back and Kaori stays with Beedrill.
"You did well. You're not bad." Sabrina.
"Thanks, this fight is extremely fun thanks to your strength." Kaori.
"That so? Well then, allow me to raise the bar a little bit." Sabrina.
Sabrina sends out her second Pokémon, a Golduck. Golduck enters the arena and his gaze seems to be stuck looking at the horizon.
'Golduck eh? Quite the bulky adversary, but Beedrill has status moves to make himself stronger, I'm in the clear for now.' Kaori.
"Clear Smog." Sabrina.
'Dang it!' Kaori.
Golduck spews a dark smog from his mouth wide open, allowing the smog to quickly expand throughout the arena.
"Normally, you would get hit by the move and your stat changes would reset, however, by spewing the smog in a less concentrated way---" Sabrina.
"It allows it to traverse the whole arena, the damage is almost nothing but the stat reset trait remains. This is more akin to Haze, without the plus of getting rid of the field hazards and terrains." Kaori.
Kaori's expression got serious and he thought of his next move.
"Beedrill, use Laser Focus!" Kaori.
Laser Focus: A move that guarantees that the next hit is a critical hit. It also is immune to the stat resetting moves of all kinds, except if the Pokémon gets switched out.
Sabrina is also aware of the situation and prepares.
"Hydro Pump!" Sabrina.
Golduck shoots a powerful Hydro Pump towards Beedrill.
"Alright, U-turn!" Kaori.
Beedrill flies towards the Hydro Pump and maneuvers himself around it to evade its attacks, Beedrill gets near Golduck and his sting makes contact with him.
[CRITICAL HIT!]
Golduck falls back a little but composes himself immediately after. Beedrill envelops himself in bug energy and goes back into his Pokéball. Sabrina takes this chance and makes the most of it.
"Boost yourself with Calm Mind!" Sabrina.
Golduck takes a meditating position by clapping his hands and both his Special Defense and Attack increase by one stage.
"Hm… I'll go with him then." Kaori.
Kaori takes out a Pokéball and sends out Fearow.
"Use Drill Peck!" Kaori.
Wind energy begins to envelop Fearow's beak and spins clockwise. Fearow flies towards Golduck, aiming to attack its chest.
"Ice Beam!" Sabrina.
Golduck shoots an Ice Beam from its mouth directly at Fearow.
"Don't let yourself be hit, keep evading and attack." Kaori.
Fearow evaded the Ice Beam and was at point blank until Sabrina smiles.
"Surf!" Sabrina.
Fron under his feet, Golduck unleashed a powerful water wave that pushed Fearow back.
"Now, Ice Beam!" Sabrina.
Golduck shoots its Ice Beam towards Fearow once more, the Ice Beam hits and begins to freeze Fearow's left wing, making him unable to fly.
"The same trick won't work twice on me, better be prepared to be punished for it." Sabrina.
"I guess I was underestimating this gym a bit too much, sorry. Even so, I'll be the victor in here!" Kaori.
To be continued…