As soon as she closed the door behind her, exiting into the small open courtyard at the back of the Gym, Sabrina felt an arm around her shoulders, and the weight of another person leaning on her.

“Hooooo, talk about ice cold,” Azure whistled, his smile so clear in his voice Sabrina could picture it without looking. “That’s the Sabrina I like to see!”

“Don’t touch me.” she whispered. Behind her calm tone there was the threat of an imminent explosion.

“Scaary!” protested the man, raising both hands as though to defend himself. “But you know… You are an incredibly good liar, I can’t deny that. Ha, even I almost bought it for a second. But don’t you think you might’ve gone a bit too far? I mean, having to walk home through this cold Saffron night with a broken heart… sigh. Poor guy.”

The last three years of life-and-death battles weren’t nearly as difficult as remaining calm in that very moment. She closed her eyes, fighting tooth and nail for any ounce of serenity.

“The job,” she said. “I didn’t come here to have a chat.”

She only had two Pokemon with her at the moment; the previously shown Mr. Mime and an Exeggcute recently brought from the south of the region, which she’d intended to test for the first time during her battle with the man with the cross today. A missed opportunity. Yet she knew another one would come, depending on how difficult their target would be to kill.

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“Aren’t you going to ask me who it is?”

“...”

“You’ll be surprised ♫”

Azure waited for a reaction, but when he didn’t get one he just kept talking.

“It’s almost poetic that you’ll be the one to do it…”

“Where are the others?”

“Hehe… The rest are already in position. This won’t be an easy target, you know. If I sent you out there all on your own… Why, I’d lose my precious Gym leader! And then the boss would be very cross with me.”

Sabrina bit her lip, hands balled into fists. “Can you stop being so fucking mysterious?”

“Want a clue? You and her have…” He turned sharply, his bicolored eyes staring straight into hers. “...a lot in common.”

Sabrina’s eyes went wide.

A memory came to her, months and months ago during that party…

Something did catch her attention, though. Hushed, furtive whispers; mentions of a certain someone coming back to Saffron… judging by the tone of their voice, it must’ve been someone both admired and feared by them. But who-?

So… it was her.

“Sab-”

“Original and best ♫”

“...rina.”