Sabrina studied the Scyther carefully, doing her best to conceal her worry. A swift, hard-hitting bug-type, surely with loads of combat experience… could she have gotten a worse opponent?

To make things worse, they'd agreed to a one on one duel, so this would be decided in an instant.

She threw her own Pokeball out, and from the blast of light emerged an old, frazzled Hypno wearing a pair of colorful yellow glasses. The Pokemon bristled, seemingly not bothered by his opponent's chilly glare. Sabrina knew him well, and knew that despite his frail appearance no other Pokemon from the Gym could match his smarts and experience.

Against a Scyther, though…?

After weighing all the possible options, the two of them crossed eyes, and nodded. There was only one way out of this, and it involved being smiled on by Lady Luck.

Both Pokemon stared each other down for a moment. Then, emboldened by the blood-thirsty cheers of the audience, they jumped to attack in unison.

"X-Scissor!" the man bellowed.

"Trick!" Sabrina countered.

The Scyther's speed was beyond compare. A bolt of verdant lightning, he crossed the arena in an instant and slashed upwards with both of his scythes, catching his foe just as the glasses disappeared from his face with a pop. The poor Hypno hit the ground hard, the sheer force of the impact sending him rolling until he crashed against the bars of the cage on the other side. He trembled, one hand against the floor, but could not bring himself even to his knees.

Without a doubt, the man with the cross knew what he was doing.

However, that made him and his Pokemon cocky. The both of them turned toward Sabrina, completely disregarding the Hypno as he raised a small berry and shoved it in his mouth.

Sabrina very pointedly didn't turn to look. Which was good, as the next instant the giant bug Pokemon shot toward her. He stopped within an inch of killing her, scythe raised to her neck with practiced control, barely brushing her skin. From this close, she could see that pair of yellow glasses adorning his face.

"Woah, easy there." Sabrina raised her hands in a show of surrender, earning a storm of boos from the audience.

"Nice one, Clay! You knocked it out of the park!" The man with the cross cheered with a big, dumb smile. "I'm very proud, buddy!"

Despite the danger of the situation, Sabrina couldn't help but roll her eyes again. She had to keep up the façade. The cool, calculating Scyther with a blade to her neck. The dumb, arrogant trainer smiling like an idiot. The young Gym leader with her hands raised, far from her Pokeballs, looking nervous.

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"Well? What now?" asked the man, raising both hands and shrugging. "I'm disappointed. Seems like the rumors were all exaggerated."

A smirk formed on Sabrina’s lips. "Heh."

"What's so funn–?"

"Disable."

Eyes shooting wide, the Scyther tried to turn around. But Hypno was now possessed by an abnormal speed, and barraged his foe with a sudden wave of psychic energy, throwing him off of his trainer.

"Wh–Clay's Salac Berry!?"

Sabrina's grin widened maliciously across her face.

"Psychic."

The burst of concentrated energy blasted the Scyther in the face, sending him across the room. His trainer balled his hands into fists, eyes wide with panic.

"X-Scissor!"

But the Scyther didn't move. Couldn't. His body quivered with the bug's desire to attack, but it was as though every muscle in his arms had been paralyzed. He couldn't raise his scythes.

"Shit, Struggle!?" he cursed, realization dawning on him. "Of course, the Choice Specs…!

The rest of the fight was predictable. Unable to use his arms, the Scyther flew at Hypno in an attempt to tackle him, but slammed against the ground again and again, as the Salac berry had given him more than enough speed to dodge each of his attacks. The old Hypno barraged the poor insect with burst after burst of psionic power, until finally he hit the ground like a brick, smoking from head to toe. Hypno looked down at his fallen foe and struggled a step back, heaving from pain but still very much capable of fighting.

He knew what came next.

With an expression that bordered on demonic, Sabrina pointed at the man with the cross, and the wizened Hypno obeyed without question, raising a hand aflame with purple wisps of power.

Yet, to Sabrina's disappointment, her opponent didn't look scared or worried in the slightest. Instead, he hung his head and closed his eyes, balled fists trembling.

He was pissed.

"Y-you… backstabbing, traitorous…!" He seriously looked on the verge of losing it from anger. "What kind of trainer does something like that!? You're a disgrace to all Gym leaders!"

Sabrina raised an eyebrow, and chuckled. "Right…"

Unconcerned, she took an old iron lighter from her pocket and flipped it open, lighting a cigarette as she took it to her mouth.

"You wanted to win too cleanly," she said through puffs of smoke. "If you hadn't been such a good boy and actually killed me when you had the chance, you'd be leaving this place with my badge and my fame. But you didn't, because you're a loser. That your Pokemon is superior to your opponent's in all aspects doesn't guarantee your victory, priest."

She shoved the lighter back in her pocket and returned the Hypno to his Pokeball. Then she turned around and started walking away.

"You'd do well to remember that."

Fists trembling, pupils shrunken by rage, the man with the cross yelled as the Gym leader disappeared into darkness.

"I won't let this stand! I'll never accept your way of fighting! I'll be back tomorrow, and then I will beat you! You'll see!"