Tyler had his opponent right where he wanted it now.
"Geist, finish him off! Psychic now!"
The Alakazam made the slightest of curt nods and brought its two spoons together.
"Ala..."
A crackling white energy manifested between the spoons, rapidly growing in intensity. Geist's eyes began to glow with a faint light-red color as his spoons became a bright, luminescent white.
"...kazam!"
Geist swing his arms out, unleashing a powerful psychic wave in a 180-degree radius in front of him. The wave was nearly invisible, the only sign of its passing being the subtle warping of light as it hurtled through the air. Its intended target, Saffron Gym Leader Sabrina's Alakazam, rose shakily to its feet and put its own spoons together in an attempt to protect itself.
"Light Screen!" Sabrina commanded, her normally icy demeanor undermined by a hint of urgency and panic.
The spoons bent forward and pulsed with white energy. A transparent wall of solid materialized in time to intercept the psychic wave. The telekinetic energy slammed into the Light Screen. Sabrina's Alakazam focused hard, struggling in its injured state to maintain the barrier against the force of Geist's Psychic attack. It wasn't able to hold it for long. Too weak from battle to hold the psychic wave back, the Light Screen shattered and dematerialized.
Unabated, the invisible wave of energy raced forward and collided with the Alakazam. It cried out as it was flung backwards across the Gym from the sheer force of impact. Sabrina's Pokemon came to a stop when it smashed into the wall next to her. The sound of the collision echoed loudly in the spacious arena, followed by the thud made by pieces of the wall dropping on the floor. The Alakazam slumped against the damaged wall, unconscious. Its spoons clattered to the ground from its limp hands. Sabrina was defeated.
For a few seconds, all was quiet. "Alakazam, return," Sabrina said finally before pulling out a Pokeball and calling her injured Alakazam back into the device. Miniaturizing the Pokeball and placing it on her belt, Sabrina approached Tyler. The sound of her boots hitting the floor bounced off the walls in the now eerily silent Gym. "You have defeated me," she said quietly, holding out her hand. In her empty palm, a small circular item appeared. It was gold and had the appearance of a circle engraved into a larger one. "So now I will give you this Marsh Badge".
Tyler nodded. "Thank you, Sabrina. It was an honor to battle you," he replied as he reached into Sabrina's open hand to take the badge. The Gym Leader's other hand clasped over his. Somewhat confused, Tyler looked up to see that Sabrina was staring intently at him. Something was different about her expression. Her infamous cold, emotionless mask had melted away. In its place was a soft smile. Her large grey eyes almost seemed to sparkle in the sparse light of the Gym.
"Tyler, I had a vision that you would come here. I saw you in my dreams for such a long time..." Sabrina revealed quietly. Even her tone of voice was different. She sounded...happy. "Every night, I would see your face and it would drive me mad. Words cannot describe how I feel now that you're here in front of me now".
Tyler wasn't sure how to respond. He was caught completely off guard. In a vain attempt at speech, he opened his mouth, but all that came was a barely audible straining noise.
Sabrina's smile widened. "I know you feel for me, Tyler. My psychic powers can pick up on that". She stepped closer to him. "And I feel for you, too," she said, her voice now a soft whisper. "Let's go away from here and see the world. Let's become the most powerful Pokemon Trainers of all time..."
Tyler ran a hand along the length of Sabrina's long green hair. "For you, anything," he said as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close.
Sabrina rested her forehead against Tyler's. "Tyler, I lo-MANKEY MANKEY MANKEY MANKEY MANKEY"
Tyler awoke with a start to the sound of two people struggling and what sounded like an angry Mankey. As reality began to settle back into his mind, he realized with disappointment that he had only been dreaming. And it was a good dream, too, he thought bitterly. The somewhat heartbroken Trainer sat up and saw Fary and Jordan leaving the tent where the racket came from, the former packing it up. Tyler sighed with irritation. More reasons to dislike Fary.
He got up out of his sleeping bag and rolled it back up. Placing it in his backpack, Tyler stretched a bit and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. Today was a new day, and that meant there were Pokemon to catch. With Geist and Tank by his side, he felt relatively confident. Speaking of Tank...
The Nidoran was pawing through a nearby bush, trying to grab at a berry that dangled just out of his reach. The remains of other berries lay scattered on the grass around him. Tyler had to chuckle. Tank was a big eater. Guess him and Geist are gonna get along just fine. "Hey, Tank!" he called.
Tank's ears twitched. He turned around to face his Trainer. "Ran ran," he said in greeting.
"It's time to get going, so I'm gonna put you back in your Pokeball for now. You're still in no shape to fight, especially after running into that Pikachu".
Tank nodded. "Ran ran ran," it responded.
With that, Tyler returned the Nidoran to his ball and placed it in his backpack. He approached the rest of the group, who were standing around what was left of the campfire. "Morning, guys," he said. "When are we heading out to Pewter?"
