Chapter 98:

  The Luckiest Girl in the World

  Sabrina watched the Zorua with newfound interest. Completely disregarding everything that had just transpired.

  "She talks," the Psychic said, "your Zorua can talk."

  I blinked.

  That was the thing she was amazed by? I literally told her that half an hour ago. Also, please refrain from feeding Midna's narcissism.

  "Uh yes. She can talk." I scowled.

  Sabrina saw my expression and shrugged. "Well, that's interesting."

  Fay silently moved over to my side. She refused to look me in the eyes.

  It seems like Midna and Sabrina were the only ones not bothered by Luna's… outburst.

  "I can do much more than just talk," Midna winked at Sabrina. Weird shiz, I know. Sabrina also didn't know how to react. This only amused Midna more.

  "Dust," Fay poked me in the side.

  I pulled my attention away from Sabrina and turned to face Riolu.

  "You think Luna really hates me?" Fay asked hesitantly.

  "Of course not," I reassured her, "You two are practically sisters. Arguing is part of family. Everyone does it from time to time."

  I could tell that she was doubtful just by looking into her eyes. Couldn't blame her for it, either. Half of the time Luna was the perfect girl, the other half of the time I could only guess what was going on in her mind.

  "I disagree with Luna," Fay suddenly spoke, her voice unwavering. "I think that helping people can never be wrong."

  I sighed and proceeded to scratch Fay behind her ears, which I knew she liked.

  "It's not that simple," I muttered.

  Both Fay and Luna were right. But both lacked vision of the big picture.

  True, there's no reason to head into danger without a plan, but doing something just because it is the right thing to do, was also a valid point. Good people doing nothing is the reason evil can exist.

  Right?

  The Adamant Orb is a dangerous artifact that couldn't be trusted in the hands of either Galactic and Team Rocket. I knew that much.

  Same for Alamos Town, which besides being a death trap was also an opportunity to save people. Maybe even the world. There was logic behind it. If only Luna could understand.

  Or maybe I was in the wrong and I was the one being blind?

  "So," Sabrina said awkwardly. "You want to help me stop the thief?"

  "You've got nothing to say about my Pokémon going insane?" I asked.

  Sabrina frowned, as if that had happened years ago. "Should I say something about it? I think that you should deal with it yourself."

  "Gee, thanks."

  Sabrina suddenly grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me close. I thought she was going to comfort me with a hug but instead, she gave me an intense look.

  With a conspiratorial voice she said, "Psychics have terrible mood swings. At a certain age, their emotions get amplified and until they learn to deal with it, life will be hell. Trust me, I've experienced it myself."

  She winked like it was a funny joke, and then let go of me, still leaving me feeling rattled. I was at a loss for words. Something Sabrina visibly took pleasure in.

  However my confusion even caused her smile to falter. "I thought you knew," she said when I kept silent. "Considering she is your starter, and you know, most trainers go for a simpler starter Pokémon." Well, that's another thing to add to the list of things I wished people fucking told me. How did I not know this?!

  I wonder if Luna herself knew it, probably not. Still, looking back it does make sense.

  Both Sabrina and Luna were easy to anger. And with Luna slowly but surely being pushed to the background, the last few weeks must have been rough for her. Suddenly the bigger picture became clear to me. I guess my own negligence, combined with her turbulent emotional state was just a recipe for disaster.

  I needed a very long and personal conversation with Luna. One without her teleporting away or losing her composure.

  I scratched the back of my head and sighed. “What a bummer.”

  Midna jumped up and pulled herself onto my shoulder. "So basically, our lovely Psychic is stuck with a permanent period."

  I groaned, Midna cackled.

  Sabrina grimaced. "Can you make your Zorua go back to being silent?"

  If only I could.

  "No, she has this weird ability that makes her always audible."

  Sabrina nodded like that was a completely normal thing to accept. "Okay, so now that we got that covered, are you going to help me or not? Because if the answer is no I'll have to rework my plans."

  "Hold on, let me discuss that with my Pokémon first. Don't want to do something reckless." Like Luna accused me of doing. See that Luna? I am responsible.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "Go ahead, I'll smooth talk things over with the owner of this place, reassure him nothing's damaged too badly." She turned her back on me and gave me some privacy.

  I nodded Fay to come along and walked out of earshot. It's not that I don't trust Sabrina, but the stuff I was about to say was not something she needed to know.

  While Sabrina patched things up with the owner of the restaurant, I put down the Zorua.

  "Okay. Listen up, regardless of what Luna thinks. The Adamant Orb can not fall into the wrong hands. I'll have a talk with her later but for now, let's direct our attention to the Adamant Orb."

  "What's so special about it?" Midna tilted her head. "It's just a national treasure."

  "Because evil people will do something bad with it," Fay stated.

  "That sounds awfully vague. What 'bad' stuff could you do with a big marble? Fire it from a cannon? Bash someone's skull in?"

  "Sabrina doesn't know this," I whispered. "But that orb is a catalyst for Dialga, the space god I told you about. Matter of fact," I looked at Midna. "Your makers would most likely kill for it. If Galactic gets it we all will be fucked."

  Most likely. I made a lot of assumptions here, but I did know one thing for certain. If Galactic wants it, then I should want it even more.

  "See." Fay playfully nudged Midna in the side. “This is what a hero would do.”

  I turned back to glance at Sabrina. I saw her subtly handing some cash to the owner of the place. I felt slightly guilty, but also, Sabrina is probably to blame, somehow.

  Well I could help her out, and by extension help myself. I turned to my Pokémon.

  “So what do you say?” I asked.

  Midna narrowed her eyes. "Well, Luna picked an awful moment to leave. What's the plan?"

  I put all my equipment down on the table, making sure I was fully prepared.

  Two handguns stolen from Crimson, both fully loaded. A revolver gun made of anti-psychic steel with five aura-infused bullets. One electric rifle. Two short knives, another longer one, a pocket knife, 2 grenades containing a sleep-inducing agent, 3 Pokéballs and 6 empty ones.

  Oh, and of course I couldn't forget the flip-knife I kept concealed. The restaurant owner gave me a worried look. I must have been the worst customer ever. It was a good thing Sabrina had a lot of cash on hand, because otherwise I might have gotten into trouble.

  Sabrina also didn't look pleased. I kind of agreed with her sentiment. People were supposed to rely on their team, not tools. From an outsider's perspective I must’ve looked like a psychopath.

  Before waking up in this world, I was against carrying weapons of any kind. Sadly, I couldn't do without them now. If I was without them I would feel naked. Vulnerable, even though I had three Pokémon to protect me.

  I'll admit there might be a problem there.

  "These will be useless." Sabrina waved her hand, causing all guns but one to float.

  "Why?"

  Sabrina grimaced. "I didn't tell you before but the person we're up against has..."

  "Has...?" I asked.

  "Our opponent has Psychic powers," Sabrina reluctantly admitted. She blushed and looked away, like it was something very embarrassing. "Bullets don't work on her."

  I stopped digging through my stuff. "Wait really?"

  Oh wait. Sabrina said her mortal enemy had escaped her multiple times and that she apparently 'knew' Gardenia was out of town beforehand.

  The best way to counter a psychic is with another psychic. Should've realized that beforehand.

  I couldn't help but laugh.

  "What? Did I say something funny?" Sabrina scowled.

  I shook my head. "No, it's just that it all makes sense now. You don't care much about Team Rocket, you want to stop her to prove you're the superior Psychic!"

  Sabrina's eyes flashed red. "I am the superior Psychic!"

  Sabrina looked like she wanted to add something but refrained from making another scene.

  I thought it was annoying that Miss Superior Psychic didn't mention that detail earlier but besides that, I don't think it really matters. If the Team Rocket Psychic is anything like Sabrina, a hit on the head will do the trick and Luna could always counter-

  ...ah shit.

  Luna did pick an awful time to leave.

  "She is cheating." It looked like Sabrina used Calm Mind again. She spoke calmly, but in the same way you talk when you want to strangle someone. "All of her powers are inferior to mine. And she doesn't even have any Pokémon. Besides, with you and your Riolu we can finally beat her."

  I was still feeling skeptical about this. "If your Psychic control is superior, how can it be that you still lose to her?"

  Sabrina gritted her teeth, her face became even more red. "Because she is the luckiest girl in the world."

  "Lucky?" I paused.

  "One in a billion is kind of lucky."

  "You're not making any sense." I rolled my eyes. “You need my help, so might as well just spill the beans.”

  Sabrina gave me a dark look. "Our lovely thief was born with both Aura and Psychic powers."

  And just like that Sabrina managed to catch me by surprise once more. I had this weird sensation in my stomach. I felt... something sickly?

  "Aura?" I slowly asked.

  "Yes."

  "You mean the blue energy Aura right?" I asked again.

  Sabrina's silence was enough of an answer.

  "How?" I stopped. "Our opponent is human right?"

  "Yes." Sabrina scowled. "She's officially registered as: Lovesick. She's a mysterious class-3 Psychic and Aura wielder. Not much is known about her."

  She saw my expression. I was just wondering if that was her real name, last name or a made up name like mine.

  "What, you know her?" She asked suspiciously.

  No, I did not. I had never even heard of her, neither in this nor my own world. In fact, I didn't even know that a human could be both a Psychic and an Aura user. Questions without answers popped up in my head.

  Was she born with it or did she learn it from someone else? Was it hereditary? If not, could everyone learn it? Could she teach it to me? If she was that fucking powerful, why work for Team Rocket? Shouldn't Aura wielders be pure-hearted?

  Why did she get two powers while I got a broken aura?

  Again, too many questions and no answers.

  "I don't know her," I told Sabrina, "but I am extremely interested in her. How have I never even heard of her? Shouldn't she be in Psychic jail, considering how dangerous her powers are?" Could she wield Aura like Fay? Or was hers entirely different? People like her should be examined and studied, not running around and stealing artifacts.

  Sabrina nodded. "I think she should be in jail but the Kanto League classifies her as an F level threat, meaning her existence is beneficial to the Region to some capacity." Sabrina said it like it made sense, I decided to just not along.

  The Psychic grinned. "But now she is overstepping her boundaries. And if we stop her right here today she'll fall under Sinnoh's custody."

  Damn. I actually need more time to process this. I did know one thing: how do her Aura and Psychic powers work and if could be taught?

  "Okay, so she's just a Psychic and an Aura wielder. Nothing I can't take."

  I started going through the pile of weapons, sorting the ones that would be useful.

  Fay could hopefully counter the Aura part while Midna could deal with whatever Shaker attacks she used.

  "You don't have to kill her," Sabrina said when I didn't put my gun away.

  I rolled my eyes at her. "I can aim for knees and feet."

  "You are just weird," Sabrina murmured. She heaved a deep sigh and closed her eyes. "Just don't make me regret asking you for help."

  I gave her my biggest smile.

  In the distance, I could spot a Talonflame with a Riolu riding on it. Seems like they were done scouting the area.

  For some reason, I felt excited. Even though Luna was absent, I would go up against the luckiest person in the world and was about to do something very risky.

  I couldn't help but feel alive.

  Fate played her cards.

  A/N A bit of a short chapter. Had a lot of other stuff I had to work on but atleast there wasn't a 4 month break between chapters.

  I am 50 hours into Elden Ring. I'll be sure to update before I finish the game.

  Next chapter should be up before the end of next week!

  Cya.

  -CaptainMoonShine-