Sabrina's rhetorical question made Ash nod blankly; his mind spinning from the revelation that she had once fought Elite Four Lorelei to a draw.
That single fact hit him like a thunderbolt.
The Kanto Elite Four weren't just strong, they were legends.
Defeating them was one of Ash's dream milestones, his next major phase in the long road to becoming a Pokémon Master.
To defeat the Elite Four, then the Champions of each region, and finally stand against Leon, the undefeated King of Trainers, that was his ultimate goal.
But in his heart, he knew he was still far from that level. Even with an Elite Four–level Gengar, he wasn't ready to challenge the Elite Four head-on.
And yet, the woman standing in front of him had already fought one and tied.
Even if Lorelei had held back, to fight her evenly was something few Trainers in the world could achieve.
Ash could barely wrap his head around it.
It was only when he felt the soft, faintly warm pressure beneath his fingers that he realized, his hands were still gripping Sabrina's shoulders.
He flinched, releasing her at once.
"Ah, sorry! I got too excited for a second."
Sabrina blinked at him, unbothered.
"Elite Four… are they powerful people?"
"You don't know who the Elite Four are?"
"I've heard of them," she replied in her usual clipped tone. "I just didn't care, so I forgot."
Ash froze for a second.
"There's actually someone who knows less about the Elite Four than I do?!" he muttered.
Then, animatedly, he started explaining, hands waving and eyes shining.
And just like that, Ash launched into his usual passionate rambling, completely forgetting that they were still in the middle of the Saffron Gym, post-battle, surrounded by shattered floor tiles.
Misty and Brock, standing to the side, glanced at each other. They made no move to interrupt, mainly because Sabrina's father had quietly asked them not to.
He had revealed his identity to them moments ago, along with a firm request:
"Please, let them talk. She's speaking calmly for the first time in years. Don't break that."
Sabrina's father had tears in his eyes even as he spoke. For so long, Sabrina had shut herself away from the world.
Even her words, cold and mechanical, had always been laced with cruelty. But now, for the first time, she was talking like a normal girl. Laughing faintly. Listening. Feeling.
It was fragile, a single thread of light in years of darkness. And interrupting that could destroy everything.
So Misty and Brock stayed quiet, watching.
After a while, Sabrina spoke again, her voice soft but curious.
"So, the Kanto Elite Four are your goal, then?"
Ash nodded. "A phase goal, yeah. Once I've beaten them, I'll move on to other regions and challenge the Champions there. And when I finally beat Leon, the strongest Trainer in the world, that'll be the peak of my journey!"
His eyes gleamed with unshakable determination.
The way he said it, it didn't sound like a dream. It sounded like destiny.
Sabrina tilted her head slightly, the corners of her lips twitching. "A phase goal, huh…"
Her crimson eyes glimmered with an odd light, as if she was quietly repeating the words in her mind.
Then Ash's tone softened.
"Anyway, you shouldn't do those things anymore," he said, scratching his cheek awkwardly.
"As a Gym Leader, you've got responsibilities, you know? Turning challengers into dolls is… uh… a bit too creative. No wonder everyone's scared of you."
Sabrina gave a small nod. "I understand."
"Mm-hmm, that's good to hea...wait, huh?"
Ash froze mid-sentence. Had he heard that right?
The cold, terrifying, impossible-to-talk-to Sabrina just agreed? So easily?
Before he could ask, Sabrina looked up again.
"In the future," she asked, her tone serious but her gaze calm, "will I still have a chance to battle you?"
Ash's grin returned instantly.
"Of course! Give it a few years, and the name 'Ash from Pallet Town' will be famous all over the world! By then, you're welcome to come find me anytime for a battle!"
Sabrina nodded slowly.
"Good," she said quietly. "Then I'll come find you," but in her heart, she was already thinking about another plan.
"Sabrina, you…" Her father finally stepped forward. His voice trembled slightly.
After years of silence, he hardly knew what to say.
Sabrina turned her head toward him.
"Father," she said simply.
That single word broke him.
His eyes filled with tears, his lips quivering as he tried to smile.
It had been so long, so unbearably long, since she'd called him that.
Ash blinked in surprise.
He hadn't even realized this man was her father. But it suddenly made sense, his familiarity with the Gym, his knowledge of Sabrina's past, his desperate concern.
No wonder he had been stopping Trainers at the entrance.
No wonder he had looked so broken.
Sabrina's father took a trembling step forward.
"You… have you finally returned, Sabrina?"
Sabrina tilted her head slightly, her expression calm but not cold.
"Returned? I never left."
Then, with a small wave of her hand, something stirred deep within the Gym.
A faint light shimmered, and a doll floated out of the shadows.
Sabrina's gaze softened as she looked at it.
Her Psychic power pulsed gently, glowing around her fingertips. The doll shimmered, its edges blurring, its form twisting.
And in the next instant, it transformed into a beautiful middle-aged woman.
The woman opened her eyes. Her expression was gentle, filled with love. She looked at Sabrina for a long, quiet moment, then turned to Ash and bowed deeply.
"Thank you, Ash. Although I was turned into a doll by Sabrina, I saw everything that happened here. Sabrina's mental state has recovered to what it is now, all thanks to you."
"Uh… you are?"
"I am Sabrina's mother."
Ash: ???
Ash's eyes widened, looking at Sabrina in disbelief. His gaze practically said, 'You're really something! You even turned your own mother into a doll!'
"I didn't hurt her," Sabrina said calmly. "I just turned her into a doll and kept her by my side. And I did change her back to normal once and let her leave, but she didn't want to go."
Though her tone remained cold, Ash and the others could hear the faint emotion hidden in her words.
Sabrina's mother's decision clearly had a great impact on her. The act of staying by her daughter's side, even while afraid, had deeply confused and moved Sabrina. But back then, her mind had already collapsed beyond reason. If she had been able to communicate like this earlier, perhaps her mother's love would have pulled her back from the darkness much sooner.
"I didn't really do anything, just had a battle with her," Ash said, scratching his head, looking awkward after hearing Sabrina's mother's heartfelt thanks.
Sabrina's mother shook her head gently. "If it weren't for you, Sabrina might have completely fallen into the abyss and never returned. You saved our daughter. You can ask for anything you want. As long as it's within our power, we will do our best to help you."
"Uh, it's not that serious. It really was just a battle." Ash waved his hands frantically, then suddenly remembered, "Oh, right! I won the battle, so can I have the Saffron Gym Badge?"
"Here."
Sabrina raised her hand, and a golden, circular badge floated from her palm through the air, stopping neatly in front of Ash.
"Thanks!" Ash grinned, catching the badge and striking his usual triumphant pose.
"I got the Gold Badge!"
"Pika, Pikachu!" Pikachu chimed in enthusiastically, despite not having done anything this time. After all, Ash's victory poses wouldn't be complete without his partner's cheer, just like Team Rocket would be incomplete without Meowth.
"I'm beat," Gengar groaned, lying flat on the ground with his tongue sticking out. "The first battle after you caught me, and you make me fight such a monster? You trying to kill me already?"
Ash laughed. "Hehe, thanks, Gengar. When we get back, I'll have Professor Oak prepare something good for you."
"I think that old man's instant noodles are fine," Gengar said instantly, perking up. "Tell him to give me some of those."
Ash blinked, then burst out laughing.
Still, he agreed without hesitation. Gengar had fought brilliantly in this battle. Without him, even if Ash had made Saffron Gym his last stop, victory wouldn't have been guaranteed.
After all, their opponent had been at the Elite Four level. There was no way Ash could have trained another Pokémon up to that strength before the Indigo Plateau Conference.
There were more than eight Gyms in Kanto, so skipping Saffron Gym wouldn't have mattered much. But as one of the top Gyms in the region, the challenge had proven invaluable, for both his team's growth and his own experience.
And, unintentionally, it had also brought peace to a broken family.
Ash might not fully understand how he had saved them, but Sabrina's calmer demeanor and the fact that her mother was no longer a doll spoke volumes.
That definitely counted as saving them… right?
"This is for you too."
Sabrina's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. She reached into her outfit and produced a small, shining spoon, holding it out to him with both hands.
Ash blinked, staring at the spoon in confusion.
A spoon?
He tilted his head. "Uh… what's this for?
"This spoon is the Psychic tool that first led me down this path. If a Pokémon carries it, it can increase the power of Psychic-type moves by about twenty-five percent. It should be a pretty good item, right?"
Misty and Brock: ???
Pretty good?!
A twenty-five percent Psychic boost was absurdly high. Even though Gengar's Spell Tag had increased Ghost-type power by thirty percent, items like these weren't common trinkets you could just pick up in a Poké Mart.
Any held item that could increase move power was priceless in the market, coveted by trainers everywhere. Most boosting items gave only ten to twenty percent at best, with twenty percent already considered top-grade.
Yet Ash now had both: a Spell Tag with a thirty percent boost and a Psychic Spoon with twenty-five. His luck was beyond ridiculous.
If luck were a competition, Ash would already have a Champion title.
"Wait a second! Where's the Spell Tag I gave you?" Gengar suddenly blurted, his expression twisting in realization.
Ash froze. "Uh… that… this… I'm sorry, I forgot."
"Forgot?! You forgot something like that?!" Gengar howled. "Do you have any idea how valuable that thing is?! I went through emotional torture to give you that item! You didn't give it to another Pokémon, and you didn't even let me use it in battle! You're not human!"
Ash winced as the furious ghost ranted. "Ahem, but we won, didn't we? The result's what matters, right?"
Gengar glared, clearly unimpressed. "Unbelievable…"
Their bickering made Sabrina laugh softly. Her lips curved into a genuine smile. It felt strange, yet wonderful, as if she were rediscovering what it meant to feel joy.
Ash accepted the Psychic Spoon at last. Together, he and Sabrina made a promise: the next time they met, he would use a Pokémon trained with this very spoon to battle her again.
He immediately handed it to Kirlia right in front of her.
The small Psychic Pokémon accepted the spoon with both hands. She and Sabrina shared a brief but mutual understanding—one Psychic to another.
Ash told Kirlia about their promise, and Kirlia bowed respectfully, promising that if she ever faced Sabrina again, she would not let the spoon's power go to waste.
Misty, watching this, blinked in disbelief. 'Was this… a token of love?'
After that, Ash and his companions officially bid farewell to Sabrina and her parents.
As Ash's silhouette faded into the distance, Sabrina spoke softly to her parents.
"I'm going on a journey. The Gym is yours."
Her father froze. "Huh? Sabrina, this isn't good. You're the Gym Leader of the Psychic Gym now, and you've only just recovered. You should rest for a while longer. Besides, you still know too little about..."
He stopped mid-sentence when Sabrina turned her scarlet eyes toward him. Her gaze was firm, resolute, telling him clearly that her decision was final.
He sighed, a helpless smile tugging at his lips, then turned to the road where Ash had vanished.
He didn't need to be told. He already understood why Sabrina had decided to travel.
...
Note:
In the original raw chapter, Brock was depicted as being over twenty years old, while Ash and Misty were fifteen. However, I adjusted their ages to ten in the revised opening chapters to align with the main Pokémon canon.
That said, as the story has begun to move in a slightly different direction, such as SABRINA developing feelings towards Ash, I wanted to clarify this age adjustment to avoid any misunderstanding. The change was made purely for consistency and narrative flow, not to imply anything inappropriate.