“You’re right,” the man with the cross whispered after almost a full minute. “You’re a horrible person, and you’re not even that hot.” He paused, and though Sabrina couldn’t see it, she knew he was smiling. “I don’t know what I saw in you.”

Sabrina closed her eyes strongly, her face buried against his shirt.

If we…

“I wonder… Are you refusing because you’re worried about what he might think? Ha…”

If we could stay like this…

“Mr. Azure was very disappointed. He said your drop in performance was due to certain… distractions.”

For just one more minute…

“Don’t let your guard down, Sabrina. Don’t let him weaken you. You were so beautiful before, sharp and ruthless… I miss it oh-so dearly.” Azure sighed. “If only things could go back to the way they were before…”

“...”

“Come with me,” the young man whispered. “Please.”

After what felt like a lifetime, the Gym leader pushed against his chest, slowly taking a few steps back. When she finally looked up, her eyes were dull and colorless. Her expression was the same as when they’d met, so many battles ago.

Then, to the man’s confusion, a wide, morbid smile stretched across her face.

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“Heh. You’re something else, you know that?”

“What-?”

“Who the fuck do you think you are?”

He froze in place, eyebrows slowly rising on his face.

“Let me guess, you thought you could just appear one day with that good boy face of yours, and change me? You thought that as a moral, religious man, it was up to you to save this poor wayward sheep? That’s what you thought, wasn’t it?”

“What are you…?”

Sabrina shrugged, still smiling. “Well, I’ve got news for you; I don’t need to be saved. I’m perfectly fine the way I am. And do you want to know something else? All this time, thinking that with your kindness and your idiotic smile you’d managed to melt this wretched girl’s frozen heart… You have no idea how hilarious I found it, how much I laughed at your stupidity when you weren’t around.”

The man’s jaw dropped, his breath seemingly gone from him. “What?”

“Want me to make it clearer for you? You mean nothing to me,” she said plainly. “All you are is some mild entertainment I liked to tune into when I was bored. I don’t care about you in the slightest, I never did.”

“That’s… You’re lying,” he whispered, though he couldn’t hide the tremor in his voice. “You’re lying, right?”

Sabrina’s gaze was unflinching, frigid like ice.

“You’re-”

He tried to take a step toward her, but froze when he noticed the Pokeball on her hand.

“Don’t take another step,” she warned him. There was a flash of light, and a Mr. Mime materialized next to her. And despite his goofy appearance, the man knew well that he was one of the Gym’s most powerful fighters. “If you get an inch closer, I’ll kill you.” All hesitation was gone from her voice.

The look on the man’s face could’ve broken anyone’s heart. Wounded, his wide eyes searched Sabrina’s doggedly for any sign, any indication that…

“Is… is it true?” he finally asked. “Everything that happened, was it really…?”

“Leave,” Sabrina cut him off. “I don’t want to see you ever again, whether in my Gym or my city. I’m tired of this game.”

Without saying anything else, the Gym leader turned around and walked away, disappearing into the darkness of the young night.