"Hmm, not bad. Practically identical."
Johan stared at the two plates before him—one with perfectly fried rice he made, and the other a charred, unrecognizable mess Sabrina had produced. He rubbed his chin in thought, nodding in approval.
Gengar glanced at the left plate, then at the right one.
Identical? Really?
Johan shot Gengar a look. Not identical? Then you're eating them both.
Gengar: Σ(дlll)
"Ka-kaah, ka-kaah~~!"
Identical! Totally identical!
Johan sighed. It was perplexing.
The same ingredients, the same instructions—how did Sabrina manage to turn her dish into this?
This was after Johan had even told her that fried rice was one of the hardest dishes to perfect, requiring exceptional control of timing, heat, and technique.
"Are they the same?" Sabrina frowned and looked at her Alakazam for confirmation.
"Kazam! Kazam!"
Alakazam, sweating profusely, nodded vigorously, clearly unwilling to cross its master.
"Fine. Let's split them up." Sabrina reluctantly accepted the "reality."
"Wait!" Johan interjected hastily.
"Everyone just finished eating. Let's take a break first. You promised to help Gengar and Vulpix train their psychic abilities, didn't you?"
Sabrina rolled her eyes at him.
"You're so impatient. Why does it matter right now?"
Johan bit back a retort. Was that really the right phrase to use here?
Fortunately, the Pokémon were equally eager to escape the culinary experiment and eagerly followed Sabrina to the training area.
They arrived at the designated training space, and Sabrina floated mid-air, lazily resting her chin on her hand.
She gestured toward Gengar with a tilt of her head.
"Let's start with Gengar. Show me your strongest Shadow Ball."
"Ka-kaah?"
Gengar looked at Johan for confirmation.
Johan gave a nod. "Go ahead."
Gengar grinned mischievously and clasped its hands. A wisp of dark energy appeared, coalescing into a small Shadow Ball.
Then it grew. And grew.
"Ka-kaah!"
As the black orb swelled to an enormous size, Alakazam, standing by Sabrina, narrowed its eyes in focus. Even Sabrina raised an eyebrow.
So this is Gengar's true power...
Soon, Gengar stood holding a gigantic, glowing Shadow Ball, far larger than anything Johan had seen before.
"Not bad." Sabrina muttered, her sharp gaze fixed on the ball of energy.
"Gengar, that's enough," she said calmly.
"Ka-kaah?"
Gengar hesitated, glancing nervously at the massive orb.
Uh-oh.
It had gotten a bit carried away.
How was it supposed to get rid of this thing?
After much scrambling and the combined efforts of several Pokémon, the oversized Shadow Ball was finally neutralized.
Sabrina then produced a deep purple incense burner, her eyes flashing faintly as a curl of white smoke began to rise from it.
Odd Incense?
Odd Incense: Enhances the power of Psychic-type moves.
"This is a special incense passed down through generations of Psychic users in my family," Sabrina explained. "It helps Pokémon or people with untapped psychic potential awaken their abilities."
She set the burner before Gengar, letting the smoke waft around it.
Gengar sniffed deeply, its red eyes gleaming.
Sabrina smiled.
"It should help Gengar tap into its latent psychic potential. With Alakazam's guidance, it might even learn Psychic."
Before Johan could respond, she added, "You can keep the incense burner. But the incense sticks themselves are custom-made—100,000 Pokédollars per stick."
Johan's face turned serious. He knew the price Sabrina quoted wasn't an exaggeration.
This was a resource endorsed by one of the strongest Psychic users in the Pokémon world.
In terms of psychic prowess, Sabrina had few equals—perhaps Caitlin from the Unova region was one of the rare exceptions.
After a moment of thought, Johan raised a finger.
"One recipe per stick."
Sabrina beamed.
"Deal!"
Both were satisfied with the arrangement.
Gengar, energized by the incense, grinned wickedly.
"Ka-kaah~~!"
Sabrina then turned her attention to Vulpix. She tossed a handful of silver spoons toward it.
"Oowu?"
Vulpix instinctively activated its psychic energy, catching the spoons mid-air with a faint glow.
Sabrina looked impressed.
"Vulpix's psychic potential surpasses Gengar's."
Johan had suspected as much.
Vulpix's psychic abilities had awakened naturally and were already potent despite minimal training. With Sabrina's guidance, Vulpix could refine its control and amplify its strength.
Under Sabrina's instruction, Vulpix began a new training regimen, one she called the Dream Meditation Technique.
Meanwhile, Gengar worked with Alakazam on awakening its latent psychic powers, focusing on mastering Psychic.
However, Johan couldn't shake the feeling that Gengar and Alakazam's newfound camaraderie was hiding something suspicious.
While Sabrina supervised the training, she casually pulled out her phone and started watching a movie.
Within minutes, she began critiquing it.
"This scene makes no sense."
"The actors are awful."
"The whole movie is trash."
Johan couldn't help but quip, "Why don't you try acting? With your looks, you'd do great."
Sabrina blinked in surprise, then her eyes lit up.
"That's... not a bad idea!"
As Johan watched her get excited, he remembered something.
In the future, Sabrina did become a successful actress, even making it big in Unova's Pokéstar Studios.
But before she could dive too deeply into the idea, Sabrina dismissed it with a wave of her hand.
"Forget it. Most scripts are terrible. Not even Diantha could save some of them."
Fair point.
Viridian City – Outside the Gym
Giovanni stood at the edge of a vast forest, his sleeves rolled up as he silently listened to the sounds of nature.
Behind him, Matori approached cautiously.
"Boss."
Giovanni opened his eyes, his expression unreadable.
"Johan has reached Saffron City and met with Sabrina," Matori reported, showing him a photo of Johan and Sabrina cooking together.
Giovanni's lips curved into a faint smile.
He donned the suit Matori handed him and strode toward Viridian Gym.
"Arrange a meeting," he said.
"You want to see Johan?" Matori asked, surprised.
Giovanni paused, half-turning back with a smirk.
"Why? Can't I meet with my private consultant?"
Viridian City
Sabrina's Teleport landed Johan and his Pokémon just outside the city.
Johan staggered, his face pale, gripping his stomach.
He swore he'd never use Teleport for travel again.
"Ka-kaah..." Gengar patted Johan's back sympathetically as he struggled to recover.
Just as he regained his composure, his phone buzzed.
Matori's message read:
Matori: "Mr. Johan, Giovanni would like to invite you to Viridian Gym for a meeting."
Johan sighed deeply.
"The inevitable has arrived."
He glanced at Gengar, who tilted its head in confusion.
"Ka-kaah?"
"Are we challenging the gym?"
Johan smirked faintly.
"No... We're going to the Viridian police station first to file a report about a 'missing valuable.'"
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Powerstones?
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