The hospital room held three people.

A beautiful, very woman was laying in a bed. She looked exhausted and soaked from perspiration, her wet hair stuck all about her smiling face. In her arms was a silent baby. The deepest feeling of love was evident in her eyes as she gazed at the child.

“I can’t believe the birth was painless,” a standing man said, also smiling at the newborn. “She didn’t even cry! But she’s healthy.”

“She’s a blessing,” the young lady said, not taking her eyes away from the child. “Our child is a sweet blessing. A true miracle.”

The man nodded.

The baby didn’t smile. She didn’t make a single sound. Her eyes had been on her mother since she had been given to her. For the first time, the baby stared at her father. There was a stern look in her young, unblinking eyes. She almost seemed conscious of what was going on in a strange way.

“I think she wants you to hold her,” the woman said, smiling at the man.

The man chuckled. “Well, if it’s alright with you, sweetheart.” He reached out towards the baby.

The baby’s blue eyes never left her father’s face as he took her from her mother and held her in his arms, grinning sweetly at his daughter. “Hi, Sabrina,” he said gently. “I’m your father.” He rocked her gently, then lightly tickled her stomach.

Sabrina stared at her father silently. She didn’t laugh at the light poking of her stomach. She didn’t cry. She didn’t make any noises or movements whatsoever. She continued to not even blink.

The man kissed Sabrina on the forehead.

Sabrina closed her eyes as her father’s lips touched her, and she opened her eyes once the man’s mouth was removed from her face.

The man looked to the woman who laid smiling in bed, watching them adoringly. “She sure is a quiet baby,” he commented.

“Are you complaining?” the woman laughed.

They both laughed at this together, Sabrina continuing to stare silently at her father.

“Roooooommm! VRRRROOOOOOOMMM! Here comes the airplaaaaane!” Sabrina’s mother made airplane noises as she flew a spoon filled with baby food in the air.

Sabrina laughed and stared at the spoon as it flew around in her mother’s hand. As the spoon came closer to her mouth, she opened her mouth obediently and ate it.

Her mother laughed and scooped more baby food out and flew it around, continuing their game.

Sabrina started getting impatient and was bouncing excitedly in her seat, making a pleading noise with her mother to give her the food.

Her mother finally swooped the spoon down low into Sabrina’s eager mouth. She then scooped up another spoonful and started her airplane game again with Sabrina. “Open wide, Sabrina! Here comes the airplane for landi-” Sabrina’s mother’s face became taken over by confusion and she turned to her hand. It had just suddenly stopped in mid air. “What??” Her hand wouldn’t move! She seemed to be struggling with something that was holding her hand still. Something she couldn’t see!

Sabrina’s father walked into the kitchen and smiled at Sabrina and her mother. “What are you doing, hon?” he asked lightly.

“My hand!” she exclaimed in a panic. “Help me! What’s going on?!”

“Huh?” the father replied, confused. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t move my hand!!” the mother shouted frantically. “What’s going on??!” Suddenly, her hand moved towards Sabrina.

As it neared Sabrina’s open mouth, the plastic spoon suddenly bent slightly and the food was flung off the spoon and onto her mother’s face.

Sabrina began crying.

The woman wiped the food off of her with a napkin and stared at the spoon in shock, her hand now moving to her own will. She turned to the man with her in the kitchen, who stared at first in awe at Sabrina, and then to the mother.

Sabrina, three years old, was holding a spoon and sitting on the floor. She held it in the air and stared intently at it. Eventually, it bent.

Sabrina, the same age, months later, sat at a table with spoons and a fork lined up in a wooden holding rack. She stared directly at the set of utensils with her two hands aimed at them. One spoon bent, followed by a second one. Then, the entire set of spoons and the fork and the wooden tray they were standing in exploded before her. Sabrina didn’t even flinch.

Sabrina was now sitting on the floor two months later. She was holding a golf club in her hands, one hand moving up and down the club as she stared intently at it.

“She’s doing it again!” her mother cried as she ran to her daughter. She knelt down to the floor, attempting to reach out to Sabrina, but was visibly too afraid to touch her. “Please, stop Sabrina!” she pleaded. “That’s enough!”

Sabrina ignored her mother and continued stroking the club.

Her father stepped into the room and glared down at his daughter. “That’s not a toy!” he said sternly. “Hmph.” He snatched the club from Sabrina.

Sabrina looked up into the air angrily, her eyes glowing a bright yellow. The yellow faded only slightly in intensity, revealing her yellow shaded pupils as her hair began to lift up behind her head as if a wind were blowing underneath it.

With a cry, her mother was thrown back by an invisible force.

Her father was tossed aside as well as he cried out.

“Sabrina, please!” the mother cried, her face soaked in tears, her hair looking a mess. “Let us help you!”

“Let’s go!” the father yelled. “We have to get out of here!”

“But, my daughter!” the mother pleaded back.

Sabrina, still the same age but weeks later, stood staring at her parents.

The father was near the front door.

The mother was in the living room not far from him.

Sabrina glared at them, her eyes glowing yellow, her hair flowing behind her.

A vase lifted off the table and flew directly for her mother’s head.

Her mother screamed and ducked.

The vase slammed near where her father stood, against the wall.

Her father cried out and ran to the door, unlocking it.

Sabrina’s mother knelt down to the floor, crying. “Please, Sabrina! PLEEEEASE! I love you!!”

A large table lifted off the ground and flung itself at her mother, who tried to dodge it, but the leg caught her right in the forehead.

She hit the ground on her back and laid still.

Sabrina’s father ran to her and took her by the arm. He lifted her to her feet as she shook her head, steadying herself up some.

The woman’s forehead was bleeding badly.

“Come on!” Sabrina’s father pulled Sabrina’s mother to the door.

Sabrina’s mother wailed as she was tugged.

A pair of knives flew from the kitchen and headed directly for the parents.

The mother shrieked.

The father looked back and shoved his wife to the floor, out of harm’s way.

One of the knives ended up in the door, right where Sabrina’s mother had been standing. The other one ended in Sabrina’s father’s arm.

He screamed and pulled the knife out, tossing it to the floor. He then pulled Sabrina’s mother up from the floor and yanked her out of the house, slamming the door behind them.

Sabrina, days later, stood in the hallway. She rubbed against the wall with her open palm for a while.

Sabrina’s house was enormous from the outside. Slowly, and all at once, it began to crumble. The house was soon in ruins.

Sabrina sat inside the destroyed house, surrounded by bent spoons, forks, and golf clubs.

Sabrina was now fifteen. She was still in the same destroyed house, sitting on the floor, her legs crossed, her eyes closed, meditating. Her eyes opened and stared at the spot next to her. There was nothing there, but she continued to stare at it.

Mysteriously, something began to apparate there in a series of lights. An Abra. “Aaaabraaaa,” the Pokemon said sleepily.

Sabrina stared at Abra and he stared back at her. They stayed like that for an intense, long time. They were reading each other’s intentions. Learning about each other. Understanding one another.

Both Sabrina and Abra were loners. Neither beings were interested in friends and were only interested in becoming stronger by working on their psychic powers. Neither beings had family.

Sabrina had driven away her parents who wanted her to be normal and have friends.

Abra ran away from his parents and siblings after his brother and sister had been captured by seperate Pokemon Trainers.

His siblings had been looking for him after he left to work on his Teleport move, hoping to find a strong Pokemon Trainer. He wouldn’t have even minded being captured if the Trainer was skilled. He believed being with a human Trainer would get him stronger than he could do by himself. He succeeded in finding a pair of promising Trainers who were traveling together, but while using Teleport to evade thrown Poke Balls, his brother and sister were the ones who ended up captured. Abra was mad at himself for what he had forced upon them, and after explaining what occured to his parents and other siblings, fled before they could even respond. His dream of becoming powerful with a great Trainer had failed horribly, so he pursued this goal away from those he loved most.

This connection made both Sabrina and Abra become closer. They stared at each other all day long. When night had arrived, they hadn’t moved an inch from their spot on the floor, eyes still locked, not blinking.

It was impossible to know exactly how much time had passed, but at some point, Sabrina turned to look at something on the floor.

It was a photo of herself when she was much younger, dressed up and smiling, with her father holding her, her mother right next to her.

Abra turned to stare at the photo, too.

The photo was in a wooden frame, the glass cracked.

Sabrina’s body began to alter, shifting in size, widening, getting wider, and then thinner again. She then started to glow white. She continued staring intently at the photo. The white light that surrounded her was removed from around her body, and a large ball hovered in front of Sabrina. She stared at the ball as it began to morph.

It took the form of a small being. The light then vanished, and a child which looked like Sabrina when she was younger was visible. She even wore the exact same clothes as in the picture on the floor. A white dress, a white hat with a pink ribbon on it, and red boots.

Sabrina watched as the child smiled and laughed.

The child turned to Abra. “Will you be my friend?” she asked him.

“Aaabraaa…” Abra replied.

The girl giggled. “Come play with me.”

Abra used Teleport and disappeared, reappearing behind the little girl.

The girl laughed and turned to grab Abra, who used Teleport again to disappear.

The game continued on as Sabrina watched them silently.

“Sabrina, I love you,” Sabrina’s mother begged. “Won’t you please talk with me? I miss you. Your father misses you. Please, Sabrina, can’t we all talk as a family?”

Sabrina, now a young adult, her mother, and the little Sabrina, stood in a large, dimly lit room. A battlefield was outlined in white in the middle of it. It was a Gym.

Next to the three people was a huge table that held an enormous display of a town, with houses and trees, the outside of the display lined by a sky blue background and white clouds. At one end of the diorama was the photo. The picture of Sabrina when she was just a little girl, the glass no longer cracked.

Sabrina stared at her mother intently. “He’s the reason for my telekinesis,” Sabrina said coldly. “He passed it on to me. And now he wants me to stop using my powers. Now he is training himself to strengthen his powers so he can try and stop me. The fool. He knows he can’t stop me. There is no reconciliation.”

“Sabrina,” Sabrina’s mother spoke weakly, her eyes tearing up.

Sabrina turned to the table. “She likes this.”

Her mother turned to the diorama, then to the younger, small Sabrina that stood next to the older one. “That doll…” she started, speaking of the younger Sabrina. “It’s you. It’s a doll, but it’s human. It’s you. You when you were younger.” She looked up to her daughter as tears slid from her eyes. “You’ve changed, Sabrina! Don’t you see what’s happened? This… doll is here because you neglected your heart! You turned away from us. Your family! You pushed us all away for the sake of your psychic powers. It caused you to split in two. This doll represents who you were. Who you wanted to be deep inside. Please, just talk with me about this. Understand. Hear me!”

“She loves this.” Sabrina never took her eyes off of the toy box town. “We built it together.” She finally turned to her mother and gave her the coldest stare. “But we have no dolls.”

Her mother’s eyes widened and she took a step back.

“Play with me,” the little Sabrina said.

Sabrina’s mother gasped as the little Sabrina’s eyes glowed white.

With a loud scream, the woman’s body was outlined in white and she began to shrink. She hovered in the air as she got smaller, and smaller, and smaller. In seconds, she was the size of a tiny doll. No. She was a doll! She dropped to the floor lightly.

The little Sabrina walked over and picked up her mother. She let out an excited little giggle. “Now we can play!” she said in her high, gentle voice. “We’ll be together, mommy. Forever.”

A Gym battle was now taking place in Sabrina’s Gym.

A young boy stood at one end of a battlefield.

Sabrina stood on the other end.

A Pikachu stood in the middle of the field, facing off against a Kadabra.

“It’s impossible to win,” Sabrina said calmly.

The little Sabrina giggled in Sabrina’s lap.

Suddenly, a Haunter appeared in front of Sabrina.

“Haunter?” the boy said in surprise.

The Haunter turned to face Sabrina. He floated down to the little Sabrina, saying, “Haunter!” Then he floated back up to Sabrina, then laughed.

“Two against one’s not fair!” the little Sabrina cried.

Suddenly, an older man appeared out of nowhere in a flash of white light, next to the boy. “It is just playing around on its own,” he said as the boy and his Pikachu turned to him in shock. “Haunter is not battling against you. So it isn’t against the rules.”

Haunter opened his mouth extremely wide in front of Sabrina, pulling his lips up vertically over his body, then pushing his body close together, closing his mouth.

Sabrina stared solemnly at Haunter.

Haunter then smiled and his tongue reached out. He licked his face and as his tongue went back in his mouth, he took his eyes off with it. Haunter than stuck out his tongue and juggled his eyes on his tongue.

Sabrina continued to stare at Haunter.

Haunter than reached deep in his mouth and pulled out a circular black bomb! The fuse was lit and began to go down. A red skull was plastered on the bomb.

The older man and the boy cried out in shock, the Pikachu’s ears perking up as surprise crossed his face.

Even Sabrina looked at Haunter with a little surprise.

The bomb exploded.

BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!

Sabrina, the little Sabrina, and Haunter were surrounded by smoke. When it cleared, the three were covered in black dust, Haunter laughing hysterically.

Sabrina remained still, staring at Haunter blankly. Then, her lips started to quiver. She smiled!

The man gasped. “She smiled!”

Sabrina’s smile became laughter! It started out small at first, but it became stronger fast. She had such a soft, beautiful young laugh.

Haunter laughed along with her.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Kadabra was also rolling on the floor, dying of laughter.

“Is that Sabrina… laughing?” the boy asked.

“Ever since she started her telekinetic training as a little girl, I’ve never seen Sabrina laugh like this,” the man, Sabrina’s father, said in tears. “I’ve never seen her so happy in her entire life! That Haunter has helped Sabrina rediscover the human part of her heart,” her father stated happily to the young Trainer with the Pikachu.

“I don’t get it,” the boy who owned the Pikachu said, staring at Kadabra laughing on the floor. “It looks like Kadabra’s in pain.”

“It’s not in any pain,” the man explained. “Kadabra and Sabrina are joined telepathically. Kadabra is rolling with laughter, just like Sabrina!”

Haunter continued pulling and stretching his face to Sabrina’s amusement.

The little Sabrina watched silently. Finally, she smiled and began to fade and eventually disappeared, dropping the Poke Ball she held that belonged to Kadabra.

Sabrina, her mother who was no longer a doll, and her father, stood in a room, hugging, tears in all of their eyes.

Sabrina was in the middle of a battle with a Trainer. She was using her Haunter and the Trainer had a Venusaur. “Shadow Ball!” Sabrina called out with joy in her eyes and a bright smile.

Haunter charged up the ball between his hands and threw it at Venusaur, who looked exhausted, and it fainted immediately.

Sabrina was battling another Trainer.

Her Haunter was battling a Hypno.

Haunter’s Night Shade ended the battle.

Battle after battle was with Sabrina and Haunter.

Kadabra stood outside the Gym building, a mournful look in his slowly filling eyes. As tears slid down his face, he turned his back on the Gym and Teleported.

Haunter flew around Saffron City, terrorizing the citizens. People tried to escape, but Haunter caught everybody eventually. Some people he confused by using Confuse Ray so they ended up running back into Saffron City instead of out of it. Other people got licked by Haunter and hit the ground, paralyzed. Others were fooled by Haunter’s illusions and thought they were escaping or were trapped when they really weren’t.

Haunter began putting groups of people to sleep with Hypnosis.

A while later, everybody in Saffron City was asleep.

Haunter stared down at everyone. Suddenly, he let out a loud scream of his name and a transparent, shadowy version of Haunter flew forward from out of Haunter’s body and hit everybody who was sleeping. He was using Dream Eater. Haunter was using this move to eat his victims’ souls.

Sabrina stood near the outskirts of the town, watching silently, the look in her eyes evident. That strange, creepy, frightening look. The look that hadn’t been there all her life until this day.

Dead bodies occupied the city. The entire population of Saffron City had been killed. From the city part, all the way through to where the residents lived in their houses. Adults. Children. The elderly. Pokemon. Dogs. Cats. Even the trees.

Haunter had killed every living thing in Saffron. The evil creature hovered over the city, high into the air. His eyes glowed a grey color and a few seconds later, the deceased residents all stood up.

They all moved as if they were alive. They resumed their conversations as if nothing had happened. Even the trees seemed to come back to life and look healthy again. The people laughed, conversed, ran, and continued on with life…

But they were all dead.

And their eyes all had that terrifying, dead look to them.

Haunter floated towards where Sabrina was standing. She smiled at Haunter and Haunter laughed. They walked out of town and towards the suburbs, laughing together.

A flash of light blinded me and soon faded. I was staring at a Kadabra.

“Gary!” someone screamed.

I jumped and turned to see Kiwi, her eyes red and her face full of anger and wet from what seemed to be tears.

“What is wrong with you?”

I looked around me slowly.

We were in Saffron City, not too far from the building of the Gym.

June was watching me with fear.

I was breathing heavily and sweating despite the cool air around me.

“Gary…?” June asked timidly, tilting her head.

“Sabrina,” I gasped.

“DON’T SAY THAT NAAAAAAAME!!” Kiwi screeched. “EVER! I AM LEAVING! I’VE HAD ENOUGH! I AM GOING BACK TO PALLET TOWN RIGHT NOW! I’M DOOONE!!” She was hysterical, crying as she shrieked her heart out and started stomping around. “I’M CALLING PROF. OAK AND TELLING HIM I’M DONE WITH THIS!! AND I WANT A CAR OR SOMETHING BACK TO PALLET! I AM NOT TRAINING OR RAISING THESE FREAKING THINGS EVER AGAAAAAAAAIN!!” She collapsed to the ground and laid there with her face in the dirt.

It pained me to see my close friend so infuriated and freaking out so badly. I had no idea what I could possibly say or do for her.

What she was going through right now was completely unfair and terrible.

June stared at Kiwi as well, crying for her.

I wasn’t crying. I couldn’t. I had to be strong to say what was needed. To speak on what had just happened to me. “Sabrina is possessed,” I blurted out.

Kiwi looked up at me, some dirt on her angry face now, sniffling and still crying.

June turned to me. “What did you say?”

“Sabrina is possessed,” I repeated. “Haunter has possessed her. That thing is evil or something. Haunter play pranks all the time, right?” I looked to Kiwi. “That’s what their Pokedex information says. They pull pranks and sometimes they go too far? Sabrina’s original partner was Kadabra!” I pointed at the Kadabra by me.

He just stared at me.

“Sabrina found this Pokemon when he was just an Abra,” I explained. “He was drawn to her by her psychic energy. They both became bonded together, connected by their similarities. Sabrina turned away from the entire world just so she could be alone with her psychic powers, but deep inside, she wanted friends and family, too. She wanted it, but she suppressed the feeling and chose her psychic abilities over everything else. The stress caused her to split into two people. Her childlike self who wanted friends, and the powerful Psychic Pokemon Trainer she is. At some point, she battled with a Trainer, and during the fight, a Haunter appeared and made her laugh with his games and tricks.” My eyes focused on Kiwi. “The same Haunter we battled. She laughed and managed to open up. She became friendly again. Her childlike self even disappeared once Sabrina was being herself again. But her Haunter started getting too close to her. He got so close, he started breaking the telepathic bond Sabrina had with Kadabra. It got to the point where Kadabra was forgotten entirely as Haunter took over Sabrina’s mind completely. Haunter then killed everyone in town.”

Kiwi and June gasped. “WHAT?!” they screamed together.

“How do you know this, Gary?” June asked me.

I turned to Kadabra. “Kadabra showed me just now,” I answered.

June looked at me with concern and disbelief.

Kiwi squinted her eyes at me.

“Almost everybody in Saffron is dead,” I continued. “I’m sure some people are tourists and are alive, but my bet is that those creepy eyes we saw from the pizza guy, and from Nurse Joy, are signs of possession. Signs that those people are dead, and have just been reanimated by Haunter...” My sentence came to a nauseating stop and my stomach lurched as I realized a dead guy made our pizza that we ate.

June gasped. “Our pizza!”

Kiwi’s eyes bulged and she covered her mouth. Her hands flew away as she threw up on the spot, right in front of us all.

I closed my eyes tight and turned away, swallowing down the sick feeling in my body.

June turned away, and then ran away behind a tree to throw up as well.

I held my sauce in and just paced the ground back and forth.

Kiwi was breathing shakily now, her head down. “I’m… going… home…”

June had returned to us, hobbling weakly, looking ready to puke some more.

Silence joined us for a while as we all reflected on what was going on.

“Sabrina is under control of that Ghost,” I said after a while. I turned to Kadabra. “Kadabra wants our help. Kadabra wants us to save his Trainer.”

Kadabra stared silently at me.

June looked at Kadabra. “And how does he intend for us to do that?”

“I DON’T CARE!” Kiwi raged. “I’m not helping anyone or anything! That freaking crazy witch killed my first Pokemon!” Kiwi was shaking on the spot as if she were in the middle of Antarctica, half naked.

June looked to Kiwi sadly. “Yeah… I don’t want to go back there, Gary,” June said slowly, shaking her head. “We’re going to end up dead, just like everyone else in this city is. I don’t want my Pokemon put into anymore danger, either.” June inhaled deeply before speaking again. “We need to get the police. This isn’t something for us to be trying to take care of. This is way too intense for me.”

June and I eyed each other, different emotions on our faces, though so similar. My concern meeting with her fear.

My redheaded friend turned to Kiwi and reached out to hold her.

Kiwi resisted at first, then finally wrapped up June, crying against her.

Kadabra kept staring silently at me. “Kadabra…”

“...I… I can’t…” I said. “I’m sorry.” I turned to June and Kiwi. “Let’s go to the nearest town. Whatever it is. Let’s just get out of here and from there we can just head back to Pallet Town or something. Or at least we can think about it.”

“I’m not thinking about jack squat,” Kiwi snapped. “I’m going home! I’m done with this crap! It’s no wonder so many Trainers die on their journey to becoming Pokemon Masters!”

I instantly thought of my dad. Had something like this happened to him? Was something like this the reason he died?

I was then taken back to the words of the terrorist group I had encountered in Pewter City. One of the men had yelled at Nurse Joy, “Do you know how many Pokemon Trainers die a year on these dangerous journeys? And how many of them are just children?!”

I shook my head hard and then pulled out my Town Map. “Come on, guys. We can get to Fuschia or Vermillion the quickest, but either way, we have to head back to the city in Saffron.”

“I’m not going back there!” Kiwi said angrily.

“It’s the only way out!” I shouted at her. “Let’s just get out of here already!”

Kiwi glared at me but said, “Fine!”

We turned to leave, but Kadabra stood there, staring at me.

I tried walking around him, but he moved in front of me to block me.

“Move it, Kadabra!” Kiwi barked. She walked up to Kadabra and seemed like she was going to kick him out of the way. She stopped walking. “Hey! I can’t move!”

I saw that Kadabra’s eyes were glowing blue.

“That’s Disable attack I think,” June whispered. “It freezes the foe so it can’t move.”

Kiwi screamed as she seemed to be thrown back lightly by an invisible force. She didn’t fall over, but she stumbled, catching her balance, and then glared at Kadabra. “LEAVE US ALONE!” Tears flowed down her cheeks. “WE DON’T WANT TO HELP YOUR STUPID TRAINER!! SHE KILLED MY PIDGEOTTO!! SCREW HER!!”

Kadabra wasn’t looking at Kiwi anymore. He was staring at me.

My eyes met his. It then hit me what he wanted.

“Gary, if you’re not leaving, then I sure am!” Kiwi declared.

“Yeah, Gary. How long are you going to look at that thing?” June asked. “You’ve been there for like, ten minutes.”

“Wait, what?!” I whipped around to June in disbelief.

“If you’re just gonna stand there all day, looking at that... that Pokemon, all day, I’m just running back into and back out of Saffron and into the next location,” Kiwi stated impatiently. “I’m not wasting anymore time here!”

“I didn’t even know I’d been standing that long!” I said to them both. “It feels like just seconds have passed!”

They both had their eyes on me, looking unwilling to waste another second.

My gaze went down to Kadabra. “You have a deal,” I said to him.

“A deal? What deal??” Kiwi sounded ready to explode.

“Kadabra wants me to battle with him,” I told her. “If he wins, we help him save Sabrina. If I win, he’ll teleport us anywhere we want to go.”

“Really?” Kiwi said, suddenly interested.

“Yeah.”

“Kadabra,” Kadabra nodded.

“I don’t trust that thing!” Kiwi suspiciously. “This could all be a trick!”

“So you want to go back to Saffron City?” I asked her. “They’re all controlled by Haunter. You think they won’t attack us on sight or something?”

Kiwi stayed quiet with those words.

“Gary.” June stared into my eyes.

I stared back momentarily before grabbing my Poke Ball and facing Kadabra. I backed up several feet. Without another word, I threw the Poke Ball with my chosen Pokemon.

“Hoothoot...?” June said in a low voice.

“A HOOTHOOT?!” Kiwi shouted at the same time in a completely different tone.

“A one-on-one match,” I declared. “Hoothoot versus Kadabra. If we win, we go home. If you win, we help you save Sabrina. Deal?”

“Kadabra!” Kadabra nodded.

“Let’s begin! Hypnosis, now!”

Hoothoot flew forward and sent out the circular red waves at Kadabra.

Kadabra used Teleport and ended up behind Hoothoot.

“Keep flying forward! Fly high!”

Hoothoot continued forth and then made a sharp turn upwards, turning around to face Kadabra from the sky.

Kadabra stood still and didn’t move. His eyes were glowing blue, but nothing happened.

A light breeze blew as both Pokemon eyed each other.

The blue faded from Kadabra’s eyes.

Whatever, then, I thought to myself. “Use Hypnosis again!”

Hoothoot flew lower and tried for another attack.

Kadabra teleported again and appeared behind Hoothoot. His eyes flashed red, using his Psychic abilities to stop Hoothoot from flying any further.

Hoothoot began screeching out in pain.

Kadabra was using his Psychic attack.

Hoothoot couldn’t move and was taking damage.

“Hoothoot, try and use your Hypnosis!” I pleaded.

Hoothoot was in too much pain to focus and kept hooting loudly, struggling as best as he could.

“Hoothoot! Echoed Voice!”

Hoothoot opened his beak and loud out a sharp, aching yell. He screeched and hooted and the noise didn’t seem to end.

Even when I could see that Hoothoot’s attack had ended, the noise rang in my head for a while.

Kadabra suffered the damage, struggling to hold onto Hoothoot with his Psychic attack.

“AGAIN!”

Hoothoot used Echoed Voice again. This time, the damage was even stronger than before. Every time this move was used, the damage was greater and greater up to a certain point.

Kadabra let out a cry and fell back in surprise.

Hoothoot hit the ground.

Out of nowhere, a bright, multicolored beam flew from the sky and hit Hoothoot, blowing up the ground and clouding the area around Hoothoot and Kadabra in dust and dirt.

“WHOA!” I screamed.

When the area finally cleared, Hoothoot was struggling to his feet. He fell over again and tried once more to stand up before falling over and staying down.

“HOOTHOOT!” I urged desperately. “COME ON!”

“HOOTHOOT!!!” Kiwi bellowed. “GET UP!! PLEEEEEEEEEEASE!!! YOU CAN WIN THIS! YOU HAVE TO! YOU’RE OUR ONLY HOPE OF GETTING OUT OF HERE ALIVE!! PLEEEEEEEEASE!!!”

“Hoothoot, you can do it!” June encouraged. “Get up! We’re all counting on you!”

Hoothoot stirred on the ground, but didn’t get up.

“HOOTHOOT!!” My fist clenched. My teeth were gritted tight. Our only ticket home wasn’t getting back up. I wanted to scream more for Hoothoot. But maybe this was his limit. Maybe we had failed. “Hoothoot,” I said more calmly, more acceptingly. “Is this it?” I sighed as my Pokemon failed to respond to me. My heart dropped seeing his motionless form. “Is that everything? If so, I understand. But, if you have enough strength in you to go on. To save us. To get us out of here and sent home! Please, pull yourself together and help us! Please!”

Hoothoot stirred again, but didn’t get up.

Hoothoot, please, no, I thought. Hoothoot. Hoothoot... “Hoothoot!” I encouraged. “I believe in you! Now let’s do it!!”

Hoothoot’s head jolted up and he let out a loud cry. He forced himself up on his one leg. He didn’t seem to be in good shape. My Pokemon was trembling unstably.

“Hoothoot, we can do this!” I said with determination. “You’re not alone! WE can do this! Now, go! Echoed Voice!”

Hoothoot screeched loudly and flew high into the air. He used Echoed voice just as Kadabra’s eyes began to glow red again. The red faded immediately as Kadabra took the even stronger attack head on and fell down.

“AGAIN!” I commanded.

Hoothoot continued with the ever increasing damage attack move.

I noticed Kadabra’s eyes glowing blue again.

Hoothoot continued to hit Kadabra with his Echoed Voice. When it reached its maximum damage, it would be a force to reckon with.

The blue in Kadabra’s eyes faded as he couldn’t concentrate long enough with the distracting move attacking him.

What is Kadabra trying to do? I wondered. Is that what caused that random explosion attack from the sky? What move is that?

Future Sight. When this move is first used, nothing happens. A short while later, a beam of psychic energy hits the opponent.

So that’s what that was, I realized. “Hoothoot, end this now!”

Kadabra looked pretty worn out by now as he eyed Hoothoot with a sneer, catching his breath.

Hoothoot inhaled deeply, getting ready to use another Echoed Voice.

Kadabra began to glow yellow and the wounds from the battle on his body started to disappear rapidly!

“Recover attack!” the three of us said out loud, realizing what Kadabra had done.

I cursed in my head.

Hoothoot didn’t stop and he hit Kadabra with a powerful Echoed Voice which took the Psychic type by surprise as he fell over and seemed to have taken quite a blow.

“GOOOOO!” I pushed on.

Hoothoot flew forward as Kadabra started to stand. My Pokemon got close to Kadabra and hit him with another Echoed Voice.

Kadabra was hit, but he hot back up again. His body began to glow yellow as he used Recover!

“Hypnosis!” I went quickly.

As Kadabra finished healing, Hoothoot attacked with Hypnosis.

Kadabra was having trouble keeping his eyes open as he was hit with the Psychic waves and he fell asleep.

“Air Slash!”

Hoothoot flew high into the sky and made fancy flight patterns as he started to glow light blue. A heavy wind started blowing everywhere as Hoothoot continued to circle the skies. A ball of energy formed in Hoothoot’s right wing as he descended rapidly and aimed for Kadabra.

Kadabra continued snoozing as Hoothoot tossed the ball down at Kadabra and hit the sleeping Pokemon.

Kadabra bounced across the ground but kept on sleeping as I ordered Hoothoot to use Air Slash again.

Hoothoot did the same move again, flying even higher into the air and creating a little whirlwind, glowing light blue and diving down with the ball of energy in his wing, hitting Kadabra as he kept on sleeping, taking damage and getting weaker.

Kadabra’s eyes suddenly began to flutter open.

I covered my ears and desperately called out, “Uproar!”

Kadabra shook his head as he woke up.

Hoothoot let out the annoying Uproar attack.

Kadabra’s eyes shot open in shock at the noise and he was blown across the grass.

“Finish it!”

Hoothoot flew forward at rapid speed, hooting a war cry of sorts.

“Gary, he’s using Take Down!” June warned me. “That has recoil damage! He might hurt himself badly!”

“Hoothoot!” I called out.

Hoothoot was going too fast. He slammed into Kadabra with intense force.

Kadabra was flying back, through the air, Hoothoot drilling his head against Kadabra. They stopped only once they slammed into a house.

And went right through the wall!

We all ran quickly towards the house, through the garden, to the hole made in the beautiful home. Only, once we got close to the house, the beauty had faded and it looked destroyed! The beautiful outside was now blackened and looked unsafe, weak, and dangerous to go near. The healthy garden was now filled with dead flowers and weeds.

I slowly crept around to the side of the house where Hoothoot and Kadabra had flown thrown and stared through the hole.

The inside of the house looked worse than the outside of it. The floorboards looked ready to give out and had holes in a few places. The couch was covered in dust, filth, and all kinds of indescribable things that made me feel sick just looking at it.

“The house was an illusion before,” I whispered to June and Kiwi. “It looked nice from the outside, but once Hoothoot and Kadabra flew through it, the illusion faded. We now see it for what it really is. And I’m sure all of these other nice houses look exactly the same way if we did the same thing to them. They’re all dead and in horrendous conditions. Maybe even all of Saffron City is this way.” I then saw the two Pokemon on the floor.

Kadabra seemed knocked out, and Hoothoot was angrily pecking Kadabra’s beaten body.

“Hoothoot!” I cried out.

Hoothoot looked up and happily flew to me, out of the house and safely into my arms.

“You did it, Hoothoot! You defeated Kadabra! I’m so happy! We did this! But don’t ever do anything that dangerous again without my permission, Hoothoot! I never said to use that move!”

“Aw, don’t you see, Gary?” June told me. “He responded to your trust in him. Your faith. You knew he could win and you let him know he wasn’t doing it alone. You were a team. You were depending on him and he came through in your honor.” June smile admiringly at me.

I turned to Hoothoot with a grateful sigh and smiled, hugging him. “Thank you so much, Hoothoot. But, don’t do that again!” I insisted warmly.

Hoothoot pecked me on the head a couple of times but laughed in his hoot voice.

Kadabra stood up slowly and stared at me. He then teleported just as the floorboard under his feet gave way and broke apart. Kadabra appeared in front of the four of us.

“Gary won, so send us home!” Kiwi demanded.

Kadabra looked sad, but nodded.

“Wait,” I said, reaching out my hand towards the Pokemon.

“Wait for what?” Kiwi sounded like she was at the end of her ropes. “We’re almost home free! Tell that thing to send us home before it changes its mind!”

“Will you shut up for a minute, Kiwi?” I shot at her. I knelt down to Kadabra and stared him in the eyes.

Kadabra looked right back.

“Not this staring contest again!” Kiwi complained.

I ignored her and communicated with Kadabra. “Kiwi, you can tell Kadabra where you want to go.”

“Huh? Aren’t we all going to Pallet Town?” Kiwi asked. “Well, I don’t know exactly where you want to go, June, but you and I are going home, right, Gary?”

“I’m staying here to help Kadabra,” I said firmly, my eyes still on his.

“WHAT?” Kiwi and June burst at the same time.

I turned to them. “End of discussion! You both can go home if you want. This Kadabra lost the only friend in the world that he ever had. The only thing he had left! I can’t just leave him like this. I can’t! You both get out of here and get home safe. But I’m staying with Kadabra. Even if I have to die doing this.”

Kiwi stared at me in shock.

June stared at me in shock.

“Me and Kadabra are going back to Sabrina’s Gym to save his Trainer,” I told them. “So hurry up already and get out of here so we can go get ourselves killed.”

My joke didn’t make anybody laugh. It probably wasn’t even a joke.

June looked at the ground and shook her head. “I’m not leaving you.”

I stared at June. “June, if you want to leave, go now. We don’t have time to waste!”

“Damn it, Gary, I said I’m staying!” June’s fists balled tight like she was urging to hit me.

“Fine. Ki-” I began.

“I’m staying, too,” Kiwi interrupted me. I opened my mouth to argue with her but she stopped me. “Shut up, Gary! You’ve been one of my best friends for all of my life and I would hope that you’d know me better than to just abandon you in this situation.” She looked me deep in my eyes as sadness took over them. “What would I tell your mom?” she said in a very low voice I could barely hear.

My mom.

Those words hit me hard in my heart. My eyes couldn’t bare to look at my close friend for a moment, but I forced them back to her. “We’ll tell her we made it home. Because we will, Kiwi.” I turned to June. “We will, June.” I turned to Kadabra. “We all will.”

Hoothoot gave a loud hoot of support.

I smiled at Hoothoot. “Thank you, Hoothoot.” I returned him back to his Poke Ball.

We were going back to the Saffron City Gym to face off against Sabrina and her Haunter one more time.

We were all fully aware this may be our final journey.

“Let’s do this, Kadabra!” I told him.

Kadabra Teleported us back to the Saffron City Gym.