"I am carrying out a mission for Mr. Umbra," Cain said carefully. Facing someone as powerful as Sabrina, even in his past life, his ability to resist would not have been significant, let alone now.
Moreover, when facing someone strong, it is necessary to show due respect. This is not weakness but reverence for power.
Upon hearing Cain's response, Sabrina remained silent, but the green light emanating from her hands and eyes gradually faded, indicating that her desire to play was disappearing.
"Umbra, that guy, it seems he really suffered a major power loss in his last failed mission, if he now resorts to such a weak boy like you to do his work. He's becoming more and more useless."
After a moment, Sabrina said this indifferently, as her body descended from the air.
She glanced at Cain with a hint of disdain and let out a scornful "Bah!"
"So boring, I finally found an interesting toy." Sabrina murmured with a childish air, revealing a more youthful side.
Sabrina was extremely powerful, but her volatile character and childlike behavior were quite well-known among the high ranks of Team Rocket.
With playful steps, Sabrina approached Cain, tilted her head, and examined him from head to toe before laughing and saying, "Here's what I'll do. For Umbra's sake, I'll give you one more chance. I'll ask your Pokémon once again if it wants to come with me, and I'll offer you compensation. What do you say?"
"..."
Before Cain could respond, Sabrina continued, "It's settled!"
Then she crouched down and, smiling, said to Slowpoke, "Little one, I'll give you another chance to choose. Do you want to come with me? Your potential isn't limited to what it is now. Your weak trainer can't unleash all your power. I'll make your strength grow rapidly, what do you say?"
Sabrina seemed like a strange older sister trying to lure a child with candy. Her words about Slowpoke's potential made Cain wonder. Slowpoke's potential?
However, for Slowpoke, Sabrina's words held no appeal. It slowly shook its head, and then a blue light appeared in its eyes.
At the same time, a green light appeared in Sabrina's eyes. Clearly, the two psychic users had begun communicating telepathically.
Cain couldn't understand what they were saying, but he saw that after a short time, Sabrina stood up with a look of disgust, glancing at Cain with a hint of envy, as if her favorite toy had been taken away.
Seeing Sabrina's expression, Cain decided not to comment and remained silent. However, based on her expression, it seemed that Slowpoke had rejected her.
"Well, you're lucky. This Slowpoke has considerable potential. Now I understand why Umbra chose you." Sabrina started reverting to her usual demeanor, and her more childish side was fading away.
After saying that, Sabrina turned to leave, muttering, "How annoying, I'd better go look for more dolls to play with."
Just as Cain was beginning to relax seeing Sabrina leave, she suddenly turned around with a mischievous smile, saying, "Hm! It's not that simple."
Suddenly, Sabrina concentrated a large amount of psychic energy in her hand, and before Cain, Slowpoke, or Murkrow could react, Sabrina struck Cain in the chest.
In an instant, Cain felt a searing energy pierce into his body. Although the strike didn't seem very forceful, it felt like a powerful impact, sending him flying backward and falling to the ground.
Slowpoke and Murkrow tried to move, but their bodies wouldn't respond. Although Murkrow, being a Dark-type Pokémon, is immune to psychic abilities, Sabrina, as the Psychic Queen, had ways of dealing with Dark-type Pokémon, so Murkrow couldn't resist her power.
As for Gastly, who was already weak, it couldn't do anything.
Satisfied, Sabrina dusted off her hands. She hadn't used much psychic energy on Cain, just enough so that his body wouldn't move for half a day, helping her vent some of her frustration.
"Hmm?"
But what Sabrina didn't expect was that as Cain lay on the ground, a faint blue energy began emanating from his body. This energy was very familiar to Sabrina; it was a sign of awakening psychic abilities.
With an astonished expression, Sabrina flew to where Cain was, rubbing her eyes to make sure it wasn't an illusion, and murmured, "Is this... an awakening?"
As someone with exceptional psychic talent, Sabrina instantly recognized what was happening. The bluish waves emanating from Cain's body were a sign that he was awakening psychic abilities.
She closed her eyes, fully activating her psychic perception, and after a moment, reopened them. "What a lucky boy. His mental strength is five times greater than that of an ordinary person, just on the edge needed to become a psychic. It only needed a push, and my strike awakened it."
Sabrina couldn't help but feel a bit surprised. Her intention was to punish him a little, but unwittingly, she had helped him awaken his psychic abilities.
Although Cain's talent wasn't exceptional, and his growth was likely limited, he had still awakened psychic abilities. With training, this could give him some defensive capacity against Pokémon.
Psychic abilities are one of the three major known capabilities in the Pokémon world, and only one in tens of thousands can awaken them.
It requires mental strength five times greater than that of an average person for someone to awaken these abilities.
Cain, with his three lives of experience, had likely developed greater mental strength, giving him a slight advantage. Although it was unlikely that he would awaken naturally, Sabrina's psychic attack stimulated his body, triggering the awakening of his psychic abilities.
From that moment on, Cain joined that small group of people in the Pokémon world who possess special abilities.
Since psychics are a minority in this world, there is an unspoken rule among them: whenever possible, they should support each other to survive in the Pokémon world.
In the early days of the Pokémon world, before the League existed, there was a nation of psychics where most citizens possessed psychic abilities, regardless of their talent.
But that power, which should have been their strength, also became their downfall. Their arrogance and unchecked pride, driven by their superior power, led to a devastating war that spanned the entire world. In the end, that nation of psychics vanished into history.
That is why today's psychics have become more discreet, and their elders instruct younger generations to support each other whenever possible.
Despite her peculiar character, Sabrina, as a psychic, followed this tradition. So, when she saw that Cain had awakened his psychic abilities, even if his talent wasn't high, she left a simple training manual.
"Hmm!"
Still annoyed, Sabrina tossed the manual and teleported away. Probably that night, her collection of dolls increased in number.
(End of chapter)