After two days of flying over Celadon City, Ace arrived at the outskirts of Saffron City.
"It looks like Saffron City has been completely sealed off."
Flying in the air, Ace observed the transparent barrier covering the entire Saffron City. His wariness of Sabrina's power increased. Mr. Mime's Light Screen, though capable of lasting a long time, being able to completely envelop an entire city's sky showed just how masterful this Mr. Mime was with the move.
"Either this Mr. Mime is incredibly powerful, or it specializes entirely in the Light Screen move," Ace speculated silently. However, combining it with the memory of the Mr. Mime being instantly defeated by Pikachu, the first guess was quickly discarded from his mind.
Light Screen defends against special attacks; its defense against physical attacks isn't as high as one might imagine.
But Ace didn't dare break through the Light Screen directly right now. After all, he wasn't the protagonist with a protagonist's halo. If he were to break the Light Screen now, he knew without guessing that he'd be met by Team Rocket grunts. Although their strength wasn't much, if their numbers reached a certain point, Ace couldn't withstand being ganged up on by the entire Team Rocket.
"I'll try it first."
Ace had Aerodactyl land in an open space near Saffron City. Recalling Aerodactyl, Ace walked towards the entrance of Saffron City.
Five minutes later, as expected, Ace was chased away by security personnel. Saffron City was completely sealed off, allowing no one to enter.
"Troublesome. I still need to figure out what's happening with the plot."
Ace felt a headache. He reluctantly released Aerodactyl again, and with Aerodactyl's help, Ace flew towards Pallet Town.
Ace slowly descended within Pallet Town.
Seeing the deserted streets, Ace's brows furrowed, and his muscles tensed; he had entered battle mode!
"I hope Ash hasn't arrived yet. If not, then I can test my strength against Sabrina."
Ace murmured softly, then recalled Aerodactyl. Tossing a Poké Ball, Chansey appeared beside Ace.
Chansey sensed for a moment, nodded to Ace, and quickly led Ace towards Professor Oak's Laboratory.
Ace's heart was on alert. Chansey's signal meant there were energy fluctuations nearby, indicating an enemy. Now, Chansey was leading Ace towards Professor Oak's Laboratory. Combined with his memories of the plot, Ace was certain that Sabrina was still at Professor Oak's Laboratory.
"Sabrina... the strongest of the three executives. I hope to use you to see if my current strength can contend with Giovanni."
Ace's eyes gradually turned cold, and his pace quickened. He soon arrived outside Professor Oak's Laboratory.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Ace knocked on the door and spoke, "Professor, Professor Oak, are you there?"
As Ace's voice rang out, the main door slowly opened. Within his sight, the lab was unlit and somewhat dim. At the very back of the lab, a person wearing a white lab coat, similar in build to Professor Oak, stood silently with their back to Ace.
"Professor, is that you?"
Ace entered the lab and walked towards the figure, while subtly gesturing to Chansey.
Chansey instantly understood Ace's meaning, quickened its small steps, and walked ahead of Ace.
And when it was still three meters from the figure, Chansey instantly burst forth!
The stone slabs beneath its feet shattered as Chansey charged towards the figure with terrifying speed.
The current Chansey, at level 39, had all its stats at a high of 280. With the Huge Power ability, its physical attack reached a terrifying 560!
What did 560 mean? Pseudo-legendary Pokémon typically had a base stat total around 600, and Chansey already had one stat approaching 600!
"Boom!"
With an explosive sound, the entire laboratory trembled violently, and cracks instantly covered the walls.
With just one punch, Chansey nearly tore down the lab!
However, Chansey's punch missed. The figure instantly vanished, reappearing as a Kadabra floating in mid-air, with Sabrina sitting on its back.
"So you're also with Team Rocket."
Ace pulled a spoon from his jacket pocket and casually flicked it towards Sabrina.
"I never would have thought that a brat I casually helped would become a stumbling block for Team Rocket."
Sabrina caught the spoon Ace flicked. Looking at the bent spoon, she pointed its bent end towards Ace.
"Then, to protect the plan, I'll eliminate you here first."
"You can try."
Ace sneered, fiercely throwing a Poké Ball. Haunter appeared beside Ace.
"Mean Look!"
A black shadow instantly shot from Haunter's eyes, quickly merging into Kadabra's body. Mean Look could prevent wild Pokémon from escaping, and similarly, it could prevent trainers from recalling their Pokémon. Although Sabrina didn't seem to be recalling Kadabra, it was always good to be prepared.
"Psycho Cut!"
"Shadow Ball!"
Psychic and Ghost-type attacks collided in mid-air. The laboratory, which had already taken a punch from Chansey, could no longer withstand the aftershocks of the two Pokémon battling.
Amidst a series of cracking sounds, the laboratory walls collapsed, instantly burying both of them in the rubble.
As the dust settled, Sabrina stood there unharmed. Kadabra's psychic power and Haunter's Shadow Ball clashed fiercely in the air, while on Ace's side, Chansey threw the large stone slabs it was holding to the side, silently staring at Sabrina.
"Is your Pokémon very strong?"
Sabrina glanced at Kadabra and Haunter, who were almost equally matched. She then looked at Ace and said, "However, you're still no match for me."
As she spoke, Ace suddenly felt a great force press down, heavily suppressing his body. This was Sabrina's psychic power!
Seeing this, Kadabra unleashed a Psycho Cut to force Haunter back, then quickly rushed towards Ace.
But the next moment, Kadabra stopped abruptly, because Chansey was already standing in front of Ace. Kadabra had keenly felt the power of Chansey's previous punch; it could guarantee that if that punch had connected, it would have been shattered!
"Psychic power, a very strange ability. But to defeat me with it, you're still a bit lacking!"
Ace struggled to get up. With all the intense training he'd undergone, Sabrina's psychic power couldn't completely suppress Ace to the point where he couldn't move.
"Tsk, troublesome brat."
Sabrina saw that her psychic power was ineffective against Ace. She threw another Poké Ball, and an Alakazam appeared beside her. Alakazam raised its two spoons, and Ace, who had just stood upright, was instantly suppressed again.
"Golbat!"
A Poké Ball rolled from Ace's body. Golbat burst out of the Poké Ball, instantly transforming into an arrow, and rapidly shot towards Sabrina!