Saffron City.
This is the largest city in the Kanto region. Unlike other places that only build 7-story buildings at most, the high-rise buildings here start at the 30th floor.
Even the glass on the exterior wall is golden and looks really dazzling.
"Is this a big city?"
Ash and Pikachu looked up at the tall buildings around them, shocked. Then they took a deep breath and tried their best to calm themselves down and appear to have seen the world.
"Pikachu, this is only average in our new town."
"Pi-ka-chu (indeed)," Pikachu nodded repeatedly.
Although the other two people, Brock and Misty, are also city dwellers, if compared to Saffron City, Cerulean City and Pewter City are just ordinary small towns, and they couldn't help but marvel at the scale.
But this city gave the three of them an uneasy feeling. They always felt like there was a cold sensation behind them, or as if they were being watched, which made them feel weird.
It's a bit stressful.
However, looking around, they couldn't find anything strange.
The three of them looked at each other and quickly walked toward the Pokémon Center in Saffron City.
At the Pokémon Center, Ash gave all the Pokémon he carried to Nurse Joy to recover their strength.
Seeing Brock suddenly standing there like a piece of wood with his eyes fixed in the direction of the counter, Ash waved a hand in front of him.
"Brock? Brock?"
Brock's face was slightly red, and his half-closed eyelids lowered a few millimeters more, moving closer to a crack. His expression was confused, and then he took a deep breath, as if he had broken free from some sea of suffering.
He quickly turned his head, no longer looking in the direction of the counter at the Pokémon Center, clasping his hands together, and muttering in a low voice, "Color is emptiness, emptiness is color."
The cute Nurse Joy on the side said, "?"
The other two didn't realize what happened, so they simply ignored Brock. This city was so strange that they quickly took the opportunity to ask Nurse Joy about the current state of Saffron City.
"Are you all outsiders?" Nurse Joy asked.
Ash and Misty nodded repeatedly. "Yeah, just passersby."
Seeing this, Nurse Joy's expression darkened, and she explained softly, "Saffron City is not peaceful right now. You outsiders must be careful."
She took out a map of Saffron City and drew a small circle in the northeast area and a large circle in the southwest area. The two circles were tangent.
"The center of the small circle above is the location of the Saffron Gym. It was originally a normal gym. However, in the past two years, the gym leader, Sabrina, seems to have had some mental problems, and her personality has become a bit extreme. So remember to be careful when you enter this small circle area, especially when you set foot near the gym."
Ash waved his hand dismissively. "Humph, there's nothing to be afraid of!"
The name sounds like an ordinary woman. Is it possible she could be that dangerous?
"Sabrina is not easy to mess with. She is the most powerful psychic in our Kanto region. You can check her resume and nickname online." Nurse Joy swallowed and added, "Humanoid weapon!"
For example, 5 or 6 years ago, there were two gyms in Saffron City. The other was a Fighting-type gym, which was considered strong in the Kanto region.
In the end, because the gym was in the way, Sabrina rolled the entire building into a ball and threw it out of Saffron City.
There's still an empty lot next to the Saffron Gym.
Hearing this, Ash and Misty both gulped. Ash's expression became a little ugly.
In fact, even Nurse Joy was confused. She had been working in Saffron City for several years and had often met Sabrina. Although the latter was as cold as a snow mountain, she didn't seem violent back then.
But now, Sabrina's psychic powers activate at the slightest disagreement, and few dare to cross her.
Because of this, even the powers in the city did not dare to take any additional measures against this crazy woman.
Nurse Joy then pointed her finger at the big circle below.
"This large area in the southwest is the sphere of influence of the Rainbow Corporation. The center is the Silph Co. building, but it's expected to be renamed to the Rainbow Building soon. Be careful when entering this area."
The two nodded. To put it bluntly, the Rainbow Corporation was Team Rocket in disguise, and it was indeed unsafe.
"Then the place where the two circles are tangent is our current location."
The two nodded again, thinking that it was indeed a big city if the Pokémon Center was located at such a central point.
"By the way, Nurse Joy, what about the remaining two areas?"
Misty pointed to the upper left corner and lower right corner of the map and asked curiously.
"The upper left corner is the high-speed rail station, which leads directly to Goldenrod City in the Johto region. The Pokémon League protects it, so neither of the two powers dares to touch it."
"The lower right corner is controlled by a new force that has moved in over the last few years, Devon Corporation from the Hoenn region. It's a big company that dominates Hoenn, but they stay low-key in the Kanto region and keep to themselves."
Nurse Joy was surprisingly well-informed, knowing a little bit about everything.
Ash trembled upon hearing this. He caught the key phrase: Hoenn region.
Isn't that the region where Rayquazas are so common you could knock one out if you threw a stone randomly?
It seemed that apart from the Kanto region, the world outside was also very exciting.
His eyes lit up, but the primary goal now was to defeat this woman named Sabrina!
"Nurse Joy, can I ask what type of Pokémon the Saffron Gym specializes in?"
For half the city to be in panic, the gym leader couldn't be simple. This time, Ash planned to rely on tactics based on type advantage.
"Sabrina is a psychic, so naturally she specializes in using Psychic-type Pokémon," Nurse Joy replied.
In fact, she didn't reveal the whole truth. Sabrina was the most powerful Psychic-type trainer in Kanto.
Ash scratched his head and fell into thought. "Psychic-type? I remember Psychic is weak against Grass-type, right?"
It seemed he would have to rely on Bulbasaur to win this battle!
Misty blurted out, "Idiot, when did Grass-type ever counter Psychic? Only your Gengar or those two mutant Pokémon can effectively counter Psychic."
Embarrassed to say you've memorized the type advantage chart?
However, Psychic-types were tough to deal with.
Among the 18 types, Fire-type and Dragon-type were the most dominant and powerful, but Ghost-type and Psychic-type were the most bizarre and unpredictable.
In some ways, Psychic-types could be the hardest to handle.
But whether it was Ash's Gengar, the Ghost-type cubone, or Butterfree's Bug-type, they all had effective counters against Psychic-types.
Thinking about it, Ash felt it shouldn't be too big of a problem.
Ash scratched his head and asked in confusion, "Hey, isn't the only mutant Pokémon I have Butterfree? When did I get a second one?"
Misty: "..."
(End of chapter)
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