Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 38: Sabrina’s Future Sight

The Team Rocket members all nodded in succession.

Seeing this, Sabrina waved her right hand and tossed the bald man Temu back from the cliff’s edge.

She then fell into thought. A moment later, her bright red lips curled upward slightly.

"How interesting. It seems Lavender Town is not only hiding a very powerful Ice-type Pokémon—it may also be hiding a Pokémon highly skilled in hypnosis."

She didn’t believe the spatial rifts and time slowdowns were real phenomena. Instead, she suspected it was the work of a powerful Pokémon with hypnotic abilities, altering the memories of the townsfolk to make them believe they had experienced these events.

With that thought, Sabrina turned to look at Alakazam standing behind her. With just one glance, Alakazam understood and handed her its Destiny Spoon.

"Let me see what awaits Team Rocket once we step into Lavender Town," Sabrina murmured.

Her eyes gradually lost their pupils, and her flowing deep-blue hair began to float upward. Suddenly, she appeared divine and otherworldly.

"Temu, what is Commander Sabrina doing?" On the other side, Temu was being helped back into the crowd by his subordinates.

Hearing the question, Temu glared viciously at Sabrina’s back. "This dea—"

Before he could finish the second word, he felt Alakazam’s gaze on him and quickly swallowed the rest. He swallowed hard and corrected himself: "Commander Sabrina is using her psychic abilities, channeled through Alakazam’s Destiny Spoon, to foresee what will happen next."

Meanwhile, Sabrina was deep in her Future Sight, and an image appeared in her mind:

It showed her leading Team Rocket into Lavender Town and battling a girl commanding a Gabite. The fight wasn’t particularly difficult—but after defeating the girl’s Gabite, someone suddenly rushed out from within their own Rocket ranks. A figure she couldn’t clearly see, accompanied by a Munchlax, blocked her and Alakazam.

The Munchlax used Metronome, and somehow, the entire world went dark.

After that, she felt only a spinning sensation and was forcibly ejected from her Future Sight state.

"What was that darkness? What kind of move was it?" Sabrina wiped the cold sweat from her face. It was the first time she’d experienced such a dizzying interruption during Future Sight. Clearly, the move that Munchlax had rolled had affected even her.

"But why would someone with a Munchlax emerge from our ranks? Do we have a League infiltrator among us?"

Sabrina’s gaze turned icy cold as she swept it across the assembled Rocket members. Under her stare, they were too terrified to even breathe, afraid she might psychically fling them over the cliff just like Temu.

"Release all your Pokémon—no hiding any. Those around you will monitor each other. Anyone caught disobeying will be thrown off this cliff," Sabrina ordered coldly.

The Rocket members exchanged glances. Though confused, they complied. Soon, a variety of Pokémon were released.

Sabrina scanned them from left to right—no Munchlax appeared.

She frowned: "Are you sure all of you have released every Pokémon you’re carrying? Check each other."

The members exchanged looks again and conducted a mutual inspection. Still, Sabrina saw no sign of the Munchlax from her vision.

"Could the vision have been wrong?" she began to doubt herself.

"Baldie, how much do you know about Lavender Town’s trainers? If we invade, will there be any major obstacles?" Sabrina asked Temu.

"Commander Sabrina, you’re going to lead us to invade Lavender Town?" Temu’s eyes lit up—he saw an opportunity to avenge his defeat at Rio’s hands months ago.

He scurried over to Sabrina—but brought a whiff of urine with him.

Sabrina recoiled in disgust: "Back up, back up—stay away from me."

Barely holding back his frustration, Temu took a few steps back before answering: "Commander Sabrina, Lavender Town has no strong trainers at all. If you lead us in, as far as I can see, they wouldn’t stand a chance."

"Then why did the previous mission fail?"

"Uh... that was purely an accident. But if there’s any trainer in Lavender Town worth noting, it’s just one—a guy who can command a Charmeleon to use Sunny Day. I lost to him narrowly, but to you, he’d be completely insignificant."

"A Charmeleon?" Sabrina bit her lip. "No noteworthy Munchlax?"

"Munchlax?" Temu was puzzled, then shook his head. "No. The only Munchlax I know of in Lavender Town is at the Pokémon House. I caught a glimpse of one when we kidnapped Dr. Fuji’s granddaughter."

"The Munchlax at the Pokémon House? That place that takes in abandoned Pokémon?" Sabrina asked.

Temu nodded: "Yes, a charity founded by Dr. Fuji. If we launch a full-scale invasion today, we could also seize that confidential document Dr. Fuji took from the Cinnabar Research Institute."

Hearing this, Sabrina’s wariness faded. She knew about the Pokémon House—a place full of unwanted Pokémon. In that case, even if she still couldn’t explain why a Munchlax would emerge from their midst, the final victor would undoubtedly be her and Alakazam.

"Rest up. We’ll invade Lavender Town at dusk," Sabrina ordered.

"Two objectives: first, take control of Lavender Town and determine whether it’s hiding a powerful, unknown Pokémon. Second, obtain the confidential material Boss Giovanni wants from Dr. Fuji."

As she spoke, she took out a Poké Ball and recalled Alakazam. Then, to the amazement of all the Rocket members, she leaped directly off the cliff.

"I’ll be waiting at the foot of the mountain."

On the other side—

Rio, having collected his winnings from Cynthia, had taken Charmeleon and Munchlax to Route 10, north of Lavender Town, to grind levels by battling wild Pokémon.

"Grinding against wild Pokémon is way too slow. If only a few more trainers would pass by—I could earn some money and level up faster," Rio muttered after having Charmeleon defeat a wild Arbok.

"Ka~" Munchlax, standing by his feet, suddenly patted his leg.

"What is it, Munchlax?" Rio looked down and saw Munchlax pointing into the distance. He followed its gaze—

And spotted Sabrina, who had just leaped off the cliff.